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Driven coach Mike Tutty creating a basketball dynasty at OSS

His teams have won multiple titles — including a silver medal at OFSAA; 'You create bonds within the game that are forever. It is certainly life-impacting,' says coach

Win by win, title by title, championship by championship, a dynasty is being built by the Orillia Secondary School (OSS) basketball program.

Since the Orillia District Collegiate & Vocational Institute and Park Street Collegiate Institute (PSCI) merger seven years ago, the senior girls at OSS have won the Simcoe County Athletic Association and Georgian Bay Secondary School Association (GBSSA) championship five times.

This past season, the Nighthawks soared to their best-ever finish at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Association (OFSAA) tournament, earning a silver medal - the best ever for a senior girls' team from Orillia.

The senior boys’ team has also been nearly unbeatable. Last January, they won the Orillia Blackball tournament, which was the first time a senior Orillia team achieved that feat in the then-74-year history of the tournament.

That same team would go on to capture the GBSSA Championship in February for the second straight year. At OFSAA, they won the consolation championship, defeating provincial powerhouse Cathedral High School.

The junior girls’ have added to the countless banners that have been pinned up to the rafters of OSS as they won three straight GBSSA titles from 2016 to 2018.

One of the common denominators on each of those teams is head coach Mike Tutty.

Tutty is a 46-year-old physical education teacher from Barrie who started his teaching career in 1999 at Park Street. He started coaching the basketball program the following year and hasn’t looked back.

Tutty’s love and passion for the game of basketball started at a young age.

“I grew up playing basketball. I’m dating myself here but I was literally on one of the first club teams in the province, back when club basketball started in the ’80s,” said the Barrie Royals alumnus.

Tutty fell in love with the sport thanks to an experience with a team that has similarities to the one he just coached to a silver medal at OFSAA.

“I was fortunate enough to have a similar situation in high school as to what is happening here at OSS," recalled Tutty.

"I went to Barrie North where I had coaches who were unbelievable running a program and I got to experience what OSS is experiencing right now and I was hooked on the game of basketball,” Tutty explained.

As a player, Tutty earned a bronze medal at OFSAA with Barrie North in 1992, and captured gold the next year .

“That experience was unbelievable, and it was similar to the OSS team this year where we got in as a five seed and we were just hoping to experience OFSAA and we ended up pulling off a bronze medal and then the next year we had a bunch of returning players and our coaches did similar to what we do here," Tutty explained.

"We went to the best tournaments, we had kids who were very dedicated to the sport. We were an extremely talented group and we went in as the number two seed and we were able to pull off the victory,” Tutty recalls.

After finishing a successful playing career, Tutty began his coaching career with the Barrie Royals when he was just 22.

“When I first started, I sought out all the best coaches through the Royals program down in Barrie. I coached with all the top names of guys who I felt were successful basketball guys, and I’ve been fortunate to continue coaching with great basketball people here at OSS with Dan Fournier, Dylan Young and Katie Guthrie.”

Tutty attributes his coaching success in recent years to modeling the OSS program after Barrie North and the Royals, and although it seems to be producing winning results, Tutty says it’s not for everybody.

“It’s tough to find coaches who offer a program and kids and parents who are willing to find the time and commitment," he conceded. "It’s not easy and we continue to learn about the communication that needs to happen about financial communication, playing time, what to expect with the time commitment we are putting in, where we are going to be traveling all over the province,” he said.

 “We’ve had kids over the years that haven’t continued through the program because it’s just too much and they don’t want to play it at this serious level. But, for whatever reason, this school and the culture we have established here, the kids come in and want to be a part of it and they understand that this is what it is and they thrive on it," Tutty said.

Although the OSS system led by Tutty can be overwhelming for some players and parents, it doesn’t mean it’s not a fun system to be part of.

“People always see us in intense moments during practice or games, but people don’t see that we laugh a lot, we have a lot of fun too," said Tutty. "A lot of people in sports say winning is fun and yeah it is, but watching these kids come in here and grow not only as players but individuals is the best part."

Aside from the birth of his daughter and his marriage, Tutty says the recent senior girls’ silver medal at OFSAA was one of the biggest moments of his life and something he will never forget.

“I had never told anyone this until the Saturday night of OFSAA... After the final game I told the kids that my one goal as a coach was to try and get a group to get to experience the same thing I did in hopes that they could feel what I felt,” Tutty said.

Tutty hopes that the girls on the medaling team at OFSAA share the same timeless bonds with each other that he once did with his teammates.

“You create bonds within the game that are forever. I had five or six of the guys from my OFSAA teams who I haven’t talked to in years emailing me, some of them showed up to the games, and it’s just like this is a forever thing. It is certainty life-impacting,” Tutty explained.

Grade 10 Nighthawks star Ally Smith says Tutty has been more than successful creating that bond for her and her teammates.

“We have been with him since the first day of Grade 9 and he is probably the best coach I have ever had. He is a very knowledgeable coach and he works really hard with our program and it means a lot to us,” Smith said.

Smith says Tutty is a special coach who isn’t only responsible for creating a bond with her teammates, but he is also a big part of it.

“Sometimes teachers can think they are above students, but Tutty is not like that at all," said Smith.

"He treats us as equal to him, which we appreciate, and he’s not afraid to jump in on a shooting competition, he likes to joke around and be our friend which I think is really important," she added. "As soon as the season is over we look forward to September because of him and the environment we have created with him."

Smith, Tutty and the whole Nighthawks team who won silver at OFSAA have a special opportunity with half the players being in Grade 10, leaving then with two more shots at knocking down a massive barrier in Orillia sports history - a OFSAA title. It’s the next goal on the agenda for the thriving program.

Nighthawks top scorer Amy Hagman says she believes in Tutty; she said he knows how to get them to that next step all while continuing to have fun and build their bond.

"He knows that we are here to have fun and that’s the main goal, but he knows we are all serious about basketball and he knows how to push us in order to win, but never past a point where we don’t have fun,” Hagman said.

Tutty said many people have helped establish the culture and success of the OSS basketball program.

“We have some unbelievable basketball people in our school and there have been a lot of people who have had hands in developing this group and I tip my hat and thank all of them. We’ve been fortunate enough to put it all together and run the show,” Tutty said.


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Tyler Evans

About the Author: Tyler Evans

Tyler Evans got his start in the news business when he was just 15-years-old and now serves as a video producer and reporter with OrilliaMatters
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