For the Barrie North Vikings Junior football team it was a perfect season with a championship to show for it; for the coaching staff it was sweet redemption.
Thursday afternoon’s Georgian Bay Secondary School Association (GBSSA) championship was a successful end to a 10-0 season by the junior Vikings as they defeated the St Joan of Arc Knights 28-7. The squad was lead by MVP Ethan Phillips who scored two touchdowns in the final held at Georgian College’s JC Massie Field. The 15-year-old running back and safety was very proud of himself and his teammates and what they accomplished in 2017.
“I’m very happy with what we did this year,” said Phillips. “The whole team all year was motivated to win each game; not really looking ahead to the next one but focusing on the game we had each day. I’m looking forward to continuing this success on the senior team next time.”
The senior Vikings made the news last year as a controversial decision by the GBSSA governing body deemed a Barrie North player ineligible due to a late paperwork filing which in turn eliminated the team from the finals they had reached. The coaching staff from that 2016 team was the same that lead the junior squad to victory today and head coach Gary Hamilton says that it while he is very proud of his boys today, there was lots of talk about redemption for the school.
“An undefeated season that really came together despite we as a coaching staff being new to the juniors and we weren’t sure what to expect; but these kids worked really hard and they deserve this win” said Hamilton. “We as a coaching staff had been with the seniors last year and had a championship opportunity basically taken from us and we had the conversation with these boys about it. We as group decided we were going to go play hard for the guys who missed out last year and especially for those who maybe last year it was their last chance. These kids out here were just selfless all year and gave it for each other, for the team and for the whole program. We are a very proud school right now.”
