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Three
educators honoured Long time football coach Fran Hughes may have been honoured Monday for his part in bringing high school football to the city, but that doesn't mean the end of his involvement with the sport. Just minutes after receiving a Saint John High School T-shirt and plaque in appreciation of his 30 years of coaching at the school, he was recruited by teacher Barry Ogden. "I'm going to need your help with that new Atlantic Football League we're starting," Ogden told him. "Just give me a holler," Hughes replied with a wave as he headed out the SJHS theatre door. Hughes, along with Fran McHugh and former Saint John High principal Dennis Knibb, were feted during an assembly at SJHS on Monday morning. McHugh and Hughes were both coaching at St. Malachy's Memorial High School back in 1969 when McHugh established the first high school football team in the city. The next year, Hughes went to SJHS and started a football team there. For McHugh, football's draw was that it involved a large number of students. "It was one activity with 50 kids involved, which meant it was very efficient," he said. "That was my big motivation. It was about character building." It wasn't easy to get the sport going, though, he recalls. "The administration at the time was quite fearful it was going to interfere with the rugby program. We met a lot of resistance, but once it proved to be an adjunct to the rugby program, it was a little easier after that. The beginning was very difficult." Hughes, who still coaches basketball at Rothesay High School, where he began his teaching career, retired from teaching 14 years ago. "It's amazing," he said, looking around the SJHS auditorium at the students who, unsolicited, gave the three men a standing ovation. "These kids don't even know me. It's pretty nice." McHugh coached football for 15 years and retired from teaching at St. Malachy's in 1995 after 34 years. He still goes to the games when he can. "It's very satisfying to see how it's grown not only in Saint John but throughout the province. It's a big sport now." Over the years, there have been many instances where people would confuse McHugh and Hughes. "I would get calls from people who thought I was Fran Hughes," McHugh said. "After a while I just stopped correcting them and went with it and pretended I was him. And he did a lot of that with me. We had a lot of fun with it over the years." Knibb, who retired in 1992, found the tribute "emotional. "It reflects the camaraderie between Saint John High and St. Malachy's and it's a tribute to the teachers who have given so much of their time to coaching and other extracurricular activities. "It's very humbling and very good to be back in the old school. "Vita vitalis," he said, reiterating the school's motto. Master of ceremonies Ogden said he organized the event to impress upon students the importance of giving back to the community. "They put in enormous time," he said. "These people need to be recognized and we need to do this in front of our youth so that they know when we're passing the torch, that they have to pick it up "They have been the benefactors of all this hard work and dedication. It's not just about teaching kids subjects and coaching teams and skills; it's about building character and commitment and discipline and a love for community." It's been 40 years since Knibb sent for Hughes to come to SJHS's phys ed program. "I just thought it was time that we said 'thank you,' " Ogden said. |