Larry Ring was the Offensive Coordinator for the 2017 OPFL Cumberland Panthers Junior Varsity team this Summer. This was the team that won the Provincial Championship.

Check out this clip of the winning touchdown:
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Growing up, Ring played everything he could; football, hockey, baseball, basketball, volleyball, lacrosse, rugby and track. He won the city championships with his team atSt. Pius X High School. He played AAA and Junior hockey. Ring also played for Team Ontario in Rugby. While attending Bishop’s University, Ring played football and hockey.


Ring was with Montreal in the CFL, but he had a back injury that eventually forced him to quit the sport. “I wanted to stay connected to the sport and a year later began as an assistant coach with McGill University. I got hooked right away because it was the closest thing to the feeling of playing and being part of a team. The team started to have success and I really immersed myself into coaching and decided I wanted to do it as a career.” explains Ring.


Ring says his favourite thing about coaching is game day. “I love the adrenaline you feel. I really enjoy trying to make kids better and motivating them to reach their true potentials. I also really like preparing for an opponent each week. I am very competitive and like to win and coaching allows me to do that and also teach the kids I coach how to win and what it takes both mentally and physically.” says Ring.
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Ring says that there are so many rewarding moments as a coach that it is hard to pick just one. “There are moments when I see a kid really improve or tell me I was a big part in shaping his life. I coached university football for 14 seasons so when I reconnect with players I coached it is very gratifying to see how much playing football gave them. If I was to pinpoint the top 2-3 moments it would have to be winning three consecutive conference championships when I was the Head Coach at the University of Ottawa and winning the Vanier Cup (Canadian University Championship) as the Defensive Coordinator at McGill. However, I have had many rewarding experiences coaching my kids in community sport after I stepped away from being a university football coach but the last two years I have been coaching with the Cumberland Panthers and we just won the Provincial Championship. This win is so fresh in my mind and was such a team effort by all the players and coaches that it is such a tremendous moment in my life. Nobody thought we could win and we won with 5 seconds to go which made it an incredible moment.” explains Ring.


Ring says his biggest challenge as a coach “personally, was becoming the Head Coach at the University of Ottawa when the program was in disarray. With the help of some great assistant coaches and key alumni we built the team back up step by step and made them a top program in Canada. Hard work is the key but also having a plan and working smart. This year was also a challenge coaching the Cumberland Panthers Junior Varsity Team. We had 16 players not come out for the team who should have been there, we started the year 1-3 and had our players starting to think we weren't very good and we couldn't win without all the athletes we didn't have. A lot of hard work, sticking to our plan and building up our kids mentally led us to win our last 7 games and the Ontario Championship.”     

Do you know of or are you a coach in the Ottawa area? HESN wants to hear from you, contact us at [email protected].    ​

​After graduating NCAA Division 1 in Minnesota, Findlay was thinking of continuing to play Hockey in Germany but he was offered a job teaching high school and hung up his skates. “After one year out of the game I still had that competitive edge and decided to get involved. Fortunately, I was able to jump into the CCHL and haven't turned back since.” says Findlay.

Findlay loves that coaching allows him to be at the rink every day but his favourite part is working with the kids. “I love helping them work towards their goals and become better athletes and people. It's definitely not easy, if it was everyone would do it. Being able to share my experiences and knowledge and seeing them improve is awesome.  When I’m able to help my players achieve scholarships or major junior packages and have a great overall experience is rewarding. It's an extremely important time in their lives between the ages of 16-20, and having the trust of their parents is an important factor.” 

Findlay’s most rewarding moment as a coach so far has been seeing his athletes move on to bigger and better things. “It's still very early in my career, however all graduating players have been able to play at that next level of NCAA, CIS or major junior. The biggest thing however I would say is preparing them for the real world and being a good person, and if it involves Hockey even better.” says Findlay.

Findlay says that his biggest challenge was “early on I had to learn not every one agrees with you, and depending on how it may impact the team you need to step back and do what's best for everyone.  After all there is a bigger picture then yourself.” 

As a physical education teacher, Findlay is able to stay within a teacher/mentor role at all times. “One thing I've realized is there is a huge difference between the regular high school student and the competitive athlete. I've learned the different ways to approach both settings.” says Findlay.

​“The most rewarding feeling I have had as a coach was in my first year as a head coach. That year we were coaching a very young, athletic team who just had a desire to work hard and put the extra effort in. They needed lots of work with X's and O's but they had a fire that just could not be coached. As they developed year to year, they just weren't able to put it together as a group to win it all. Even though our 5-3 record didn't scare to many people leading into those playoffs their competitiveness and fight did. I and my staff made a vow to make sure those boys won that year; by being positive, reassuring them when they were down and never putting them in a bad situation. Needless to say those boys earned their win and my most rewarding moment was seeing their smiles hoisting their hard work in the air.” says Chartier.​