After 46 years of coaching, much of it with the girls’ basketball team at the school, Chris Annett has retired.
“I just figured it was time for a change,” he said when contacted by The Guardian.
The colourful and often direct Annett has a long history of success.
It’s hard to get a concrete number from him as to how many Prince Edward Island School Athletic Association (PEISAA) championships Annett’s teams have won – he doesn’t track those things – but it is estimated to be more than 50.
The banners that hang from the rafters of the school’s gym are testaments to a dominant era.
“What stands out is winning,” Annett said. “It’s so much better than the losing. I don't lose easily, and it hurts a whole lot for a long time.”
And while he has been the girls’ hoops bench boss in recent years, the physical education teacher has a lengthy list of sports he coached.
It’s “what the old-time phys-ed people used to do – everything,” Annett said. “There weren’t very many sports I didn't coach.”
His resume included soccer, basketball, hockey, football, volleyball, badminton, cross-country and track and field.
But his first P.E.I. coaching opportunities came at Queen Charlotte Intermediate School before moving to Colonel Gray in 1975. He retired in 2005, but continued to coach the girls’ basketball team. Two years ago, the team finished the season ranked No. 1 in Atlantic Canada.
A week ago today, Annett was in Wolfville, N.S., to watch four former Colonels play for the UPEI Panthers against Acadia. A few more are at Holland College wearing the Hurricanes colours.
“There’s been an awful lot of them that have gone on and played university somewhere,” Annett said proudly.
Ian (Tex) MacDonald taught and coached with Annett at Colonel Gray.
“I have never met a more dedicated and humble person than Chris,” he said for a Fiddler’s Facts column in 2015. “It is never about him, it's always about his girls.”
Annett said he won’t be at this weekend’s classic because it wouldn’t be fair to new coach Alex Field, who was part of Annett’s staff in recent years. He wants to let him coach his team without looking over his shoulder.
Annett said he is happily retired and thankful for the support he received from the school administration, the players and their parents during his tenure.
Annett taught and coached hundreds of kids sports and he routinely runs into many around town.
“Grocery shopping is always a much longer process,” he said. “I don't go anywhere where somebody doesn't bump into me and talk basketball” or other sports.
And while the wins were always important, there were other lessons being taught at the court during practices and games and on the road during trips across the Maritimes. They included time management and teamwork.
“A lot of those kids went on and were successful,” Annett said proudly. “I think the discipline that they learned in athletics probably had a whole lot to do with that.”
After 46 years of coaching, much of it with the girls’ basketball team at the school, Chris Annett has retired.
“I just figured it was time for a change,” he said when contacted by The Guardian.
The colourful and often direct Annett has a long history of success.
It’s hard to get a concrete number from him as to how many Prince Edward Island School Athletic Association (PEISAA) championships Annett’s teams have won – he doesn’t track those things – but it is estimated to be more than 50.
The banners that hang from the rafters of the school’s gym are testaments to a dominant era.
“What stands out is winning,” Annett said. “It’s so much better than the losing. I don't lose easily, and it hurts a whole lot for a long time.”
And while he has been the girls’ hoops bench boss in recent years, the physical education teacher has a lengthy list of sports he coached.
It’s “what the old-time phys-ed people used to do – everything,” Annett said. “There weren’t very many sports I didn't coach.”
His resume included soccer, basketball, hockey, football, volleyball, badminton, cross-country and track and field.
But his first P.E.I. coaching opportunities came at Queen Charlotte Intermediate School before moving to Colonel Gray in 1975. He retired in 2005, but continued to coach the girls’ basketball team. Two years ago, the team finished the season ranked No. 1 in Atlantic Canada.
A week ago today, Annett was in Wolfville, N.S., to watch four former Colonels play for the UPEI Panthers against Acadia. A few more are at Holland College wearing the Hurricanes colours.
“There’s been an awful lot of them that have gone on and played university somewhere,” Annett said proudly.
Ian (Tex) MacDonald taught and coached with Annett at Colonel Gray.
“I have never met a more dedicated and humble person than Chris,” he said for a Fiddler’s Facts column in 2015. “It is never about him, it's always about his girls.”
Annett said he won’t be at this weekend’s classic because it wouldn’t be fair to new coach Alex Field, who was part of Annett’s staff in recent years. He wants to let him coach his team without looking over his shoulder.
Annett said he is happily retired and thankful for the support he received from the school administration, the players and their parents during his tenure.
Annett taught and coached hundreds of kids sports and he routinely runs into many around town.
“Grocery shopping is always a much longer process,” he said. “I don't go anywhere where somebody doesn't bump into me and talk basketball” or other sports.
And while the wins were always important, there were other lessons being taught at the court during practices and games and on the road during trips across the Maritimes. They included time management and teamwork.
“A lot of those kids went on and were successful,” Annett said proudly. “I think the discipline that they learned in athletics probably had a whole lot to do with that.”
Chris Annett
Who – A former phys-ed teacher and longtime coach at Colonel Gray High School.
The latest – Annett has decided to retire from coaching. He will turn 70 years old this year and said it was time for a change.
History – Annett grew up in a small community called Richmond, in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. His father was a high school hockey coach. The family moved to Quebec City when his father took a job in the Department of Education. Annett came to P.E.I. and played football for Ed Hilton.
Words to live by – Annett remembered once asking his father how he put up with a certain individual. His response: “You can’t have harmony in a choir if everybody is a soprano.”
Recognition – Annett was honoured as part of the Colonel Gray Wall of Fame in 2013.
