Brantford Bisons Football has moved in a new direction for 2013; the era of three down football for the Junior Varsity and Varsity spring teams has arrived with our entrance into the Ontario Football Conference.
“The head coaches that were selected to lead our teams in this new direction have a wealth of football knowledge behind them, a top notch coaching staff and a plan to bring success on the field of play this spring.” stated Brad Ward, president of the Brant and District Football Club which operates the Bisons Football Program. “We are looking forward to a competitive season for all our teams in 2013.” Ward added.
Bisons Football is pleased to announce the spring rep season head coaches for the Varsity, Junior Varsity, Bantam and Peewee teams are as follows:
VARSITY HEAD COACH JIM JEAVONS
Coach Jeavons brings over 17 years of experience as a player and coach to the Varsity team for the 2013 season.
Jim started his football career playing for the Bisons and the Pauline Johnson Collegiate Thunderbirds, winning two OVFL championships with the Bisons and one BCCSA championship with the Thunderbirds. After graduating from high school, Jim was recruited by the University of Manitoba to continue his football career at the CIS level. Jim’s leadership abilities were recognized by his university coaches and he was made a captain in just his second year with the team. In 2007, the University of Manitoba went undefeated and won the Vanier Cup. After his university days, Jim played for the Bielefeld Bulldogs of the GFL as a player/coach. During the annual East-West game of that league, he came away with the MVP trophy.
Coach Jeavons began his coaching career at the young age of 20 when he was asked to join his old high school team, PJC, as the Offensive Coordinator. Since then, Jim has held a number of coaching positions at the high school level, most recently as the Offensive Coordinator for the St. John’s senior football team, guiding that team to the finals last year. Over the years, Jim has also participated in the University of Manitoba youth football camps where he would teach the young players all the fundamentals necessary to be a successful football player.
Jim has experienced success at every level of football he has participated in and plans on bringing that winning attitude to the Bisons Varsity team this spring. He has assembled a tremendous coaching staff that has a wealth of CIS experience and three down football. The players appear to be in good hands with head coach Jim Jeavons at the helm of the Varsity team for 2013 and should be able to achieve the next level in the development of their football skills by the time the spring season is completed.
JUNIOR VARSITY HEAD COACH ANTHONY ALLWOOD
Coach Allwood brings over 19 years of experience as a player and coach to the Junior Varsity team for the 2013 season.
Anthony started his football career in the Hamilton Minor Football League, playing later in high school at Sherwood Secondary School. During Anthony’s minor football career he spent five years attending Camp America, a football development camp in Cincinnati Ohio, where he caught the eye of Miami of Ohio University. Coach Allwood follows in the footsteps of his family where his father and mother led several youth teams in the Hamilton area to numerous championships and helped develop some future Canadian CFL players back in the 1980’s. Anthony was on several successful teams and was the recipient of Team and Defensive MVP awards. Anthony left football to focus to education and a career in the technology field where he now is the CEO of a North American based software company.
As a coach, Anthony has over a decade of coaching experience in youth sports, with a focus on football over the last six years. Anthony has coached within the Bisons organization from Tyke through to the Bantam level, coaching in SOFAL, OMFL and OVFL as a positional coach and coordinator. For the last two years Anthony has served as the Defensive Coordinator for the Brantford Collegiate Institute Mustangs at the senior level, helping to develop one of the stingiest defenses in the county. Anthony has spent much of the last two years working with the high school and attending numerous coaching and player development camps at the high school and university level to hone his coaching skills as a student of the game. Coach Allwood has studied the evolution of the game with a focus on three down football, something new to the Junior Varsity level this year, and is excited to bring this knowledge to the players.
After a two year hiatus from the Bisons, Anthony is returning to the Bisons sidelines and brings with him an extremely large and experienced coaching staff from across the city and county with a total of over 100 years of playing and coaching experience at many levels on the sidelines. With over a dozen positional coaches, coordinators, and positional assistants, the Junior Varsity staff will bring a high level of player development to the Bisons players and further their goals as football athletes and young adults.
BANTAM HEAD COACH BRAD SPENCER
Coach Spencer has over 18 years of playing and coaching experience that will be utilized at the Bantam level this spring.
Brad is a Pauline Johnson Collegiate Thunderbirds alumni player who developed his football skills during his playing days at the high school. Watching closely how the coaches conducted themselves during practices and games, the ground work was laid for a very successful coaching career for Brad.
Brad has a coaching history with a multitude of sports including basketball, soccer , hockey and T-ball. He began to focus on football ten years ago when he first started coaching with the Bisons. His coaching career includes stints as the Defensive Coordinator for various Bisons teams including being the head coach twice. Last fall the SOFAL Bantam Red team, with Brad as the Defensive Coordinator, not only led the league in defense but went 7-1 in the regular season and won the championship. The ultimate compliment to Brad’s skill as a coach came in 2012 when a select team of Ontario players headed down to Florida for a Pop Warner tournament and Brad was asked if he would consider being the Defensive Coordinator for the team.
The spring Bantam team has a tradition of sending the second year players off to Grade 9 in September well prepared for high school football. In fact, all of the Bantam players usually make their high school football team, 80% are starters with some even becoming captains. Under coach Spencer’s leadership, not only will this tradition continue for 2013 but with his creative approach to defense and attention to detail with the offense, the Bantams should be very competitive on the field of play for the spring season.
PEEWEE HEAD COACH RON WILCOCK
Coach Wilcock brings over 18 years of experience as a player and coach to the Peewee team in 2013.
Ron was a successful player for both the Bisons and his high school team, the Brantford Collegiate Institute Mustangs. Understanding the importance of each position and how everyone had to play as a team were instilled in Ron by his coaches and that philosophy led to Ron’s future success as a coach.
Coach Wilcock has coached with the Bisons for over 12 years, six as an assistant and six as a head coach, with most of those years spent teaching the basic fundamentals at the Peewee and high school levels that are so necessary for players to be successful as they get older. Ron has had a lot of success as a coach in the Bisons organization. He has the uncanny ability to put together a winning team, making the play-offs every year that he was a head coach and bringing one championship home to the Bisons. It is expected that this year will be no different.
The spring Peewee Division is the foundation of the spring season. For the first time, the players will begin to understand what it takes to be an all-star and start the long road to becoming a successful football player as they move up to the Bantam, Junior Varsity and Varsity divisions later in life . What the players learn at this level will last for the remainder of their playing careers. Coach Wilcock is the perfect coach to undertake this challenge; teach fundamentals, develop skills, pay attention to detail, work as a team and have success on the field of play. The foundation for the spring season is very strong indeed.
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