Shaun Newman Podcast - #909 - Teej Johannesson

Episode Date: September 9, 2025

Teej Johannesson, a volunteer football coach at H.J. Cody High School in Sylvan Lake, Alberta, was fired in September 2025 by Principal Alex Lambert due to his personal views on transgender ideology expressed in a TikTok video.To watch the Full Cornerstone Forum: https://open.substack.com/pub/shaunnewmanpodcastGet your voice heard: Text Shaun 587-217-8500Silver Gold Bull Links:Website: https://silvergoldbull.ca/Email: [e-mail] Grahame: [phone]Bow Valley Credit UnionBitcoin: www.bowvalleycu.com/en/personal/investing-wealth/bitcoin-gatewayEmail: [e-mail] Use the code “SNP” on all ordersProphet River Links:Website: store.prophetriver.com/Email: [e-mail] Money SummitWebsite: ExpatMoneySummit.com

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So not a whole lot of people can join, but we're looking to have a little bit of fun on a Saturday, November 29th. So mark that on your calendar. And looking forward to that. All right, let's get onto that tale of the tape. Today's guest is a former volunteer football coach at H.J. Cody High School, who is let go for views expressed in a TikTok video. I'm talking about Teage Johanison.

So buckle up. Here we go. Welcome to the Sean Newman podcast today. I'm joined by Teach Johanison. Sir, thanks for giving me some time today. You bet. Absolutely. It's a pleasure to be here.

No, I literally, this dropped in the Western standard. I assume that's where it first popped up. And the amount of times I've been texted about this has been a bit. I'm like, okay, okay, I get it. I get it. We're going to bring them on, folks. So shout out to the audience for sharing it with me. But before we get to, you know, the news of today, how will we just start with who Teach is and just give us some of your background? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, yeah, my name is Tees, Johannes. And I'm the oldest of six boys. I have five younger brothers. I grew up in British Columbia. And until I was about 14 years old, my dad worked for Canada Post and got transferred to Red Deer, where I spent,

the majority of my time going to high school in Red Deer. And it's where I met my now wife going to middle school and then high school together. And then we ended up moving to Edmonton in our early 20s to go to university together. And came back to Red Deer after that. She got a teaching job in Sylvan Lake. And that's what brought us up to Sylvan Lake. I've been a basketball and football coach since I was 21 years old. I'm 37 today.

So for a long time now. And that's my biggest passion. My biggest passion is coaching and giving back to the youth. And my wife's the same way. She's a teacher. And she just loves being a positive influence and role model on the kids. It's what we're meant to do and what I love to do. And that's kind of what brought me here today because it's been taken away from me a little bit.

And you have a daughter, correct? Yeah, I have a daughter. She's the light of my life. I mean, we struck. We struggle. It's a little personal, but we struggle with with a couple miscarriages early on in our lives. But she came and she was healthy and she was born two months early. But she's just a rock star.

She just kicked butt in the NICU. She was just the nurse's favorite baby. She's just so sweet and so cute. And now she's been home since January. She was born in November and in November two months early. And she's been home since January 10th. And thriving, she was born at three pounds. She's now up to almost 16 pounds.

And just bring so much joy to our lives. She's just absolutely incredible. Being a dad is just amazing. Well, on this side, Father of Three, so congrats. There's nothing quite like having a kid in the house. And I'd argue having multiple kids in the house. They can make you pull your hair out some days, but most days, they take all the stress of the world away.

Because I know sitting on this side and talking to people such as yourself, you hear all these stories and you're like, man, it is a depressing world. And then you go home and you're like, yeah, maybe not, you know? Yeah. So congrats to you. I saw that and I'm like, ah, new father. That's, that's awesome. Now, I was joking with you. The first video I saw, I want to bring this up.

The first video I saw it, you know, because I read the story and showed out to the Western Standard because, you know, like I watched your interview with Derek Phil de Brandt. And I was like, okay, you know. And then so what do I do? I'm like, well, I got to figure out, you know, got to go watch the TikTok video that caused all the stir. But the first one I find is that you voted for liberal 2015, 2019. Correct. I admire being open about that because I'm like,

most people don't want to admit they voted for Justin Trudeau. That's a pretty crazy change, I guess, in my world, you know, going from Trudeau to speaking out against trans ideology. Yeah, you know, I think the greatest thing you can be as a human is someone who questions your own beliefs at all times. I think the biggest poison in our society today, especially around this trans ideology, is that once people make up their mind about something and they dig their heels in, they have no ability to think openly and ever admit they're wrong. And I was raised with a liberal mindset.

You know, and I went to public school and, you know, I kind of as a kid bought into the climate change and how we're killing the ozone layer and basically everything that came with that. And so I didn't really have a choice as a child. That's just how I was raised and kind of kept that going. And, you know, I was told conservatives were evil and terrible. And I just never, never did any real research into it because I was just like, well, you know, this is just how I, how I, how I, stand and conservatives are evil. So that's that's what it is. And then COVID happened. And I'm a very health conscious person. You know, one of my one of my day jobs is being a health coach and a personal trainer. I care deeply about what I put into my body. And all of a sudden, Justin Trudeau was telling me

that I had to get this vaccine or I was a right wing lunatic. And so then I just, I took that on. I became a right wing lunatic. Yeah, well, well, to the right wing lunatics. Yeah. So he told me I was that. And so I said, okay, buddy, I guess I guess I am. And then and then I realized right away that I was probably wrong in a lot of my thoughts on politics. And so for the first time in my life, I sat. And this is hard because, you know, you have to, it's hard to question a question your own beliefs and realize that you've been wrong for so long and probably treated people poorly. You know, I don't think I treated conservatives right. I kind of brush them off as stupid rednecks.

you know, all the classic liberal ad hominem attacks that you get told. And then so I had to really sit and look at myself in the mirror and say, I've been wrong. And I need to do research about this. And so then I start really diving into conservative politics and liberal politics. And then it just becomes crystal clear. Like it wasn't even hard, Sean. Like I just realized I've been lied to. I've been lied to and I've bought the lies.

And I was angry. I was angry that I bought the lies. I was angry that I was lied to. The Liberal Party likes to act like they're this party of tolerance and acceptance and love, except if you don't fully follow exactly what they believe, they outcast you. That sounds like a cult to me. So I started looking into things, realized that apparently I am a right-wing radical, and I'm going to go with that.

And yeah, that's kind of, that was the big thing, was the COVID thing. And then I railed against that on TikTok and got a lot of hate from left-wing people and and because of that hate I knew I was on the right side. Well, you know, they're going to call you right wing. I just, it's, there's a lot of common sense in what you're talking about, you know? Yeah. Like when common sense becomes extreme while you're living in Canada, that's what it feels like these days.

Um, you know, it, uh, it culminates then I guess for you. Because like, you know, like put no videos and stuff on TikTok. I, I assume you're like so many people. You're just like, people need to like, we need to start talking about these things. it looks like to me your avenue was was TikTok I mean maybe you had other other ways um it's not like you were showing up to football practice and rallying against all these kids like you got a you know like I assume that wasn't the case no and I mean that's been backed up um there's been 50 plus emails scathing emails now to the school board and to the principal of the school um attesting to my

character um attesting to the fact that every single one of those kids not only loves me as a coach but loves me because I'm there for them I lift them up and I've helped kids through serious issues in their life. I'm not just a football coach. I don't just show up and coach kids how to teach kids how to play football. I teach kids what you need to do to be a man and how to how to fight through adversity and how to hopefully become good husbands and good fathers in the future. And I take that really seriously. I look at kids that are struggling with mental health these days. I can tell every single day at practice, I'm always making my rounds and asking my kids, like how are you doing today? You know, what are your interests, especially with new kids? Like really just

trying to let them know that, you know, I'm here for you. I don't need to wear a rainbow flag or a safe space sticker on my shirt. I just treat people the way that I think that I would want my kids to be treated by an adult. And that seems to work for me. And so I don't need to advertise like a white van handing out candy that I'm a safe space. I just let my action speak for myself. So that's kind of my perspective on things. I'm really sick and tired of virtue signaling. I think it's, I think it's virtue signaling is just narcissistic behavior to get people to tell you how good you are. So no, I never bring my politics or beliefs to the field because even though I believe in them, I don't believe as an adult that it's my place to tell kids what they should and shouldn't believe. I'll let them figure

that out for themselves. Yeah, I can see why they dislike you. Yeah. I mean, that's fair. Well, I mean, it's a sad, it's a sad thing. But I mean, just by that line of thinking, already there's going to be a group of people that just dislike it because we're in a world of safe spaces and wear where the rainbow flag or put it on your door or you know like mad alexander i just had mad alexander on a teacher from ontario what was that folks two weeks ago he was removed from his job for basically the exact same thing except minus the social media accounts he had none of them oh wow it was just he showed up to certain protests his son was josh alexey's Alexander, who obviously became a big name.

And because of his association with his son, all of a sudden he's removed. And then to make it matters worse, his wife is removed, both teachers, both with incredible records. And you're like, this is where we're getting to in Canada. Like, it's just snowballing even further. And the fact that's happening here in Alberta is a bit surprising when you, when you see Daniel Smith, right, the premier come out, have all these policies come out. You know, I said once upon a time, teach to a venue in Calgary.

They're asking if I was going to have anything extreme. And I'm like, well, most extreme thing that might happen is I might have our premiere on. And they laughed. And then they're like, you're probably right. And I'm like, that's, that's where we're at. These, these, it's just, it's just a wild world. And it saddens me because everything you just talked about with kids and on the field, I think it's what every parent looks for, right?

And a coach. Yeah. You want, you want them to, to, to not only learn the fun. fundamentals of a game, but there's so much more when you're standing on a football field or in my case, being a hockey player on the ice with kids. There's just so much more going on than just, hey, turn left and catch the ball. Yeah, and that's exactly it. And I know that because, you know, for me as a kid growing up, I ended up in foster care when I was 16 years old due to a pretty rough childhood that I was going through. And sports saved my life, Sean.

like sports were the reason why I woke up every single day. And it wasn't because I just wanted to go and win. It was because it gave me something to aspire to. It gave me some goals to try to achieve. It put me around like-minded people who had the same goals as I did. And we worked together to solve the problems to get to the end goal. So sports are so powerful for young people. And you never know what a kid is going through.

And so as a coach, when I show up every day, I think of myself on that field that's 16 years old that needed that to stay strong and to stay alive, to be honest with you. So I take that very seriously and that's how I go about my business. And that's why I'm so heartbroken that they've made this rash decision in the face of extreme pushback, parents telling the principal how much their kids need me in their lives. And she refuses to listen. This is a person that says that she cares about the betterment of the kids. but when the kids tell her specifically that they need me in their lives, she says no.

So the hypocrisy is real. And I'm not going to stop fighting it, though, because it's bigger than me now, Sean. It's bigger than just me being removed from a coach. This is a societal problem that needs to be solved. So I'm not just fighting for me and my job back. I'm fighting for some serious, serious change specifically within the school system. walk us through you post a tic-tok video now if you go through your tic-tok videos there's there's lots there lots of cannon fodder to to uh put you on people's radar right what is it specific or like

just walk us through the the series of events i guess tege that that you know you post the video and then what happens yeah so i do have to go back a few years because the principal of that school Alex Lambert has been out to get me for a long time. So I've never been shy about my social media posts. The first time she brought me into her office was about four years ago. The timeline's a little shaky, but three, four years ago. And she brought me in under false pretenses. She texted me or emailed me saying that she just wanted to meet me because she was meeting

all the coaches and just doing her due diligence. I obviously, I'm always three steps ahead. head on these situations. My spidey senses are pretty good. And I was like, that seems weird. And so I texted one of my coaching friends. I said, hey, do you have a meeting with Alex Lambert? He said, no, I don't have a meeting.

Texted another friend. Do you have a meeting? No, I don't have a meeting. So clearly, she lied to me to get me to come into her office. So I went into her office and sat down and she slid a folded folder over to me, like we're doing a business deal. And I opened it up. And in the folder was a giant printout of a tweet, I think.

made. Now, the tweet was very controversial. It said, boys have a penis and girls have vaginas. I didn't know. I, I kind of looked at it a little bit and I was like, that's, there are worse tweets you could have picked than that one. I shouldn't laugh. I keep saying this, I shouldn't laugh, but I'm like, I don't know what else to do, but laugh at it. When a girl woman's like, slides it across, it's like, I want you to take a hard look at this. Literally. You're like, boys have a penis, girls have a vagina. Yeah. Yeah.

And the problem is here? Well, I actually stood there and I stared at it. And I was like, I was kind of thinking to my mind like, how do I, what do I do here? Because I'm clearly dealing with someone who is not in reality. Like this person, if this person thinks this tweet is a problem, I'm going to be arguing with someone that is arguing from a delusional point of view. And so I kind of didn't know what to say. And I was just like, I don't. don't know what you want me to say here.

And she's like, this kind of stuff could offend people. And I said, okay, like, I don't care. Like, I don't know if the truth offends you, that's not my problem. My view is this, like being offended is completely subjective. I actually choose to not allow people to offend me because I don't want to live in misery. I just don't understand why that would be fun. So anyways, she basically told me like, you're not allowed to coach basketball here. And I wasn't coaching basketball at the time, but I wanted to.

But she's like, you're not allowed to coach basketball because we can't have this social media. I said, well, what about football? And she said, well, because there's two teachers on the staff, we'll let you coach football. But the reality is, is she knew that if she removed me from football, that this backlash would happen. So she allowed me to stay on at that time. And I kept coaching. And then I kind of stayed a little bit quiet on social media for a while. Just out of respect for my wife.

I didn't want to kind of bring her into this because she's a teacher at the school as well. So, but then I just realized like I can't, I can't let people silence me. So I just kept making TikTok videos and didn't have a single problem. Like you said, there's lots of videos out there. I talk about not allowing men into women's spaces. I talk about politics a lot and different things like that. But I think this one, I think this one she felt like she had got me. I feel like she saw this TikTok and it was very blatantly calling out trans ideology.

So in her own mind, she's like, this I can defend. I can get rid of him. And even though there'll be backlash, I can defend it and say that this guy is a hateful person that hates trans people. So yeah, there was something about that video that she felt that she could get rid of me because she's been trying to get rid of me for years now, but never could. Something in this video made her think that she would be able to defend herself. and it hasn't gone well for her. Yeah, and the video is corresponding to, if people are wondering,

I'm forgetting right now, I just looked it up, Robin Westman, is that right? I think I'm right. The Minneapolis shooting at the Catholic Church. Used to be Robert Westman and then changed his name legally to Robin Westman, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so it being, I don't know,

I'm just, the world, I agree with everything. you've said about, you know, being offended and everything. But when when you get into these situations, it's like, I wonder what's set it off. Like they're obviously watching everything you're doing. They, I mean, it's been, it's been years. It's not like this is, and the dynamic is really difficult, right? Because like, you got a highly liked, decorated coach, take your pick on, on the wording there. You know, I've, I've looked at some of the, I don't know, testimonials or emails or screenshots, whatever we want to call them from players and families, like reaching out

saying like, this is insane. Like you should not do this, but that seems doesn't have an effect. You know, as soon as you go, well, all I want is an apology. I'm like, oh boy, buckle up because they don't seem to ever want to apologize for anything like this. You know, and I don't even, you know, like I guess where is it at today? Like has things, obviously the public backlash has been large, I think, you know, like the amount of times I got a cent to me, I can just imagine your world. Like, is there going to be anything change here? You know what? I'm, I'm a Christian man and I believe God has a plan for me and I believe this is a part of his plan. Someone sent me a quote today, which really helped or yesterday, which said, God gives his toughest battles to his strongest warriors.

And so this is, I fully believe that. And I'm believing that God has given me this, this burden to bear and but he's also let me know through all the support like like it has been overwhelming the the the people that have been reaching out like people that I've never met that have heard this story that are just reaching out to me and um and just thanking me for standing up and so it just that gives me strength it gives me strength to keep going and um the only negative comments I've got are from anonymous people the negative comments never want to put their name to it which is which is interesting um but But I believe there will be something done about this.

I'm not sure what it will be. I don't think that the super, so I had a meeting with the superintendent on Tuesday. I sat down with him for about two, two hours. And he did what you would expect him to do, right? Kind of told the line. And I was really trying to get an answer of why I was being removed. And Alex Lambert, and I have a recording, I have a recording actually of the phone call of Alex Lambert dismissing me because I always like to make sure I cover my baby.

And in the recording, and I sent this to the Western Standard, you can hear me basically begging her to tell me what it is that I did that you're removing me. And she only thing she would say is that I violated the Education Act. Well, I said, how? What did I say? You can't just say I violated an act. Like what you, there has to be a specific thing I said or did. And she said, I'm not going to get into the details and then hung up on me and said,

I'm banned from the school. And essentially, if I come to the school or the field at the school. I'll be arrested for trespassing. So I tried to ask the superintendent the same thing. I said, what did I do to get me removed? And he just kept saying, you violated the Education Act. I said, how? Why?

And he said, he just wouldn't tell me anything about that. And the most that he gave me was that my TikTok video had the potential to offend somebody. That's what he took. That's the best answer I have received so far. And so I don't know if the superintendent is going, because he was. basically doing, you know, he told me he's going to decide on this one way or the other. Did the principal, you know, you know, overact here? And am I going to be reinstated?

I don't think that the superintendent will reinstate me because of the giant media storm that has come. And I, and I, he's a brand new superintendent, by the way. He's two months on the job. So imagine being two months on the job and you have this that's now hitting you when you're, when you're getting bombarded with emails and media. Like the Rebel News contacted them for comment. Western Standard contacted them for comment. They've been radio silent.

I'm not sure what they're going to try to do. They're really in a bad spot. He tried to get me to delete my TikTok video. I said, absolutely not. That is going to stay up there because that's my best evidence that I've done nothing wrong. Everyone can watch that video and make a judge for themselves. He was trying to tell me, even though they had just fired me and I am not working for them whatsoever, he tried to tell me that, A, I'm not allowed to talk to my players or my

parents until the investigation is done. And B, I'm not allowed to talk to the media. and see that I have to take the TikTok video down. So obviously I'm not doing any of those things because they're just trying to stall and set the narrative for themselves. And so I'm just coming out here and telling the truth to everyone that will listen. I think, though, I had a meeting with the Minister of Education here in Alberta, his chief of staff yesterday.

He phoned me up. So the province and the government are aware of this story. And I'm hoping that they will step in because what I said in my TikTok video aligned 100% with the official UCP policy on the trans issues. Yeah, it doesn't seem to matter, does it? I mean, I'm sorry, I'm a bleak person on this side these days. I'm like, I think, I think so highly of you, you speak so well. I'm like, oh, man, you spoke out against COVID.

Oh, boy, check one. You're a Christian man. Oh, boy, that's not good. That's two checks. You're happily married. Can't have that. You know, like all these things, you just can't have it. Can't have these things in society, folks.

We just can't do these things. I'm like, and now, you know, I think back to Chris King was a coach here in Lloyd Minster. And we had nothing to do with trans. It was a dispute with one of his players and that got him fired. And he was a national champion coach, coach of the year for, for, why am I spacing on the level? not CIS the level below. And I'm spacing on that regardless. He was coaching at Lakeland College here in Lloyd.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, yeah. And he got removed and his entire team quit, wouldn't play the rest of the season, and like literally wrote notes, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and nothing came of it. Wow. And the board of Lakeland basically Stonewalled

and just went radio silent and just let it pass. Now he's coaching hockey and Lloyd instead of coaching basketball where he won a national championship. I'll say that again. And you just go, you know, them stonewalling. I'm kind of curious. Like when you say investigation, what investigation is happening? And by who?

So great question. So the superintendent, Ryan Sewula, is doing an investigation. And when I met with him, I was pretty, I was pretty up front with him. I said, this shouldn't be that difficult, Ryan. Do you watch the video? Yes. Does Chinook's Edged School Division care about what's best for its students or do they not? Because every single player and every single parent has flooded your email telling you this is what they want.

If you don't reinstate me, you are actively going against what the parents want for their own children. So why is this hard? I don't, if you go against this, you are proving that you don't actually want what's best for the kids. You are going against the parents of the kids. What message are you sending as a school division when you say, no parents, we don't care about who you want coaching your kids? The parents should be the ones who get to decide who coaches and is around their kids. It is absolutely ridiculous that this is even a conversation because you don't like a view

I have on an ideology that I believe is harming children. You're going to disobey and go against all these parents. Ryan, it's 50 plus emails from parents who know me and have watched me coached their kids, all the players on my team, 20 plus emails from the kids on my team. And like so respectful, so respectful in their emails. Just saying like this is a man who has done so much for us. I've been a volunteer coach there, Ryan, for 10 years. I have nothing but positive things that people say about me.

I had people emailing the superintendent from 15 years ago. when I coached junior girls basketball in Emmington, they were at grade seven girls. They're mid-20s now. And they emailed the superintendent saying that I'm the best coach they've ever had, that they're disgusted with the behavior that they've brought upon me. And to me, that was super special because I don't even remember my grade seven teachers. So clearly I did something right for these grade seven girls now at 26 years old, willing to message a superintendent and speak on my behalf.

So it's pretty damn obvious what this investigation should do. go to, but I don't think it's going to go my way because I don't think that they actually want what's best for the kids. Now, I know they're going to listen to this podcast because they're listening to all the media. Prove me wrong. Please prove me wrong. Do what's right. Reinstate me and make a public apology and let's move forward. And the only thing that Chinook's Edge and H.J. Cody can do right now to save face would be to reinstate me and show that they're actually listening to the parents and the children. Forgive me. I guess I didn't pick up on until you said it. You're a volunteer. Volunteer, never been paid a dime in my life. I've actually

spent thousands of dollars to coach those kids because I drive. I use my gas, I spend gas money to get there. I drive to the games. We travel all over the province. I've spent thousands of dollars to be a coach there. Never paid a dime, never signed a contract with the school. I've literally volunteered for 10 years at that school, two and a half hours a day every day of the week, drive into games and not just I'm a coach that prepares meticulously. So I spend hours at home preparing for practice, preparing my defense, preparing for games, watching film, having Zoom meetings with my players to go over film and go over their assignments, thousands of hours unpaid.

And this is the respect I get. I've never once had a thank you from that school. They've been out to get me from day one. I've never once had any. The only time, Sean, that anyone said thank you to me was when Alex Lambert called me to tell me I was no longer welcome. And she said, thank you for your time. That's the only thank you I've ever gotten from those guys. Thank goodness I've had unbelievable appreciation from the players and the parents,

but never from the school itself who I've volunteered thousands of hours at. Yeah. That's a pretty wild part of this then. Like that it's not only not a staff member, not someone getting paid. It's a community member volunteering their time. And they've removed you from that situation. Yeah. Oh man, what message does that send to anyone wanting to do anything in community sports?

Yep. And that's been a common message in the emails. One of the common message in the emails is what message is that sending? And you know what's even sicker, Sean? I said before, it's not just about me and it isn't. But this has taken on a whole new spin because like I said, all my players sent emails to the principal expressing their disappointment and standing up for me. instead of telling those kids that, you know, I'm proud of you for standing up for what you believe in, the principal of that school told the kids to stop talking about this and to leave it to the adults.

So those kids were told that they're not allowed to stick up for themselves. They're not allowed to speak up for themselves. And this was sent in an email. The exact quote in the email said, leave it to the adults. So it's pretty sickening that we have a school's, system, a principal that is telling children that they're not allowed to speak up for themselves. I thought that's what schools should be. Now, where's the logical conclusion to adults telling children that they're not allowed to speak

up for themselves and that they should leave it to the adults? I'm just going to leave it there, but I think everyone knows where that's going. I don't even know what to ask anymore. Is there any other thoughts on your brain that you want to make sure people know? I'm like, you know, I was interested when as many people flooded the text line. And once again, shout out to the listeners because they put things on my radar that probably would have come on anyways. You know, you being a sports guy, me starting in sports, like there's just a nice synergy there. I don't get to talk a whole lot of sports.

These days when I do talk sports is some story like this. And all I want to do is talk about, I don't know, Emmington Oilers second in the playoffs. Or, well, who am I kidding? In the finals. I don't know. Is there any other things you want to make sure people know about? Because, like, is there ways that people, you know, maybe one of your players, one of your parents, somebody who competed against you, I don't know.

Is there ways for them to send in letters or support? Is there ways for them to follow this along? I'm just wondering if there's ways for people to help support what you're, you know, dealing with. Yeah, you know, like the big thing that a lot of people are doing is just writing letters to the superintendent of Chinook's Edge, Ryan Sewell. You can find his email on Shunuchette School Division website to Alex Lambert, the principal at H.J. Cody High School in Sylvan Lake. I think the more voices they hear, the better.

I don't, again, I don't think they are going to do anything. And I hope I'm wrong, but I've kind of seen, like, and you gave an example before. Like, they just don't seem to want to back down from these types of things. They hope it's going to go away. I'm going to tell them it's not going to go away because at this point, it's not even obviously I want to go back and coach my kids. My kids are distressed about this. You know, we've got a game tomorrow, and it's going to be the first game that I'm not at in 10 years.

Well, I'll be there. I'll be there regardless. I'll be in the stand supporting them. That's going to be the first game. I'm not on the sidelines with them. And, you know, that's, that breaks my heart. And it's not right. It's unjust, but it's bigger than me.

This is about the ability to speak up for yourself, speak up for your beliefs. I just simply believe this trans ideology is harming children. And they take it as I hate trans kids. And that's never what I've said. And every single email that they've gotten has said he never, ever has treated anybody, any differently. Because, you know, in my day when I went to school, it was called the Golden Rule. And that's all we needed in our classrooms. We didn't need rainbow flags.

We didn't need to make everything political. It was just treat everyone the way you want to be treated. And that's how I live my life. And I live my life giving back to kids. because I was a struggling kid who needed people in my life in sports to lift me up and keep me around on this world. And I will live the rest of my life giving back and doing that because that's what I'm here for. And these people with an ideology have decided that their ideology is more important than the kids. And that's not okay with me and that shouldn't be okay with anyone.

And now they're shutting down the voices of kids who want to stand up for me. That's not okay. That's terrifying. So I'm going to keep fighting this fight even if it causes pain. And even with some of the negative comments, I'll get from the woke left who just won't listen to the fact that I don't hate LGBT kids. I don't hate anyone. I hate an ideology and I hate adults that push an ideology onto kids. And I'll say this. My wife's a teacher.

There are great teachers out there. There are great teachers out there. And there are great teachers at H.J. Cody. The problem is there's some really bad ones too. And there's a systematic problem with our school systems today where one ideology and one narrative is pushed and accepted and the others are not. When I met with Ryan Sewula, he told me that my video saying that I don't think that we should be giving drugs and surgery to children could offend somebody. And I said, well, if it's about being offended, Ryan, why is there a giant rainbow flag? in the gathering area that's eight feet wide in that school.

Do you not think that might offend a Christian who believes that the rainbow is a sign of God's eternal promise to not flood the earth again? Do you not think that it might offend a conservative who feels like he can't express his views? Why is it okay to offend the conservative Christian kids with your giant rainbow flag? But it's not okay to offend the possible trans kids out of an opinion where I'm just looking at care for kids. So there's a double standard where one view is accepted in the schools and one view is completely denied and excluded. These are people that say they're all about inclusion. What they mean is we're all about including people who fully agree with everything that we think. It isn't about diversity.

They love diversity, but they don't love diversity of opinion. And so you being married to a teacher, I got to give a shout out to my wife. She's a teacher. She's a lovely human being. And I always argue, I've never seen a better teacher than her. But when I hear stories like this, I'm just like, oh, this is, this is tough, you know, like, my hat's off to you for, I said it before we started or maybe even after we started that you stuck your head up. It's, I mean, to lose something that you care so deeply about, you know, on my own, you know, when I, when I think about sports and where sports took me across the planet, you know, like the thing that, I always think with great coaches, now that I have my own kids and I'm always searching for like good, healthy role models is the confidence it can instill in a kid. And it doesn't take much, right? It can take, I mean, you're talking about part of your story of how. football saved your life and how just being around a group of kids.

One of the things I was thinking is I'm like, oh, man, the confidence that comes from being successful with a group of, you know, how to work with one another and, and having leaders or mentors in a coaching role, those are really important spots. And I take that role,

you know, as a father now, I watch it really, you know, my son just started football. And I know Jack's squat about football. I want to be very honest. I mean,

I've watched CFL, I've watched NFL, I get it. going to the first practice, I'm like, I realize I know nothing. I grew up in a rink and on the ball field. And seeing a football practice, I have a whole new respect for football players that I didn't even realize, right? You just aren't around that realm.

And, you know, like, so giving, having to give that up, I don't know, just sucks. I don't have the words on this side. Like, that sucks. And I, I hope that. I hope that, and I believe, I guess, that somebody's going to hear this. I mean like, holy crap, I got to hire this guy and bring him over to our program, right? Like, I just truly believe that. You know, I watched Chris King go from being removed from something he loved

and had put all of his blood, sweat, and tears into, into now coaching U-18 here in Lloyd. And I go, maybe the best possibilities lie ahead of you. And I believe they probably do. Because when I hear you speak, I'm like, holy crap, somebody's going to be. reaching out going like we got to hire this guy and they don't know what they're losing and that sucks for the kids there it really does because I know that's what you care about um I don't know that that's that's my thoughts on on on on what's going on well I'm a I'm a I've coached basketball and and football for a long time I haven't been able to coach basketball because they've just refused

to let me coach there but I you know what's funny too is I coached basketball at Lecombe high school here for four years and won a championship the the only the the second championship in the history of that school at the 4A level. And that year, we won at the provincial sportsmanship award, because that's the kind of the values and the integrity that I put to my players. It was the first sportsmanship award won by a Central Alberta 4A team since 1972. And that part of my story seems to get left out when these people are coming after me and making up things that are completely untrue.

So that's kind of part of my resume. So, yeah, I mean, if you're looking for a basketball, basketball coach that's got a pretty good resume and won a sportsmanship award and won some championships or football coach. My wife and I are realizing that we're going to go where life takes us here. So maybe I hate to say it, but maybe Sylvan Lake is near in the end in our lives and our journey. But I'm putting my trust in God that he's got a plan for me and Oh, he does. Whatever happens will happen. From one God fearing man to another, I can firmly say he does. and the best days are probably ahead of you.

It's just, it sucks when you're in the middle of the shit, pardon the French, you know? It does, but I can handle it, and I've had a ton of support, and that's really kept me up. So I'm not going to bend, I'm not going to bend my knee to anybody. So the devil ain't got nothing on me there, Sean.

Well, I appreciate you coming on and sharing your story. And, you know, anything comes up and you need support, please reach out, because I know the audience, before I even release this to them, I know what they're going to say. And, you know, being here in Alberta, you know, if there's anything we can do on this side of the show, we'd love to help. So appreciate you coming on and sharing your story with us. Yeah. Thank you so much for having me on. It's been a pleasure. I really appreciate you. You listening to me. Thank you.