Experts to discuss safety in football at 2014 Football Canada Coaches Convention

The 2014 Football Canada National Coaches Convention on July 11 in Saskatoon will conclude with a Safety Panel to share information and address coaches, parents and players questions.

Delegates attending the national convention will receive free entry to the Safety Panel while individual passes to the panel are also available.

The panelists include Green Bay Packers equipment manager Gordon Batty, Packers strength and conditioning coach Mark Lovat; former CFL team therapist Pat Clayton; Safe Contact consultantTom Annett; Wally Buono – GM & VP Football Ops, BC Lions; Kevin McDonald – VP Football Operations, CFL; Richard Maclean – President, Football Canada and experienced official Todd Joyes.

Clayton spent 29 seasons with the Stampeders and 36 years in the Canadian Football League. He also spent nine years as head therapist at Royal Military College and Queen’s University.

Clayton joined the Stampeders in 1984 after previously serving as athletic therapist for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. During his time in Calgary, Clayton treated hundreds of players — including 10 members of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame — and the Stampeders won four Grey Cup titles.

As Football Canada’s Safe Contact program Tom has been a major contributor in forming the technical material for the program. Currently a coach with the Sault Ste Marie Sabres, Annett is a former Wilfrid Laurier University linebacker whose career was cut short due to a major neck injury.

Kevin McDonald is joined the league in March of 2001 and is currently its longest serving employee.

As Vice President of Football Operations, Kevin is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the game including operational management, player safety, overseeing the administration of player contracts, player discipline, contributing to rules and officiating and amateur development of players, coaches and officials.

During his tenure at the CFL, Kevin has made major contributions to several transformative initiatives, including the introduction of the CFL’s first-ever drug policy, its most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement with its players, the league’s Salary Management System, video replay and concussion education and awareness.

In addition to the strong and trusted relationships he has developed throughout the league, Kevin also works closely with Football Canada and the CIS on the development of football across Canada.

The 12-year CFL veteran is a native of Kingston, Ontario and a former Quarterback at Wilfrid Laurier University (1992-1996) where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Physical Education. After graduation, Kevin coached football at both Queen’s University and at Mount Allison University. He spent one season playing football in Austria before returning back to Canada to start his career at the CFL.

In a coaching career that spanned 22 years in Calgary and BC, Buono led his teams to 13 regular season division titles and five Grey Cup championships. In 2009, Buono surpassed Don Matthews’ 232 victories to become the all-time leader in coaching wins and finished his amazing career with a regular season record of 254 wins, 154 losses and three ties. Wally is also the Lions’ leader in career wins as head coach with 101. His consistency and success were previously recognized with the CFL’s Coach of the Year Award in 2006, 1992 and 1993.

Wally Buono enters his 12th season as Lions general manager and his third as VP, football operations. Wally retired as Lions head coach following the 2011 season, a record-setting run that saw him lead the Lions to nine playoff appearances; six appearances in the Western Final and a crossover visit to the Eastern Final as well as two Grey Cup Championships in 2006 and 2011.

Born in Potenza, Italy, in 1950, Wally moved to Canada in 1953 with his family, later playing minor football in Montreal. He attended Idaho State University and was a linebacker for the Bengals. Wally returned to Canada and played 10 seasons with the Montreal Alouettes as a linebacker and punter, appearing in 152 games. Shortly after his retirement, Wally tried his hand at coaching, landing an assistant position with the Montreal organization in 1983. Four years later, Wally found himself in Calgary where he worked under Larry Kuharich until 1990 when Stamps president Norman Kwong hired him as head coach.

Gordon “Red” Batty is in his 20th season as equipment manager of the Green Bay Packers.

Batty is responsible for properly outfitting players with the safest and most advanced equipment, as well as ordering and maintaining all of the team’s equipment and sideline apparel. Immediately prior to joining the Packers, he had spent 13 seasons (1981-93) in the same position with the then-Houston Oilers.

Long regarded as one of the best in the business, Batty was voted the NFL’s Equipment Manager of the Year by his peers in 2002 at their annual meeting.

A 54-year-old native of Montreal, Batty remarkably is in his 41st season in the equipment field. He began his career in 1973 at age 14 as a ball boy for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. Six years later, he was elevated to the position of equipment manager for the Alouettes. During Batty’s tenure in Montreal, the Alouettes won two Grey Cups (1974 and ’77).

Mark Lovat is now in his 15th year with the Packers and his fourth as the club’s strength and conditioning coordinator. Promoted to his current position on Feb. 15, 2010, Lovat swapped roles with Dave Redding, for whom Lovat served as an assistant in 2009.

Joining the team full-time on Jan. 25, 1999, Lovat worked under three Green Bay strength and conditioning coordinators in addition to previously serving two summer internships in the club’s weight room.

Lovat was named the NFL Strength Coach of the Year for his work in 2011 by the Professional Football Strength and Conditioning Coaches Society, an award based on a vote of his peers in the field.

In 2010, Lovat was honored by the Professional Football Strength and Conditioning Coaches Society with the Super Bowl Achievement Award.

The son of former Green Bay offensive line coach Tom Lovat (1980, 1992-98), Lovat is a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). He became a certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) in April 2000 and was nominated in 2004 by the association for the Sports Medicine/Rehabilitation Specialist of the Year Award for his work in the successful rehabilitation of injuries to Packers tackles Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher.

In 2005, Lovat completed his master’s degree in exercise science and performance enhancement from California University of Pennsylvania. He also has earned certifications as a performance-enhancement specialist (PES) and as a corrective-exercise specialist (CES) from the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). Additionally, in 2002 he achieved a Level 1 certification through USA Weightlifting, the governing body of the U.S. Olympic weightlifting team.

Lovat is certified in the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) and completed a human-movement science course as part of his continuing education. He also is a representative for Forge Strength Systems, a strength equipment company founded by Johnston, former Packers, Seahawks, Browns and current San Diego Chargers strength and conditioning coach.

For more information regarding the convention please click here.