By Robb Fenton
It wasn’t an easy decision to make, but for Tom Groat, it was the right one.
Groat, who was in his second season as head coach of the Lakeland Rustlers men’s basketball team, has decided to walk away from the position just eight games into the 2009-2010 season.
While Groat said he still loves the game and wants to see the Rustlers program flourish, his heart just wasn’t in coaching at the college level anymore.
“I’ve done it for 35 years, I’m pretty secure in the job that I have done. The LCHS Barons, we play at the highest level with high success, the time I was with Lakeland, we had a 70 or 75 per cent win ratio, I’ve coached Team Alberta and we’ve gone to a national championship, so I don’t think I have anything to prove,” Groat said, adding he wasn’t talking himself up, merely stating he has accomplished a lot in his career. “I do believe there comes a time (when you have to move on).”
“I’ve done it for 35 years, I’m pretty secure in the job that I have done."
Love of the game was never in question and although he still enjoys the game, Groat was at a point where the job of coaching became a little too much in the position he was in.
“If you’re in a volunteer position, you better have some passion and commitment to do that. I have never gone through the motions, I have never just done something without good reason, so I came to the conclusion that I was starting to go through the motions,” he explained. “I’ve lost the passion a little for at least coaching at that level. I didn’t think it was fair to the program to just go through the motions, so that’s why I decided to resign.”
Playing twice a week, including a road trip, practicing four times a week, plus holding down a separate job eventually caught up with Groat.
“For me, the biggest thing was the commitment you need to have when doing something like this and the passion. Both of those were waning a little bit,” he said.
Another reason Groat was losing interest in coaching at the college level was the effort he and other coaches put in to find the right players for their program, only to see them spend a year or two in college, then leave for a bigger school or the next level.
While he doesn’t blame the players, Groat said it is frustrating.
“The guys in the program weren’t the issue or problem. I find that the ACAC is just a different type of program. I’m not saying the ACAC isn’t a high level, but you work so hard to get a player to this level, to come to your program and they get gobbled up by a CIS team,” Groat noted. “Or you work really hard on a player and for whatever reason, which could be many, you lose them. That’s difficult to handle.”
A recent fallout with Ontario native Tamoy Lewis was also thought to be a reason Groat was moving on, but he explained that wasn’t a big reason, although it did play into the situation.
“Did Tamoy leaving have to do with it? It was more or less minor. It was just another situation with putting your commitment into something and seeing it blow up,” he said. “We brought Tamoy in, flew him here, offered him a scholarship, he produced and then left. It did affect it a little bit.”
Groat made it clear that he is healthy and the reason for him leaving was not that he was sick, or having any kind of medical issues, which are some rumours he had been hearing in the community.
“The rumours of my death are greatly exaggerated,” he joked. “There are rumours out there that it is health issues, some other personal story, it’s not. It’s difficult to give up something you’ve done for 35 years, but I am comfortable with my decision at this point.”
Simply put, Groat is ready to move on and he leaves with a final record of 21-11 in the regular season and 1-2 in playoff action at the ACAC level.
“The biggest thing is where I’m at in my life at the moment,” Groat said.