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Another $60,000 was rasied last night for community football programs across at the BC Lions annual Orange Helmet Awards banquet.
Longtime and current BC Community Football Association president Joe Gluska was honoured with the Bob Ackles Lifetime Achievement Award last night as the Lions celebrated pioneers and champions in amatuer football at our annual Orange Helmet Awards.
Gluska, who currently resides in West Kelowna, has been involved with amateur football in British Columbia for over 50 years as a player, coach and executive. A former high school player with the Notre Dame Jugglers and UBC Thunderbirds, Gluska has been president of the BCCFA since 2000 and has overseen the creation of the 9-Man Provincial Championship and is one of the main forces responsible for the exponential growth of Flag Football in the province.
Gluska has coached the BC High School Football level, winning several provincial titles with his alma mater at Notre Dame, as well at UBC where he won a national championship and at the Community level. He is also a former president of Football BC.
Previous Bob Ackles Lifetime Achievement Award winners include Larry Reda, Lorne Davis, Lorne Cullen, Ron White, Frank Smith, Bob Ackles (award renamed in his honour in 2009), Cal Murphy, George Oswald, Jack Armour and Bill MacGregor.
The event, which recognized 2013 provincial champions for all levels of amateur football in BC, featured CFL and NFL great Jeff Garcia as the keynote speaker. “For me, sports, at very young age, was a way to be great, to express myself”, Garcia told the 700+ crowd. “It gave me the confidence that I could great things.”
Now in its 12th year, the 2015 Orange Helmet Awards also recognized those at the coaching level who have dedicated their careers to community football programs with the Community Coach of the Year, Scholastic Coach of the year and Bob Ackles Lifetime Achievement awards. The dinner also acts as a fundraiser for grassroots football with more than $750,000 raised to date.
The Lions also raise funds for amatuer football through their 50/50 draw at home games. Through the combination of those two initiatives, the club has raised over $2.7 million to date.
Other notable winners in the Pioneer category at this year’s awards were the late Brian Prentice, a founding director and president of the Big 4 Football Conference; Bill Cole, a longtime coach with the Notre Dame Jugglers high school football team in East Vancouver; and Paul Shortt, a decorated coach from Victoria who was instrumental in the growth of football on Vancouver Island and is a former president of the BC Football Conference.
Mark Townsend (Mt. Douglas Rams, Victoria) took home the Scholastic Coach of the Year award, while Kendall Gross (Kelowna Minor Football) was presented with the Community Coach of the Year award.
For the complete list of 2015 winners CLICK HERE