For Immediate Release:
Mt. Douglas Rams Football Program Announces New Head Coaches
[Victoria, BC] – Back in January Coach Mark Townsend stepped down as head coach of the Mount Doug Rams football program as he has moved on to a new coaching opportunity at Kaelakehe High School in Hawaii. Since then, the Mount Douglas Secondary School posted an Expression of Interest for the new Rams head coach position, and went through a formal interview process.
According to Principle, Donna Thompson, “there was quite a bit of interest, and we had a strong pool of qualified and experienced coaches to choose from. We are excited to announce that we have chosen Coach Al Naylor and Coach Karn Dodd to take over as Co-head Coaches and Program Coordinators of our Rams football program. Thank you to all our coaches, volunteers, and parents for your patience during this time, we wanted to make sure that we did our due diligence to ensure that the football program will continue to be in good hands.”
Coach Naylor has been a Varsity coach for the Rams for 10 years and has also volunteered his time coaching at the community level, BCPFA’s Team BC and CFC Fox 40. As a quarterback coach, as well as defensive coach, he has extensive experience with both offense and defense and has helped the Rams win 5 provincial championships during his time with the Rams.
“It is an end of an era with Coach Townsend moving on, but I am looking forward to continuing the success of our Rams program. There is a lot of talent on the field and with the help of our other long-standing coaches we have our sights set on making it back to the Provincial championship,” states Coach Naylor.
Coach Dodd has 15 years of coaching experience including previous experience with the Mount Doug Rams (2011-2020), and most recently as head coach of the Saanich Wolverines Junior Bantam team. This past fall his Junior Bantam team won the Island Championships, and went on to become Provincial champions. Coach Dodd also coaches with BCPFA Team BC and CFC Fox 40.
“I am excited to be back coaching with the Rams at the Varsity high school level. There is already a great coaching staff that will be continuing, so with their help I see a strong future for the Rams program. It’s also important to thank Coach Vollinger (deceased), Coach Townsend, and all the coaches before me that have given their time and coaching talent over the past 26 years, as they are the ones that have made the program what it is today,” states Coach Dodd.
Coach Fong who has coached for 16 years with the Rams will continue as the Varsity Defensive Coordinator, Coach Ross after 10 years with the team has been named Varsity Offensive Coordinator, and Coach Reid will continue as the Junior Varsity Head Coach and has been with the team for the past 7 years. Nora Steves will continue to support the coaches and team as Operations Manager.
The Rams are currently conducting off-season training and will hit the field in May for their annual spring camp and will kick off their 2023 season with their first exhibition game September long-weekend.
Contacts:
Coach Al Naylor (250) 812-2041mdramscoach@gmail.com
Coach Karn Dodd (250) 661-4013 mdramscoach@gmail.com
Nora Steves, Operations Manager (250) 858-1044 steveshouse@telus.net
About Mt. Douglas Rams
Founded in 1996, the Mount Douglas Rams football program has a long history of winning championships and developing players for university and beyond. We are committed to excellence in the classroom, in the community and in competition. The Rams play in the BC Secondary Schools Football Association League in the AAA West conference.