Grant Park Pirates reflect on season

Getting to the finals for Grant Park's football team was the result of teamwork and, as tv coach Ted Lasso would say, having the courage to "Believe." 

The Grant Park Pirates are the smallest school playing Division 1 football and the only Winnipeg School Division program playing in Division 1. The team gave everything they had this season to make it to the end. As coaches will remind us, rankings reflect past performance, and the coaching staff at Grant Park were looking forward to representing WSD at the highest level.

Head coach Doug Kovacs maintains the success was a team effort, and he doesn't mean just on the field.

"The coaching staff, led by Darryl Gershamn on defence and Mike Deneka, did an outstanding job of getting us ready to play weekly," shared Coach Kovacs. "And the constant support of staff and faculty at Grant Park High School played a key role as they support our student-athletes daily. Our football operations manager Lindsey Trudeau helped keep the team on course and, the administration team at Grant Park made this all possible."

During the regular season, the Pirates knocked off St. Paul's and Vincent Massey and were working hard going into the playoffs. 

"With the loss of a year due to the pandemic, we understood the importance and privilege of this game and didn't take anything for granted," shared Coach Kovacs.

The Dakota Lancers junior varsity football team beat the Oak Park Raiders in the Winnipeg High School Football League's junior varsity championship game, the Home Run Sports Bowl, on November 15, having beaten Grant Park in the semi-final on November 8.

Despite this loss, the memories of the season are something the school and team celebrate. "If you build up great kids, the winning will take care of itself and our school environment does just that. We are focused on making good people in the classroom, in the community and on the field," shares Coach Kovacs. "Holding kids to high standards and pushing them beyond their comfort zones creates a championship mindset."

With his small but might approach, Coach Kovacs might be the "Ted Lasso" of Winnipeg high school football. The experience of this season will surely set the stage for next year with a more attuned focus and deeper understanding of their opponents' weak spots. As Coach noted, "Grant Park High School is one of the smallest schools in the WHSFL and constantly performs at the highest level. This is a credit to the coaching staff, faculty and administration at Grant Park." 

How do they plan to keep the momentum going? "The kids have dealt with adversity for the last 18 months and have shown tremendous resilience." Coach Kovacs and his team didn't take home the trophy, but what they learned from a stellar season makes a future championship win closer than ever. "Our program is looking forward to testing ourselves at the highest level," he said. 

Raise the Flag, GO PIRATES!