By John DeCoste
Kings County Advertiser/Register
Kevin Hayes was surprised to learn he had been chosen Football Nova Scotia’s Minor Football Coach of the Year.
“Obviously our team (the Valley atom Bulldogs) did really well, but I’m relatively new to coaching. I expected it might have gone to someone with a little more experience,” he said.
The atom Bulldogs capped an outstanding season in 2011 by winning a provincial championship. They finished 10-1 and avenged their only loss to Halifax early in the year by beating them in the final.
“It feels great,” Hayes said of what he termed “a team award” rather than “anything I deserved as an individual.
“Dave McDowell, Trent Simmonds and I are a good team of coaches,” Haynes said, adding he feels the award really belongs to the three of them.
“You don’t always get experienced coaches at the entry levels. I feel our experience played a big part in our success as a team.”
Hayes played CEGEP football in Quebec following high school before being recruited to Acadia in 1988. Unfortunately, he suffered a neck injury, “and my university career ended up being very short.”
He and his wife Sue got married, and “ended up staying in the Valley.”
At first, his job involved a lot of travel. As his schedule allowed him more flexibility, Hayes began his coaching career in 2008 as an assistant to Jonathan Ingles at Central Kings.
“Once my sons got to be football age, I moved on to the Bulldogs.”
Hayes’ twin sons, Jack and Alex, both played for the atom Bulldogs in 2011. Alex was the quarterback and Jack a receiver. Both will move up a division to peewee starting this fall.
The elder Hayes will move up with them, as peewee head coach.
“I started coaching without my kids, because I love the game and I wanted to be able to give something back. From now on, I’ll probably move along with my kids as long as they’re Bulldogs.”
As for his coaching philosophy, Hayes stressed he, McDowell and Simmonds – and the other Bulldogs’ coaches – “try to incorporate the best skills possible, in order to make the experience as enjoyable and safe as possible for the players.
“We like to follow the (National Coaching Certification Program) philosophy,” he said, which is to “promote full participation, fair play and keeping the kids as active and as safe as possible.”
Hayes has also gotten involved in the administrative side of the game. He is vice-president of Valley Minor Football and is vice-president of the Nova Scotia Minor Football Association.
Valley Minor Football, he points out, “is transitioning into a new era. We’re building on what came before. We have some of the old hands, but there’s new blood as well.”
During the winter, the association purchased $16,000 in new equipment, and the clubhouse was finished.
Football in the Valley, Hayne said is “as solid as anywhere in the province. We started a mite division last season, and we’re looking to move it forward.
“We’ll have around 34 peewees this fall – in theory, we’re probably close to having two peewee teams – and last year’s second-year peewees will move up to bantam.”
Hayes readily acknowledges the role played by association pioneers like Randy Lawrence, Tom Nichols, Devon Adams, Larry Priestnall and Steve Melanson, both to the association’s, and his own, success.
“They’ve done a great job, and set the bat very high for us as an association,” he said. “I wouldn’t have ever been Coach of the Year without all they’ve done for minor football in the Valley.”
