Twenty-seven years ago, a young teacher walked through the doors at then brand-new Meadowbrook Middle School in Airdrie.
The fresh-faced University of Calgary grad and football quarterback decided Meadowbrook could use a basketball team. So he ordered uniforms and put some kids on the floor, teaching them the fundamentals of the game.
The school would win league titles in its first three seasons of play while also winning three track-and-field championships.
So it’s no wonder, 27 years later, Cochrane High School (CHS) Cobras athletic director Rob McNab is entering the Alberta Schools Athletic Association Hall of Fame at a ceremony May 9 in Edmonton.
The 49-year-old math and physical education teacher has been coaching Cobras football for the last 22 years. The school has nine provincial football titles in his time at CHS, including this season’s Tier 3 Alberta crown. The Cobras senior girls basketball team, which he’s co-coached with Randy Peron and featured McNab’s elder daughter Kristen this season, has won the last two Rocky View Sports Association division banners. He’s also coaching the track-and-field team.
“I was nominated and fortunate enough to be placed in the coaching Hall of Fame,” says McNab, who is also collecting football coach-of-the-year honours alongside co-coach Bruce O’Neil, who nominated McNab for the Hall of Fame. “It’s quite a humbling experience because I know there are some fantastic coaches there.”
The fact that his countless hours spent with kids after school are volunteer hours doesn’t register with McNab. He’s just doing what he wants to do; what is right.
“Because I had such a positive experience growing up as an athlete in the Calgary school system, once I became a teacher I knew the importance of giving back,” he says. “So I’ll give back right until I retire, and maybe after that as well. Through all those positive coaches I had, I find it the right thing to do.”
And he does get paid, just not in dollars.
“I just love seeing the look on kids’ faces,” he states. “All the accomplishments they do, win or lose, it doesn’t matter. Sometimes, when they try something different; or we win a game here. Or even when we lose a game but played well, just the look on their faces.”
Those looks last a lifetime.
“The relationships I’ve gained with kids over the years has been incredible,” he relates. “Kids e-mail me and text me all the time. Those are memories in those kids; obviously, I’ve had a positive impact on those ones for sure.”
