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Local football community mourning loss of beloved coach

'It's a big loss for the football community and a shock for everyone,' former player says of retired Eastview teacher/coach; 'He won't be forgotten, that's for sure'
2020-05-15 Martin Carl 2
Martin Carl, who recently retired as a teacher at Eastview Secondary School in Barrie, died unexpectedly Thursday morning. He was instrumental in revitalizing high school football in Simcoe County. Contributed photo

The community is mourning the sudden death of well-known Barrie teacher and high-school football coach Martin Carl.

Carl was a familiar sight along the sidelines for many years, but he's also being remembered for how he helped his students not only on the field, but in the classroom and in their journeys. 

Brian Read recalls fondly the days he refereed Georgian Bay Secondary School Association football games involving Carl's Eastview Wildcats.

"He put his coach's face on at the sidelines, but his teams were always very respectful of the officials," Read said of Carl, who, along with Mark Welch, ran the Wildcats football program for several years. "Not just me, I know it was with other officials."

Read's admiration and respect for Carl didn't end there. Both his sons attended Eastview Secondary School and thought highly of Carl. When his youngest son, Matthew, had some issues at school, Carl was there to help Matthew through it.

"My youngest son struggled through high school and Martin always picked him up and helped him get through. Both (my wife) Lisa and I knew that Martin would lend a hand to Matthew any time he needed it," Read said of the retired 60-year-old high school teacher, who died unexpectedly Thursday morning.

Carl is survived by his loving wife, Eileen, and daughters Mackenzie and Whitney.

But Carl was more than just a coach and teacher for Read, he was a friend, one who had a major impact on his students and his community.

Read saw that when he attended Carl's retirement party about a year ago after watching former student after student get up and praise him for the difference he had made in their lives. 

"At the back of my (mind), to be honest, when Matthew was going to school and Martin was doing that, I wondered if Martin's helping out and doing it because of me and because he's known Lisa and I," said Read, who was an official for more than 35 years in the area. "But watching him over the years and coming away from the retirement party, that was Martin.

"It didn't matter that kid was Brian Read's son, one of the football referees. That's what Martin did."

Read believes Carl — who was at Eastview for nearly 30 years before retiring and coached several sports including hockey, softball and basketball — saved football in the region.

"There were some lean times when football in Simcoe County was starting to fall by the wayside, especially in high school," he explained. "But Martin, with assistance of the other coaches, always made sure it plugged ahead."

He knew of the countless hours Carl dedicated to the football program, including fundraising.

"Sunday night they had a spot for bingo there and he was the guy that always went to that," Read said.

Carl also ensured the kids got involved when the CFL opened up the window to allow schools to get down there.

"He made sure Simcoe County schools got to play at SkyDome (now Rogers Centre)," Read said of his friend, who was responsible for the OFSAA Bowl Series expanding from five to nine games.

Carl spent countless hours building football in the county. For several years, he was the league convener, a role that can be a thankless and complicated task. He still helped the Wildcats football program last fall after he retired.

"They do it for the kids, but Martin went over and above," said Read, who as president of the Georgian Bay Football Officials Association worked closely with Carl for some 25 years. "He made sure he ran the league, he did the scheduling. He was the go-between with the two school boards (public and Catholic), making sure that things meshed together. He went over and above that of being a coach."

Read, who now lives in Walkerton, is heartbroken over the loss of his friend.

"Everybody is in a complete state of shock right now," said the former Barrie police officer and head of the local police association. "This is a huge loss. I thought very highly of him before that retirement function, but I came away even more impressed when I left."

For Dave Morrison, he and Carl had a "double-barrel friendship: On the football field as opposing coaches and as teachers."

The retired Innisdale Secondary School teacher said his pride and joy in his days in the classroom was his creation, in 1999-2000, of the international program called Global Perspectives. The five-credit, fully integrated, high-end academic program attracts students from all over Simcoe County.

Yes, the program had to be great to attract students in those early days, but Morrison also needed people that were going to help him share his dream and help recruit students.

"Martin was one of the very first teachers that recognized its potential and helped us build it, by recruiting phenomenal students out of Eastview to transfer to Innisdale for one semester to take Global (Perspectives)," Morrison told BarrieToday. "He did that annually for us, literally from the second year of the program right the way through until he retired, long after I retired. His daughter (Mackenzie) took the program as well."

Morrison said Carl was incredibly adept at spotting talent on the field or in the classroom and says he was a great guidance counsellor, too.

"He really helped kids figure out what they needed to do to chase their dreams," Morrison said.

On the gridiron, the two competitors enjoyed the numerous battles they had.

"He was full of bluff and bluster and humour, and God knows football games could get intense," Morrison said of Carl. "He was an intense competitor, that's for sure."

Morrison fondly recalls the rivalry.

"Here are two grown men taking a game and what the kids are putting forth so seriously that they're standing 10 yards apart, sort of on their benches, but mostly toward the timer, yelling at each other," he said with a chuckle. "And I don't think either one of us had the slightest clue what words we were using. That wasn't the point. We just felt the need to have our intensity demonstrated to the kids, that we were as committed as they were and we both understood that.

"Neither one of us took (the jabbing back and forth) seriously. There was never any bad blood or whatever. We were just coaching the way we approached life and teaching and sports and everything else, which was with everything we had."

Carl, he says, will be greatly missed.

"Absolutely, there's no question about it," said the former Barrie alderman. "It's an incredibly tragic and sad loss for our community. It's also important to recognize that he, although gone far too soon, has left an incredible mark on our community and on the lives of young people through every aspect of both his career and personal life."

Former Edmonton Eskimos running back and Eastview star Brett Haenni last talked to Carl about a year ago. He played for Welch and Carl from 2002 through to 2007 and he believes the two coaches made the football program what it is today.

"They definitely made us better," he said. "Martin went through a ton of work to put together all sorts of exhibition games. The one year we ended up playing 15 games. We were joking we played the same as an NFL season because of all the exhibition games.

"He loved his players and he loved Eastview football and high school in general," Haenni added. "He was great to play for."

The Wildcats star running back remembers a 14-hour bus ride with the senior team to Thunder Bay. The guys wanted to put on some "less-than-appropriate" movies on for the drive, but the coaches said it was no-go.

When they fell asleep, one of the guys went up and threw on Team America, made by the same people who created South Park.

"Coach Carl woke up right in the middle of a scene with the puppet doing some inappropriate stuff," recalled Haenni, having a good laugh at the memory. "He didn't tell us until later, but he just pretended he went back to sleep because he didn't want to deal with it then.

"He liked to joke around with us. As much as he was a serious football coach and was serious in the practices, he liked to joke around. Especially with the older guys."

Haenni won a Georgian Bay title and OFSAA Bowl before going on to star at Acadia University and then the CFL. But it all started at Eastview under Carl.

"It's a big loss for the football community and a shock for everyone," he said of Carl's passing. "Everyone who played with or against Coach Carl has great memories, great things to say about him. He won't be forgotten, that's for sure."

Carl's death was also a shock for Martin DiSabatino, the Huronia Stallions Football Club's director of football operations.

"He'd call me when one of the (Eastview) kids were playing with the Stallions and stuff like that," said DiSabatino, who turned down a job with the Oshawa Hawkeyes under-22 team in the early 1990s and coached the Eastview senior team for a season after Carl asked him to step in and help out. "He always had a big heart for those kids. He'd come to our games in the summertime and come by the bench and say congratulations and say hello.

"I'm sure this is a difficult moment for them, because he had a lot of contact with those players and when they went on to other things, too. I know Martin talked a lot about the kids that were in university and playing football. He cared a lot about them."

DiSabatino admits he was taken back when he heard of Carl's death on Thursday morning.

"He was a big part of the (Eastview) football program and making sure there was a football program," he said. "It's a devastating loss for football, but, more importantly, for all the people he touched and got to know."


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Gene Pereira

About the Author: Gene Pereira

An award-winning journalist, Gene is former sports editor of the Barrie Examiner and his byline has appeared in several newspapers. He is also the longtime colour analyst of the OHL Barrie Colts on Rogers TV
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