Retired Chestermere High School teacher and coach Brian Utley was humbled on Dec. 12, when he received a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Platinum Jubilee Award during a presentation at Calgary's MNP Sports Centre.
Utley was one of 25 Albertans to receive the medal at the ceremony, all of whom were nominated based on their achievements in and service to their respective sport. The recipients alongside Utley included Olympic gold medallist Mark Tewksbury, Olympic silver medallist Cheryl Bernard, and former Calgary Stampeders president Stan Schwartz, among others.
The long-serving head coach of the Chestermere Cowboys said he was nominated by former Cochrane Cobras football coach Bruce O'Neil, who similarly recently retired after a decades-long high-school coaching and teaching career – albeit on the other side of Rocky View County.
“That meant a lot, that it came from another coach,” Utley said. “I was very appreciative to Bruce for doing that.”
After his own football playing days saw him bounce around the Canadian Football League, Utley's teaching career started at Chestermere High School in 1979 as a physical education teacher. It was a role he maintained for 37 years, before retiring at the end of the 2015-16 school year.
Throughout his nearly four-decade teaching career, he also was the head coach of the school's football team – the Chestermere Cowboys – until the end of the 2016 football season.
During his coaching career, Utley helped raise funds to upgrade Chestermere High School’s athletic field to the tune of $800,000. Improvements included the installation of floodlights, a spotter’s box, scoreboard, new football standards, proper soccer goals and bleachers. The field was renamed Utley Field in 2009 in honour of the long-time coach.
Despite officially hanging up the whistle five years ago, (though he helped coach Chestermere High's girls' basketball team even just last season), Utley has remained heavily involved in local high-school athletics. He's currently the commissioner of the Rocky View Sports Association (RVSA), which coordinates athletics for the Rocky View Schools division.
“I’m also the girls’ basketball commissioner for the [RVSA and South Central Zone],” he said. “It keeps you busy enough to have something to do and still be involved.”
He's also lobbied local governing bodies for the installation of an artificial turf field at Chestermere High School over the years, though that project has faced many roadblocks. In the summer of 2021, he presented to RVS trustees about $750,000 plans to upgrade the locker rooms at Utley Field.
Utley said his passion for high-school athletics has never wavered over the years, and is what has kept him involved for over four decades.
“I truly love high-school sports,” he said. “I think it’s special for kids to be able to represent their high school and their community."
He added the relationships he forged with his athletes were another aspect he enjoyed.
“I enjoyed being a part of that,” he said. “I think another big part of it is the development. When kids get to college or university, they’ve had a lot of development already. In high school, that was really when they started developing their skills, in football, basketball, or other sports.
“I enjoyed my time as sports coordinator for RVS as well, organizing other sports. But I’ve always thought high-school sports are different than community or club sports. I have huge respect for high-school athletics.”
The Diamond Platinum Jubilee Medals were created this year to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne. The awards are representative of the Queen’s lifelong commitment to service, and have been distributed to deserving recipients throughout 2022.
“It’s just an honour that it’s on behalf of the Queen,” Utley said. “I was fortunate enough to see the Queen in 1971, in Victoria. To get this recognition on the Queen’s behalf just makes it even more special. It’s not something I’ll ever forget.”
