Wanted: Head coach for South Surrey secondary school football program
Published 6:00 pm Friday, May 1, 2026
A South Surrey high school football coach is hoping there’s someone in the local community who will step up and take on the role.
J.C. Abbott, Earl Marriott Secondary’s head coach since 2023 and a former Mariner football player himself, regrets that he can no longer continue in the role, and is hopeful that someone with more time and flexibility with their schedule will be able to help interested athletes have a football season.
“Life is taking me in different directions and it’s become more challenging with work,” Abbott noted. “I don’t feel like I’m doing the program justice because I’m not always available in the school, like a teacher would be … I would very much like somebody else who can who can try and and salvage it.”
It’s been challenging to run the school’s football program ever since the COVID pandemic and the opening of Grandview Heights Secondary in September of 2021, Abbott said, as the new school’s catchment effectively cut the numbers of potential EMS football athletes in half.
But there are still students who are keen on playing football this year, he continued, and he is hopeful they can still have that chance.
Although he has reached out to some people and had some conversations, he’s had no luck finding a replacement, Abbott said.
“With high school football, the reality is, it’s a five-day a week commitment. It is after school every day, so it has to be somebody who has the flexibility to either be retired or to leave work and be there at 3 p.m. every day or before, then to set up and go until 5 p.m. Fridays games can sometimes be as early as 12:30 or 1 p.m. … so you have to be able to put in that time.”
Abbott is hoping “somebody who is willing to go the extra mile” and do some of the things he hasn’t been able to do, such as recruiting, organizing new programs and potentially outreach with flag football.
“If somebody like that has the time, that would be very attractive. Certainly, (they would need) football experience. This isn’t a role that you can come into with no knowledge of the game,” he said. “You have to have some football background, some football knowledge, and a rampant passion to to make this a significant part of your life.”
If they don’t find someone within the next couple of weeks, some hard decisions might have to be made, said Abbott.
“If we don’t find somebody … then we’ll have to make the decision to just put the program on hiatus for now and send what players we do have over to community football with the White Rock Titans. But that would be a shame, because this program has been around for 20 years.”
Anyone interested in applying for the head coach position can email Abbott at
coachjc.abbottabbottt@gmail.com or contact the school’s head office.