The OFSAA TIMEOUT Podcast

It’s a Presidential Roundtable! Two former OFSAA presidents reflect on their own personal experiences as a student-athlete, coach, convenor and as president within the organization. Margie McGill  and  Ian Press  share insight on their leadership style and how it led to their own success in the president’s role. What do they see as current challenges facing school sport? Who do they put on their o...

Meet the Wessinger family!  Students Jack, Reese and Riley Wessinger attend Our Lady of the Bay Catholic High School in Collingwood and each one just finished competing at OFSAA championships this winter. Jack hit the Osler Bluff ski slopes at the OFSAA Alpine Championship while older siblings Reese and Riley took to the pool in Windsor at the OFSAA Swimming Championship at the end of February. Wh...

Long-time OFSAA advocates Heather Chambers and Barry Mutrie hint at some of the fun initiatives we can expect during OFSAA's 75th Anniversary in 2023-24. Both are well-connected members of the Anniversary Planning Committee. As two individuals who have done it all with school sports during their life, both also reflect on their own experiences while sharing meaningful advice for aspiring high scho...

Well, you don’t have to be a baseball fan to enjoy the roundtable on this particular show – but – Toronto Blue Jays fans will most certainly enjoy it. Blue Jays Sportsnet Central analyst Joe Siddall checks in and delivers messages for all coaches drawn from his years as a high school coach in his hometown of Windsor after a career in the big leagues. Joe started in the Southwestern Ontario basebal...

Half A Century At The Coaching Helm! Are you ready for some football? Harry Lumley believes structure and fairness are the pillars to his coaching success. He should know - he's only been coaching high school football in Windsor for 56 years! A 2012 inductee of the Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame, Harry, 76, has won 20 city championships as either an assistant or head coach. His gridiron...

OFSAA championships and festivals returned in October for the first time in 19 months. How did we get here and what does an OFSAA event look like in 2021? Two integral members of the OFSAA leadership group - President Carolyn Chesney And Acting Executive Director Shamus Bourdon - provide clarity and background on how the organization reached the point of a return to provincial championsh...

Coach. Teacher. Mentor. Friend. All of these words aptly describe this episode's special guest to those of us in the school sport community. A former high school teacher with a 37 year background in coaching has seen it all. The highly-respected Peter Morris reflects on a career in this episode that will entertain aspiring coaches and ones that have been around the block a time or two. Over the ye...

Three years following the Humboldt Broncos' tragic bus crash, we hear from one of the team's captains, Kaleb Dahlgren . The 23-year old is joined in conversation with Sportsnet Central Host Martine Gaillard . They discuss his new book "Crossroads", diabetes, community, support teams, the loss of recent high school championships and a host of other important topics. You won't want to miss hearing a...

Find out about the movement that is the "Red Shirt Effect" ! In the absence of sports over the last 12 months, Athletics Coordinator Michelle Lange has spear-headed a popular virtual training program to generate positive mental and physical well-being among teenagers. The goal is to assist athletes during this pause so that they are reinvigorated when the time comes to try out for for school teams...

Dedication Leads To Opportunity Mallory Mackesy , 16, is multi-sport student-athlete at Saltfleet District High School in Stoney Creek and her dedication to field hockey has not gone unnoticed. Hear about her motivations and her thoughts on what it has been like for one high school athlete to miss out on OFSAA championship due to COVID-19 over the last calendar year. Not one to sit still, Mallory...

 It's a STUDENT TAKEOVER on this edition!   Sort of... The female and male recipients of the 2020 OFSAA Character Athlete Award - Grace Petsnick of Fort Frances High School and Tristan Smith of École secondaire publique Maurice-Lapointe in Kanata -  share high school memories, thoughts on their unusual graduation year and let us in on their post-secondary plans. Both will recei...

Roy Rana is one of the most influential figures in Canadian Basketball. He reflects fondly on the many rewards of coaching high school basketball at C.W. Jefferys and Eastern Commerce. He started coaching in high school at age 24 and he hasn't looked back. Rana stands by the theory of "be willing to take risks!" After decorated tenures at the high school and university level, Rana is currently in...

EPISODE #4: A trade-off of veal sandwiches in return for more playing time for a player on his hockey team? Gerry Dee lets us in on this story, and others like it, from his high school coaching days on the next episode of The OFSAA TIMEOUT Podcast. The host of Family Feud Canada and Mr. Dee certainly has the real life background across high school athletics to inform and entertain on Episode Four...

"It's okay not to be okay".   This episode is an educational discussion for coaches and student-athletes . Krista Van Slingerland is our guest and she educates us on an important topic in today's society and sporting landscape - Mental Health Literacy In Sports. Krista is the co-founder, and recently named executive director, of the CANADIAN CENTRE FOR MENTAL HEALTH AND SPORT . Based in Ottaw...

Join us for our "Roundtable" comprised of three current female teacher-coaches from different regions of the province. It's a candid discussion on how high schools can engage girls to start and maintain an active lifestyle through high school sports and physical education.

TSN's award-winning broadcaster, James Duthie stops by to relive his high school football and soccer glory days while growing up in Ottawa. He also shares a few humorous stories from the hockey desk at TSN.