In Gavin Lake’s mind, there isn’t much grey area when it comes to his mandate as the new head coach of the Okanagan Sun.
Putting a championship-calibre team on the football field – now rather than later – is job No. 1 for the 40-year-old native of Newmarket, Ont.
“I want the existing players to know I’m going to work with them, I want the existing coaches to know I’m going to work with them, and we’re going the build something special here,” said Lake.
“I’m looking to win now. I know there’s CIS talk and all that jazz, but until we beat the (Vancouver Island) Raiders, until we beat the (Saskatoon) Hilltops…until we beat the (Langley) Rams, that doesn’t mean anything to me. My investment here is to win now.”
Lake arrived in Kelowna last week from his previous job in Europe where he was head coach of the Amstetten Thunder of the Austrian second division for one season. His resume also includes stops with the Raiders, University of Calgary Dinos, Simon Fraser Clan, and in the Canadian Football League as an assistant coach with the B.C. Lions.
He replaces Jason Casey who resigned to take on a job at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont.
From Lake’s perspective, coming to Kelowna to take on the Sun’s top field position was both an attractive and logical move for his coaching career.
“I’m at the stage in the pyramid in my career where if I’m not head coaching or I’m not an assistant in the professional leagues, I’m not interested,” said Lake, who first moved to B.C. in 1994. “Quite simply the Sun offer came at a time when it’s one of the marquee franchises in Junior football. The Sun have had a quality tradition that I thought, you know what, if they’ve got the infrastructure already in place, we can get some recruiting, we can get everybody on the same page, then we can be a real power here.”
Unlike most Sun head coaches of the past, Lake won’t hold a second job during the football season, allowing him to focus all his energies on the B.C. Football Conference club.
Combining Lake’s passion and knowledge of the game, Sun GM Jay Christensen likes what he brings to the table.
“In all the people we talked to about Gavin, the comments were all strong, all positive, and the common thing that came back is that he was a football guy. He eats, sleeps and drinks football,” said Christensen. “He’s been on championship teams in Calgary, B.C. and Nanaimo, and he’ll have the ability to translate that here.”
With Christensen and the Sun’s board of directors taking a hands-off approach, the GM said Lake will be allowed to run the on-field product on his own terms.
In addition, Christensen said Lake will also ultimately decide on the final configuration of the Sun coaching staff for 2012.
And Lake promises to leave no stone unturned in making the best personnel decisions possible for the football team.
“My No. 1 issue is to meet all the coaches, let’s get on the same page right away and I want them all to be comfortable knowing that I’m going to work with them,” he said. “They’ve gone through three head coaches in four years, there’s going to have to be an element of trust, built and earned, so I don’t want to shake that early. Let’s see if I can help them be better coaches, and let’s see if we can build a family outfit.”
Lake will get to know a lot more about his coaches and players when he conducts his first spring camp as head coach of the Okanagan Sun from May 4 to 6.
The Sun will open the 2012 BCFC season Saturday, Aug. 4 at the Apple Bowl against Langley.
