Martensville High School teacher Myles Loeffler received top honours after earning the Saskatchewan High School Athletic Association (SHSAA) Merit Award.
The Merit Award is the highest honour the SHSAA bestows to its members.
Loeffler said it was “pretty amazing” to be acknowledged for the award but at the same time overwhelming.
“It is a huge award to be honest and I was quite honoured, and there are only a few people that are selected (each year),” he said.
The Merit Award is presented to individuals who, through distinguished service, have made outstanding contributions to the total program of the SHSAA over a period of time.
Loeffler has been involved with high school athletics for the majority of his 30-year teaching career and played a huge role in developing athletic departments in schools he has taught at, especially Martensville High, where he has been at for the past 24 years.
“I’ve been an athletic director in every school I’ve been at, and I’ve been in all kinds of different roles within each of the different districts,” he said.
Some of those roles include the district president, vice-president, and officials commissioner for the Saskatchewan Valley District, North Central District and the Central Valley Athletic Conference.
One of his proudest accomplishments in high school athletics is, he has coached almost every high school sport, along with coaching teams or individuals to provincials. And in most of those sports he coached, many of the athletes and teams have earned medals.
“What I enjoy the most about school sports is watching the growth and development of student athletes. It’s not just about improving at their sport but about becoming better people,” Loeffler said.
“For me high school sport is a great avenue for students to grow as individuals. Student athletes are resilient, they know how to set goals and strive for achieving. Student athletes learn how to succeed, yet be gracious and humble, and they also learn how to handle setbacks and defeat with dignity.”
Not only has he inspired the students but his fellow colleagues and coaches also appreciate his dedication to high school sports.
“I’ve had so many tributes coming in from teachers in our own school, community members and more importantly the students,” Loeffler said. “People from all over the province, that I know, are reaching out to me and congratulating me.”
Loeffler is very thankful for his family as they made sacrifices so he can dedicate his own time to high school sports.
Usually the SHSAA Merit and Service Award recipients are acknowledged during a banquet that coincides with the AGM but since that couldn’t happen because of the COVID-19 pandemic, all the award winners were recognized with a respective tribute video.
Even though Loeffler is retiring from teaching this year, he will still be heavily involved with high school sports, since he will be stepping in to the facilitator of athletics role for the Central Valley Athletic Conference.