On Wednesday, when W.J. Mouat Hawks running back Devin Logan signed a letter of intent to seal a football scholarship from the University of Saskatchewan, it was a tribute to his considerable athletic ability.
But it was so much more than that.
It was a success story for the local school system, an homage to patient parenting, and a salute to Logan’s own persistence in the face of a serious learning disability that could have derailed everything a long time ago.
As a youngster, anger defined Logan’s personality. He struggled to comprehend and communicate, and in frustration he’d lash out at those around him.
“There were a lot of issues,” his stepmom Tanya said, recalling Devin at age six. “He was very, very angry. This was something he had no choice in.
“He was violent. He never hit me, but he would hit Frank (his dad). It was awful. I took three months off work to focus on him.”
Two factors combined to turn things around for the youngster. During his Grade 1 year at Abbotsford’s North Poplar Elementary, sympathetic school administrators steered him to the behaviour management program at McMillan Elementary. It was there that he learned coping mechanisms to deal with what was eventually diagnosed as receptive-expressive language disorder.
“Sometimes it’s hard for me to understand questions,” Logan explained. “My mind will shift it around and I’ll get confused really easily.”
Just as importantly, Logan gained a physical outlet when his parents registered him in football – first with the Abbotsford Falcons community program, and later with the Chilliwack Giants. The aggressive nature of the game was therapeutic, and little by little, his anger issues ebbed away.
Over the years, Logan would grow into one of the province’s top running backs. Last fall, he finished second in the B.C. AAA league with 1,280 rush yards and 18 touchdowns, en route to all-province honours. The 5’10”, 190-pounder also led the league with two punt return TDs and added another major on a kickoff return.
Hawks head coach Denis Kelly said Logan is the second-most talented running back he’s worked with over 25 years at Mouat, next to Boseko Lokombo. That’s extremely high praise. Lokombo, a class of 2009 grad who is currently starring at linebacker with the NCAA’s Oregon Ducks, is one of the brightest football prospects B.C. has ever produced. And Mouat has had a plethora of talented ball-carriers over the years, including recent AAA players of the year Bobby Rau (2005) and John Smeysters (2006).
Logan boasts blazing speed, but Kelly said it’s his vision that sets him apart.
“He reads the field extremely well,” Kelly said. “He sees the spots he’s got to go to, and he’s great at avoiding tackles and getting as much out of each run as is there.”
Logan’s vision extended to his schoolwork. Prior to Grade 11, he’d been taking abridged courses that would yield a high school diploma, but wouldn’t meet university entrance requirements. With a football scholarship in mind, he took a full slate of advanced classes, and battled through his learning disability to grind out passing grades.
Logan could hardly have found a better post-secondary destination than the University of Saskatchewan. In addition to its perennial powerhouse football team, the Saskatoon school offers a unique transition program, with smaller class sizes and technological aids to help students with learning disabilities make the jump to university.
“Instead of walking in with my head down, I can walk in with my head up,” the 18-year-old said with a smile. “It’s going to be easier for me to understand what’s going on, instead of sitting there like a deer in the headlights, missing a whole bunch of information that I need to know.”
Understandably, Logan’s parent, are practically bursting at the seams with pride these days.
To name everyone who helped Devin along the way, from coaches to teachers to principals, would take over an hour, according to Tanya. But in the end, it all comes back to a determined young man.
“Twelve years ago I told him, standing up in his room, that I can lead you in the right direction, but everything you do, you’ve got to do it on your own,” Frank said. “You’ve got to make the decision that you want to do it. And he did.
“Often kids in his situation, with his diagnosis, they cave in and quit. But I’ve never known of any time where he wanted to quit. He just kept going.”
