It started in 1964 when a group of neighborhood kids played football every chance we could get. We got our parents to buy helmets which we painted up to look like BC Lions helmets of the day with the paw on the side. Some had shoulder pads, most just wore the helmets. We all attended Lord Baden Powell Elementary which was in its first year in 1964. One of the Dad’s, Mr. Bremner, saw how committed we were so he contacted the league, which, at the time, consisted of New Westminster, Burnaby South, Burnaby Central and Burnaby North, to see about entering a Coquitlam team. The league agreed to a series of exhibition games so when the 1965 season started the Coquitlam Colts played exhibition games against the other teams.

We practiced and played our games on the Como Lake High School football field and were coached by Mr. Bremner.  The Colts went 0 – 4 but the games were close and entertaining. As a result we were invited into the league to play in the 1966 season.

In 1966 the Colts were coached by Bill Green who went on to coach the Coquitlam Reds baseball team for 30 seasons and is still coaching them. We continued to play and practice at the Como Lake field. The team hosted a father – son dinner which was attended by many of the BC Lions of the day. This dinner was the first of many in subsequent years and became a highlight of the season.

In 1967 the team was coached by Jim Tonn who went on to become Coquitlam’s Mayor. That year we practiced and played at Montgomery Jr. High’s field. Quite often during practice when it got too dark to see, the parents would drive their cars around the field and the practice would continue by the light from the car’s headlights.

In 1968 the team was coached by Octave LeClair and was back to practicing at Como Lake but playing at Montgomery. I was too old to play juvenile football that year and moved on to play school football. I kept my hand in though, by being an assistant to Mr. LeClair.

An interesting rule in those days was the size issue. The players played Juvenile until age 12 and then at age 13 they moved up to Junior Bantam. If a player in Juvenile  was over a certain weight they had to move up to JB regardless of their age but if they were under the designated weight at 13 years of age, they could play another year of Juvenile instead of moving up to JB.

(Thanks go out to Councillor Doug Macdonell, City of Coquitlam for providing the information into the Early Days of Coquitlam Minor Football)