Dalbé-Viau High School | “Giving boys a reason to get up in the morning”

When you enter the Dalbé-Viau sports centre, the director of the sports program and coach of the football team is profuse in his apologies. “Sorry, it’s dirty right now. It’s usually much cleaner than this.”

We can see it instantly: entering the Dalbé-Viau sports center is synonymous with entering Dominique Ménard’s house. The school’s football program is his initiative.

“Our goal was just to give the boys a reason to get up in the morning and go to school,” he tells us, as he strolls through the corridors decorated in his team’s colours.

Many boys start high school without having experienced academic success.

“And then when they arrive here, we wonder why they don’t like school,” says Dominique Ménard. “The little one who starts high school and excels at football or basketball [il y a aussi un programme de basketball à cette école] will be valued in his sport. One day, he will begin to associate his sporting successes with school, and school, little by little, will begin to occupy a less negative image in his mind.

Humility and inclusion

Our short walk leads to a classroom in the shadows. About twenty students are there. Some hide their headphones as best they can, others crack jokes, while in the last rows are the sleepers. We can clearly see a normal classroom.

Except that on the screen, at the front of the class, the offensive sequences of the last match are shown. It took football to bring together a group of teenagers in a classroom, in the middle of August.

A video shows a player’s eccentric celebration after a touchdown. Laughter erupts.

“Laugh!” Coach Menard says. “Keep laughing, but in season, that celebration will be a direct penalty. We don’t want that kind of nonsense here. You’ll do it if you ever make it to the NFL, but not before.”

Humility: this is a key value of the Golden Eagles. The coach will confirm it to us later, in his office. Inclusion is also at the top of the list. Here, no matter your size or weight, if you have the heart, you will find your place.

“You need the big guy who doesn’t run fast, but is as strong as an ox. This guy may have been teased all through elementary school for his weight. But once he gets here, he’ll be treated like a hero,” Ménard assures.

“Usually, guys are going to be self-conscious about their size. Here, they walk around with their bellies everywhere. They’re proud.”

Sustainability

When he co-founded the program, Dominique Ménard never thought he would achieve such results. Despite this, he remains hungry for more. “I don’t feel like I’ve finished what I had to accomplish here,” he admits.

Currently, the school invests a large portion of its funds in its sports programs. Dominique Ménard would like to find sponsorships from different foundations and the borough to ensure the sustainability of his program.

At Dalbé-Viau, sports are free for all students, and the coach hopes that it will remain so forever.

“Our next director might decide to cut half of our budget. I can’t imagine our kids having to pay to play the sports they love,” he says, staring into space.

It is fascinating to see the attachment that our man has developed towards football, knowing that he has never played this sport. During his youth, it was rather in hockey that he stood out.

When he was offered the job of coaching the school team, he knew little about the sport. So much so that he initially said he “wasn’t comfortable” with the assignment, before changing his mind. To ensure he excelled, he spent hours watching videos. But above all, he made sure he surrounded himself with the right people.

“I’m a bit like a chef. The important thing is not my knowledge, but having an excellent team around me, and making sure they understand their role,” he explains, putting on his raincoat.

In unison

We move outside, where training has started. Even though it’s pouring with rain, no one is idle, including the coach. He runs almost from one end of the field to the other to make sure he has an eye on everything, to chat with everyone. He even takes the time to greet some curious people who are around the field.

“If there’s one constant here that’s been consistent over the years, it’s Dom,” quarterbacks coach Vincent DiStefano said. “People know he’s here to stay, and that’s a big part of the development of our program.”

One observation that stands out at the end of the day is the number of current or former players who, without being asked, describe Dominique Ménard as a “second father”.

As we prepare to leave, Dominique Ménard stops us: he thinks he hasn’t taken the time to praise his players enough.

“You should watch Terrence Ganyi, he’s going to be one of the best players in the CFL [Ligue canadienne de football]. »

“Ezechiel Tieide, our former coach, is going to be an exceptional coach.”

Through these dithyrambic remarks about his players, one certainty arises: Dominique Ménard will have taken care of the hundred or so players who have passed under his command like his sons.