Thomas Dumbrille says he always wanted to coach football, but didn’t get the chance right away when he first started teaching at Rothwell-Osnabruck Districf High School.
That is because it was a school that didn’t field a team.
He got his wish when he joined the coaching staff of the T.I.S.S Pirates, winning a total of six Leeds Grenville Secondary School Athletics Association championships, and is now the new head coach for the junior varsity Kingston Grenadiers of the OVFL.
Dumbrille has been with the Grenadiers for the past four years, so he is no stranger to the Kingston way of doing things.
He is part of a myriad of coaches with a wealth of experience joining the junior varsity coaching staff this year, including Tom Bell, who started the Rideau Youth Football League in Brockville, and Tim Pendergast, Head Coach of the Holy Cross Crusaders of the Kingston Area Secondary School Athletics Association.
Upon coming to Kingston, Dumbrille says his son always wanted to play for the Grenadiers, and that factored into him coaching on the defensive side of the ball there.
“Last year when my son Wade went to senior, I went to senior with him,” he said. “Then this year this changed with Bob Mullen and Warren Goldie leaving.”
Then, governor Peter Wilkie approached Dumbrille with an offer he couldn’t refuse.
“The opportunity came when Peter called me one night and said, ‘we need a junior Head Coach, are you interested?'” he recalled. “I said sure and this is kind of where it ended up.”
“Opportunity knocked and I answered.”
A teacher by profession, Dumbrille says he approaches the players on his team much as he does students in the classroom.
“I instill a fair policy,” said Dumbrille. “I don’t drop on kids – I treat kids like adults. I don’t treat them like they’re children.”
“My policy seems to work with the kids that I teach, and it seems to work on the football field. I treat them on a one-to-one basis and I don’t talk down to them.”
The policy has paid off so far for the junior varsity squad. In their first game of the season, the Grenadiers triumphed over the Durham West Dolphins, 12-6.
“I think our defence right now is quite strong,” added the Grenadiers Head Coach. “I think there’s still some things to learn.”
“I’m a defensive-minded guy naturally, that’s where I cut my teeth, and I’m still in the process of learning offence, which is where I rely on Tim. He knows his offence from his years at HC.”
The team will now go on the road for to back-to-back games against Cumberland Panthers and Halton Cowboys. These are two games in which the Grenadiers’ mark will be tested.
“I’m looking forward to this game against Cumberland,” says Dumbrille. “In my opinion they deserved to win that final game against Myers in the Conference Championship, and it didn’t turn out that way.”
“That’s the way it bounces, sometimes it doesn’t go your way.”
With only one game down this season, Dumbrille is excited to see how the junior varsity Grenadiers season will unfold.
“I’m looking forward to having a great season,” said the Head Coach. “I have 100 percent trust in my coaching staff and 100 percent trust in my kids.”
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