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36 Sports Oakville Beaver Conditions Apply. Expires 05/29/2009 SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2009 Competitive fire still burns inside Cordingley By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF hen he played, Troy Cordingley wore the number 40, representing the age to which he intended to play. So, by his own estimation, he would now have been retired for two years. Things don't always go according to plan, though. Cordingley was just 30 years old and playing for the National Lacrosse League's Buffalo Bandits when he took two simultaneous hits from opponents, one from the side and one from behind. As the rest of his body hurtled toward the floor, his foot caught in the turf and remained planted. He felt a pop. He played two more games, but something was obviously wrong. "I had no control of my foot," Cordingley said. "I couldn't make cuts. I couldn't play the way I knew I (once) could." Cordingley went to see the doctor and got the news he dreaded. He had snapped the tendons in his ankle. His career was over. At least that's what the doctor said. Cordingley went on to play four more seasons, averaging well over three points a game. But eventually, in his second season with the Albany Attack, the day he had been dreading finally arrived. "I couldn't do it anymore. I was in too much pain," Cordingley said. "I told (coach Bob McMahon) I was hanging it up." So valued was Cordingley's leadership that McMahon asked him to stay with the team to give them a veteran presence. Over the following months, Cordingley would shadow McMahon and see what went into preparing a team for a game. Named NLL's top coach Had it not been for his injury, it's quite possible that Cordingley would still be scoring goals, fighting for loose balls and wearing number 40-something. Instead, Cordingley finds himself behind the bench of the NLL's Calgary Roughnecks and just one victory away from the Champion's Cup. And according to his peers, Cordingley is a big reason why. The Oakville native led the Roughnecks to a 12-4 mark, the best record in the NLL. For that, the league's coaches and general managers named him this year's recipient of the Les Bartley Award as the top coach in the NLL. Cordingley says it is an award that should be shared with assistants Terry Sanderson and Dave Pym. Still, winning an award named for a man who coached him for five years holds a special meaning. W CORY SHANNON / SPECIAL TO THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Troy Cordingley, pictured giving instructions behind the Calgary Roughnecks bench, was named the National Lacrosse League's coach of the year recently. Calgary went a league-best 12-4 during the regular season and will host the New York Titans tomorrow in the Champions Cup NLL final. "He gave so much to the game that it's an honour for me to win an award with his name attached to it," he said. "But it is a team award." The team-first attitude is something Cordingley looks for in his players. A talented offensive play"Troy's competitive er, Cordingley's Roughnecks nature is contagious teams have in the dressing become known room. He hates to for their defensive lose and you can't prowess, leading teach that." the league in goals against. Calgary Roughnecks That was a big facGM Brad Banister tor in Calgary's improvement from 7-9 in his first season as the team's coach. "He's the ultimate player's coach and his passion for the game is second to none," said Roughnecks defenceman Bruce Codd. "Certainly it goes back to last year and the systems he originally put in place. Guys had a better understanding of those systems and the direction he wanted everyone to head." Teaches children, then players Cordingley's coaching career started with Brooklin of the Ontario Lacrosse Association's Major League. Soon after his retirement, his former NLL team, the Buffalo Bandits, offered him a job as an assistant coach. There he learned from Darris Kilgour, and when Bandits' GM Kurt Silcott moved on to Calgary, he offered Cordingley his first NLL head coaching job. The Oakville native hesitated about taking a job 3,400 kilometres away, especially having four young children. However, Cordingley's wife Darla convinced him to take it. "There are only 10 or 11 of these jobs in the world," she told him. So now Cordingley teaches his Grade 1 class at Forest Avenue Public School in Mississauga, returns home and, when his own kids go to bed, he turns his attention to next week's opponent for the next two or three hours. Fridays after work, he flies to Calgary, holds a practice, coaches a game Saturday, and flies home Sunday. On the bench, Cordingley is known for his intensity. "Troy's competitive nature is contagious in the dressing room," said current Calgary general manager Brad Banister. "He hates to lose and you can't teach that." But it is teaching that offers Cordingley a nice balance in his life. "I've got two jobs I love," he said. "You come back after a bad weekend and see those little faces smiling at you and it helps ease the pain of a bad weekend." Shooting for second title of season Cordingley hopes he won't need that comfort Monday morning. The Roughnecks host the New York Titans for the Champion's Cup tonight (Friday). A victory would cap a remarkable season that also saw Cordingley guide the Brampton Excelsiors to a Mann Cup in September. Boston Blazers star Dan Dawson knows firsthand what Cordingley brings to a team. Cordingley was Dawson's coach in midget with the Oakville Hawks and again years later with the Excelsiors. "He's got so much passion and drive for the game, maybe because it was taken away from him early," said Dawson. "His blood gets flowing and you know he wants to be out there in the battle." And that might be the only aspect of coaching Cordingley still struggles with. "I find it more difficult as a coach," said the two-time NLL champion as a player. "You have no control. I can tweak and make adjustments, but it's the players that decide the game. That's the hardest thing. Big games like this, you want to be out on the floor and compete."