Nov 10, 2020
Go ahead, pick any situation that might play out on a football field. Gavin Lake has dealt with it.
“I had a 40-year-old father and his 17-year-old son on the same team one time,” the new London Beefeaters head coach said. “That was during my three years in Austria. They had different divisions and relegation just like in soccer. If you’re striving and your club is healthy, you can move up and if you’re struggling, you can go down.”
Lake arrived in the country without any knowledge of German. One of the mandates of his contract was to go to a public school each week and introduce flag football. “They just didn’t have any experience or coaches to teach them,” he said. “Most of them played soccer and didn’t use their hands, so you had to teach them to catch the ball. You had guys there who were pro-level physically, but skill-wise, still in Grade 8. So this is how they grew the grassroots of the North American game. Now, they have five divisions in their league.
“It’s a diamond over there and I absolutely loved every minute.”
The well-travelled Lake delivers a familiar gusto and joy to every stop on his 26-year (and counting) coaching journey. Originally from Newmarket, he played university football at York and designed his life and career so he could stay in the game. He has drawn up plays and schemes at both ends of the country and at every possible level — from the Canadian Football League to the high school ranks. “You have to be prepared to move,” Lake said. “The top of the pyramid in Canada is really small. There are nine pro teams, 27 universities and 18 or 19 junior clubs. You can hit a ceiling pretty fast. CFL staffs are hard to crack and there are a lot of American coaches, so there are few opportunities beyond certain levels. “You take positions where you can get them.”
Lake won a Grey Cup ring with the Toronto Argonauts in 2017 and had a stint with the B.C. Lions. He made two Vanier Cup trips under Blake Nill with Saint Mary’s and Calgary. He’s reached two Canadian Bowl finals in junior and had successful high school runs in Nanaimo, B.C., and in London with the South Lions.
Lake has coached every position and signing on to replace Jesse Maddox wasn’t even his first brush with the Beefeaters. “In the late ’90s, one of my players in Nanaimo (future Iowa State receiver Scott Horne) was looking to play beyond Grade 12,” he said. “Ontario still had OAC (Grade 13) so I had been talking to Mike Circelli about him going to Catholic Central. We go way back and when Mike resurrected the Beefs 20 years ago, I was going to coach with him, but I took a job out west so it didn’t come to fruition.”
Seven years ago, Lake did move here with his wife, a Perth County paramedic. J-P Circelli, Mike’s son, offered him an assistant spot with the Jr. Mustangs junior varsity team. That led to a position at South, where he helped one of the better squads in recent high school memory. “I’ve won a championship at every level, won in multiple provinces and in Europe,” Lake said. “Barring an NFL job, there are no secrets behind the curtain. My expectation has always been the same. I want to give back and contribute in my backyard and for the first time, I can balance home, my job and football life. “That was the attraction.”
He has already scaled the Canadian Junior Football League mountain the Beefeaters, Ontario champs and national semifinalists in 2019, hope to climb. “I was part of one of only three teams in B.C. history to beat the (six-time defending champs) Saskatoon Hilltops in a playoff game,” he said of his time with the Vancouver Island Raiders. “In London, I look at how Western is at the pinnacle and think why not us, too? There are a lot of people excited to see this team win and it’s something we can build on. “We want to enhance the successful new culture put in place by Jesse Maddox and (previous coach) Chris Marshall.”
The Ontario Football Conference season was cancelled this year because of COVID-19 and will have a new look when it restarts in 2021. The Quinte Skyhawks, led by former Western quarterback Warren Goldie, will replace the Niagara Regional Raiders. “Warren will have the support of (Londoner) Steve Snyder, the head coach at Queen’s,” Lake said. “When you look at them, Hamilton, St. Clair (Windsor) and Ottawa, it’ll be a very competitive season. I see Greg Marshall and the Mustangs have done a great job again bringing in players and if he has a recruit he loves that maybe needs a season with us, I want to help with that. “Given my experience, I think we can.” The Beefs continue with weekly informal outdoor throw-arounds at City Wide Sports Park until the weather turns. “It’s limited and no pads, but being outside, you can have more people involved right now,” he said. “It’s a taste of what’s to come and soon, I’ll be able to step in and make my mark on the program.”
rpyette@postmedia.com
Reviewed by Coach Lake
on
December 08, 2020
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