It’s essentially a three week crash course that lays the foundation for the future of Richmond’s only high school football program.
Up until a few years ago, the Hugh Boyd Trojans Grade 8 team was in the shadows of the West Richmond school’s senior and junior varsity squads as all three launched their seasons in September. Now it has the spotlight all to itself.
The Grade 8 football campaign has shifted to the spring where players are learning the game during four after school practice sessions and a controlled scrimmage each week. The Trojans wrapped up their season last Thursday against West Vancouver.
“The big focus is making sure all the kids get on the field,” explained Boyd head coach Bryce Miller. “We are focusing on the fundamentals. Safe blocking. Safe tackling. All our coaches have done the safe contact program so that’s really huge for us.”
Boyd is not the only Grade 8 program now playing in the spring.
Almost every school on the North Shore has moved to an April launch, along with Eric Hamber.
The greatest advantage is having access to the senior varsity coaches who are normally pre-occupied with their own teams. Longtime mentors Bruce and Bill Haddow help out on a regular basis, as does former Simon Fraser University head coach Chris Beaton who has become a fixture with Boyd football in recent years.
“We have tons of expertise out here and this way we are really getting to the new kids,” continued Miller. “It makes sense from a coaching standpoint but also for the kids too.
“When they come here from elementary school in September, their brains are spinning. It’s a big jump for them. Now they have had time to adjust to high school life and can embrace football.”
Boyd’s senior team is coming off its best season in recent years and should be a force again next fall. However, there was a cost for the success.
A decision to age up some very talented Grade 10 players left the program with too few players to field a junior varsity team. That could lead to trouble down the road if there are not enough new kids coming aboard. That’s where Ric Pearce’s valuable help comes into play.
The coach and former principal reaches out to elementary students throughout the district about potentially coming to Boyd to play football.
“Ric tours around and explains what the program is all about,” said Miller. “We are a small school and have to get to these kids.
“Last year, we had 22 kids out, including six Grade 7s who were coming into the school. This year, there are 14 of them and we are up to 32 kids. They are coming from a number of schools so it’s really encouraging to see.”
The momentum from the Grade 8 campaign will carry over into the upcoming spring camp which is more preparation leading into the fall junior varsity season.
Miller himself is a rare entity. An on-staff teacher with a football background.
So many schools around the province rely on outside volunteers to coach what is a very technical and tactical game. That list includes Miller’s alma mater South Delta which won the provincial AAA championship last season.
After working three years as an assistant coach, the English and Social Studies teacher now heads the Grade 8 and Junior Varsity teams.
“On my very first day at the school, Bruce Haddow came into my room and put a whistle on my desk,” laughed Miller.
He hasn’t looked back since.
