It’s a four-acre plot of land right now, but if Blaine Moroz and the good folks in Brandon have their way, it will soon be the permanent home of football in Southwestern Manitoba.
And, just as important, it will serve as a legacy honouring Kevin Boyd, the long-time head coach at Crocus Plains High School and the dominant figure in football in the Wheat City who passed away suddenly in February, 2016 at the age of 46.
This Saturday’s Senior Bowl – showcasing the best graduating players in Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario – has always been about creating memories and honouring the past.
The two honourary coaches this year are Corey Kapilik, the founder of the football program at Miles Mac, and Boyd, whose passing hit Brandon hard.
Moroz and the football community in Westman are hoping events like the Senior Bowl can help draw more attention to their ‘Boyd Stadium’ project – a three-phase plan with an estimated cost of $800,000.
“He’s irreplaceable,” began Moroz, the head coach of the Crocus Plains junior varsity program, the offensive coordinator of the varsity team, and the president of the Westman Youth Football Association. “It’s a sad sorrow for him not to be there. It sits on my shoulders every day. There isn’t a day that I don’t miss him, there isn’t a day that I don’t talk to him. I carry him in my heart forever. I have his initials tattooed on my heart.”
Moroz was joined at Wednesday’s Senior Bowl press conference by Boyd’s widow, Jordanna, who has three sons still involved in the game – Logan, 18, a coach in the youth league; Erica, 14-years-old and playing high school ball, and Landon, a 10-year-old playing youth football.
“It’s a very, very nice tribute and I know he’d be incredibly touched by the honour,” said Jordanna of the Boyd Stadium project. “He’d say thank you and then turn around and talk about the kids he gets to coach and how football has had such a positive impact on his life and the lives of the kids that play.”
Born in Rivers, Manitoba, Boyd grew up in Brandon and played his high school ball at Crocus before heading to Minot State and being a supplemental draft choice of the Edmonton Eskimos.
He began coaching in 1993 and then joined the Plainsmen a year later. But he was more than just a man who drew up Xs and Os.
WHSFL Commissioner Rick Henkewich (L) and Blaine Moroz (R)
“Kevin had a real shine for taking the at-risk kids, or the kids who had low self-confidence, and making them believe they could be useful in some capacity,” Moroz said. “It’s one of the hardest things to do as a coach, to undo some of what some kids have heard when we get them. Kevin was a master of making every kid forget every tag that had ever been brought up until they got to high school. Everyone got the same, fresh start.”
“Kevin is single-handedly responsible for keeping some kids out of gangs in Brandon, he is single-handedly responsible for just keeping some kids alive.”
“When Kevin passed, I sent a message out to a select number of students on just the impact he had in their lives. The first message I got back said, ‘If I hadn’t met Coach Boyd, I’d be dead.’ I didn’t need to read any other messages from that point on. He gave his life for everybody else.”
The project is in the early stages, with the plan to have kids on the fields by the spring of 2018 (for more information on the project, visit: boydstadium.ca).
Several players and coaches from both Team Boyd and Team Kapilik were present at Wednesday’s press conference, including Rob Dinsdale, the man who replaced Boyd as head coach at Crocus Plains.
The media gathering was both inspirational and emotional for Dinsdale, who not only took over for Boyd after serving under him as defensive coordinator, but played for the man and parlayed it into a scholarship to Mount Allison University.
“Crocus football has always had Kevin there until last year,” said Dinsdale. “The weirdest thing is coming in and you could almost hear his voice on the field. Not hearing that… it’s different, because you can feel his presence there. It’s a very eerie feeling.”
Kickoff for Saturday’s WHSFL Senior Bowl at Investors Group Field is scheduled for 10 a.m.
