For Roby Sharpe and the Yorkton Regional High School Raider Gridders, it was a stroke of luck.
For Preeceville football Head Coach, Jason Boyda, it was a great opportunity.
Jason Boyda, the renowned and admired Head Coach of the Preeceville football program, will be heading to Yorkton in the fall.
Upon his arrival he will be taking on a new role, as offensive coordinator of the YRHS Raider Gridders football team.
For Boyda, who has accepted a teaching job at Yorkdale Central School, the chance to work with some of Yorkton's greatest football minds was not one he was going to pass up.
"An opportunity to coach with the Raiders coaches that they have there right now; Coach Sharpe, Coach Redmond, Coach Wallace, Jason Payne... (they're) a great bunch of guys and I thought it would be kind of neat to be a part of that with them," he recalls.
For the educator and football coach, the chance to move to Yorkton was motivated by a number of factors - including proximity to family in Regina.
"I heard nothing but good stuff from Yorkdale Central School," Boyda adds.
While perhaps not as important, the football reasons for the move were also enticing.
As Boyda details, the ability to move from a six-man to a twelve-man football program is a great step for coaches who enjoy the technical aspects of the twelve-man game.
Boyda will be replacing outgoing offensive coordinator Mark Schendel.
Boyda knows that Schendel has set the bar high and he hopes to incorporate some of his techniques in the offensive gameplan.
"Over the years (Mark's) done a fantastic job with the Raiders offence,"?Boyda emphasizes, "(I'll) take a little bit of what he's done, take a little bit of what I've done here in Preeceville in the six-man but... tune it up towards the twelve man game and kind of make a mix of it. Basically we just want to put our guys in the best position to allow them to be successful on the field."
With the way that football is evolving throughout the province, Boyda makes it clear that he will be a flexible coach and cater to his personnel.
"The run game is really important in Sask-at-ch-e-wan because of the weather... (Although) it just depends on your personnel. That's kind of what we're hoping to do with the Raiders, just build that offence around our strengths and put them, hopefully, in a position to score touchdowns for us."
Upon learning that a teaching job was available in Yorkton, Boyda details how he just wanted to be a part of the YRHS?Raiders program, regardless of what he was coaching.
"I didn't care where I was?(in the coaching ranks), I just wanted to be somewhere," he recalls.
While relieved that he was assigned the offensive coordinator position, as opposed to, as Boyda jokes, "Waterboy," the Phys. Ed teacher is excited for football season to arrive.
For YRHS?head football coach, Roby Sharpe, the feeling is mutual - especially when he had the chance to bring Boyda on board.
"For us to get Boyda, the year Schendel steps down... I know we play football obviously, but it's like hitting a home run," Sharpe explains.
While he is happy to have the coach on board, Sharpe does emphasize that Boyda will be missed by many in Preeceville.
"I actually feel sorry for the town of Preeceville because he did a lot there. There's the old saying, what's one place's loss is another place's gain. I think we've gained a lot by getting him."?
The challenge of incorporating a coach of Boyda's calibre was a welcome one for Sharpe, especially considering the qualifications that Boyda brings from Preeceville.
"A coach of that calibre, I didn't want to give him just a menial, little job. He had to have a significant job, he's coming from being a head coach. He started that program in Preeceville (and) took them to the Provincial championship within six years of starting the program...,"?Sharpe says.
?While Boyda will soon be coming to Yorkton, his responsibilities in Preeceville are not yet over.
The 14th Annual Can-Am Bowl XIV will be coming to Preeceville on July 3 at 1:00 p.m.
As Boyda, one of the main organizers, explains, "The community... did a really good job of supporting this exciting international all-star game."?
The international all-star game will include 40 of the best six-man football players from Canada and the United States.
The Can-Am Bowl is a one-game, winner-take-all competition between the two countries for football supremacy.
The Can-Am Bowl is not just a one-game event. The "CanAm Experience", as Boyda calls it, will be evident throughout the week in Preeceville and the surrounding area.
Anyone looking for further information on the CanAm Bowl can visit the official website.
The address is http://www.eteamz.com/canambowlxiv/
