John Foord retires as LeBoldus head coach – Regina | The Canadian News

After more than 30 years of coaching in the Regina High School football ranks, and 15 years as the High School Dr. Martin LeBoldus head coach, John Foord retires in a lesser role.

From 2006 to 2021, Foord led the Golden Suns to seven city and provincial championships, including five straight from 2012 to 2016, with victories in 2008 and 2019 as well.

Foord and LeBoldus players celebrate a 2015 provincial championship victory in Saskatoon.

Foord has served as a positional coach on the LeBoldus coaching team for 10 years from 1991, and has learned some valuable lessons along the way.

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“I think I just learned about passion and work ethic, and also the old saying that children will not care what you know unless they know you care,” Foord said.

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As for the secret of the success Foord enjoyed during his coaching career, he praised his positional coaches and support staff.

“I think surrounding yourself with wonderful people is the key, many hands make less work and of course someone gave me good advice to bring in the best quality people and surround yourself with them and they will make you look very good , “said Foord.

Foord speaks of the offense through a play during a winter rehearsal at LeBoldus.

Photo courtesy of John Foord

“Coaching was a lot of fun for me. I’ve made so many good relationships and have so many good memories of coaching, and I remember former offensive coordinator John Hashem once told me that one of the biggest compliments you can give a player is to make them a future coach. to name and leader. And one thing I’m most proud of is that we have a lot of leaders in our program who are past players. ”

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The current LeBoldus coaching staff is an excellent example of this, with the receivers’ coach Daniel Scraper, the defensive line coach Eric Wicijowski, the defensive line coordinator Joey Todd, the attacking line coach Tanner Sokalofsky, the defensive backs, Kurtis even writing this article. . , who all played football under the leadership of Foord.

John Foord celebrates a provincial championship victory in 2019 with his son Jack.

Photo courtesy of John Foord

Foord says the timing of his departure from the head coaching role is right, in part because his son Jack has just completed his final year as the team’s starting fullback. Foord also wants to take a step back from the strict demands of the job to spend more time with his family, and he knows the team will be in good hands.

“I know our staff is very strong at LeBoldus. “We have very good character, quality people there and at some point you have to say, ‘Hey, I think it’s time to hand over the torch and let someone else run with it for a while,'” Foord said. .

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Foord will hand over head coach duties to Ryan Giesbrecht, who teaches at LeBoldus and has been on the coaching team for five years.

“I think the best thing I learned from John was that I could see the administration side of how he managed the football team, the side of the field of how he managed the football team, and I had to see the relationships you with the coaches and players of the head coaching role, ”said Giesbrecht.

Giesbrecht knows that Foord’s big shoes are to be filled, but is not one to shy away from a challenge.

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“I’m nervous, but I’m looking forward to the opportunity to learn and I know with the coaching staff we have in place, we have the opportunity to be very successful,” said Giesbrecht.

Giesbrecht says he learned a lot about the game at Foord during his five years as a positional coach, but that’s a completely different aspect that he respects most of Foord.

“The biggest thing for me is the team culture that John built with the players, coaches and support team. This is something I really admire, ”said Giesbrecht.

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Although Giesbrecht has learned the intricacies of football at Foord, it is not to say that the new head coach will not choose Foord’s brain for years.

“I will probably ask John a thousand questions every day. He is a library of football knowledge and I plan to visit that library quite a bit, ”said Giesbrecht.

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Reference-globalnews.ca

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