When Central Collegiate coach Cal Carter was handing out track and field awards to his students earlier this month, there was one final plaque at the bottom of the pile that he didn’t recognize.
As it turns out, it would be the biggest award of them all.
The plaque was actually for coach Carter himself, celebrating his 20 years of service to the South Central District Athletic Association and Moose Jaw high school sports in general.
Needless to say, it was a special honour indeed.
“I actually didn’t know anything about it,” Carter said with a laugh. “I came to the last award and it was ‘oh, this one is a little bigger, this is for…’ and it has my name on it. And then I found out you have to be nominated for it, so it’s pretty special that someone did that.”
It’s an honour that’s been more than two decades in the making, even dating back before the South Central district existed and Carter was coaching with the Thunder Creek School Division.
“It’s kind of crazy how time flies, I was looking back on track and field records and South Central district winners, and I was kind of amazed at how many kids I’d coached who had been successful at that level,” Carter said. “So it was kind of a cool look back.”
Since the photo of Carter with his award was posted on social media, he’s been in contact with all sorts of former students who he coached in the past -- some with messages that touched on just how much he meant to them back in the day.
“They’d talk about the impact I had on them where they were struggling or going through a hard time, and my thoughts and coaching philosophy and things like that had helped them through,” Carter said with a tone of amazement. “I was just blown away by that, you never know how you’re going to impact someone.”
It all started back when oldest son Reagan was a youngster and Cal started coaching in Little League and other sports. Once he started coaching high school sports it became a life-long project that involved everything from badminton to volleyball to track and field, with the latter two among his main focus these days.
His crews have also done a lot of winning over the years, too, including most recently with the Central track and field team and their back-to-back provincial aggregate championships.
Of course, none of it would be possible without all sorts of support. That includes wife Heather, who he describes as his biggest supporter and fan, as well as two of Moose Jaw’s high school sports luminaries in Renee Verge and Blake Buettner.
“Renee and Blake have been mentors for a long, long time for me, I’ve learned a lot from them,” Carter said. “It’s tough to follow in their shoes, but it’s a goal to try and obtain because of the high standards of excellence that they’ve set for Moose Jaw….A lot of the success Moose Jaw athletes have had has come through the hundreds and hundreds of kids they’ve coached over the years, and I was lucky enough to be able to learn from them.”
Now, the adventure continues, with Carter once again returning to the sidelines this fall and possibly starting another 20-year run.
“I don’t know, I hope so, I’d be around 75, but who knows. Let’s see if I can make it to 21 first,” he said with a laugh.
