After two previous stints on the coaching staff, Jamie Boreham is back with the Okanagan Sun.
This time, the 39-year-old former CFL kicker plans on being here to stay.
On top of being the Sun’s special teams coordinator, Boreham will work closely with Ben Macauley in the role of assistant head coach.
Based on both his playing and coaching experience, Macauley said Boreham is an invaluable addition to the Sun staff.
“Jamie is another set of hands and eyes for us, a guy who’s been around the game and can really help with what we’re trying to do here,” said Macauley, entering his second season as Sun head coach. “Jamie is going be able to help me out and our coordinators, too.
“He also has a certain level of perspective because of what he’s done in his career. I trust him because of where he’s been and I’m excited to be working with him again.”
Boreham and Macauley worked together as assistants on the Sun staff in 2012. Boreham returned in 2015 as special teams coach under Shane Beatty and helped the Sun to a BCFC title and a berth in the Canadian Bowl.
Living and working back and forth between Kelowna and the Lower Mainland the last several years has prevented Boreham from settling in on a consistent basis with the Sun organization.
But this year, after landing a job as a PE teacher and athletic director at Immaculata Regional High School, Boreham, his wife and their seventh-month-old child, have put down stakes in Kelowna.
Boreham looks forward to what he hopes will develop into a positive, long-term relationship with the Sun.
“That’s the intent, to coach here full-time for as long as I can,” said Boreham, who played nine seasons in the CFL, winning a Grey Cup with Saskatchewan in 2007. “It bothers me to just do this part-time, it’s tough to give a consistent message that way. If I can use my experience to give back to the kids, have a good influence on them and help them develop as players, then I want to be around as much as I can.”
As for working with Ben Macauley and the rest of the Sun coaching staff, Boreham looks forward to achieving a common goal.
“Ben is doing a fantastic job, he’s an honest guy and as a coach I trust him,” said Boreham. “We got along real well when we coached together. The coaching situation here hasn’t always been the best, but now it’s about putting the kids first, it’s not the Ben show. Let’s see how far we can push them and just how much better they can be.
“If we do this right as a staff, we can create an environment where the kids can take ownership of the product and all become better football players from it.”
Much of Boreham’s coaching background is actually in basketball—including more than a decade at Notre Dame Secondary in Vancouver—a winter sport that doesn’t conflict with the football season.
But in the end, Boreham believes coaching on the gridiron has long been his calling.
“I always had it in my mind I was going to coach, it was just where and when,” he said. “I’ve done well as a basketball coach, it’s funny the successes I’ve had doing that. I’ve learned a lot through basketball.
“But football is what I do best,” he added. “I’m really looking forward to having a positive influence on the kids.”
The Sun will open the BCFC regular season this Saturday night against the defending champion Westshore Rebels. Kick off at the Apple Bowl is 7 p.m.