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Red Storey Field goal posts coming down as Barrie Central keepsakes

'Those mementos will serve as a cherished reminder of the fantastic memories ... that took place on Red Storey Field,' says former Barrie Central coach and teacher

Where does history end and the future begin?

Perhaps with a bit of steel and memories.

Barrie Central Collegiate rugby and football players — decades of whom have accomplished phenomenal memories at Red Storey Field for players, families and friends — will soon be having an opportunity to keep the spirit of Central front and centre.

A group of former students, and a coach, will be tearing down the two sets of goal posts from the field near the former downtown high school later this month.

“We will be cutting the goal posts into pieces and former coaches, football and rugby players are invited to ask for a piece of the post if they wish,” says former player and Central teacher Harvey Garraway.

Former Central rugby coach Steve Porter says the school has a very special place for its athletic alumni.

“This is important to me because those mementos (goal posts) will serve as a cherished reminder of the fantastic memories that (we) have surrounding the events and accomplishments that took place on Red Storey Field and, in particular, the pitch and the goal posts," he says. 

“If I were to guess, former coaches and players will share my fondness for the memories created on that pitch. Speaking specifically in my case, championships as both a player and a coach in football, sevens rugby, and rugby at the city, county, GBSSA (Georgian Bay) and Ontario level are intrinsically linked to the games and training that took place on that pitch," Porter adds.

“I am a proud retired teacher, but I will never stop being a former players’ coach. Red Storey Field is a huge part of that.”

The field's namesake was a star athlete in several sports at what was then called Barrie Collegiate Institute before moving on to win the Grey Cup in 1937 and 1938 with the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts. He later became an NHL referee in the 1950s. Storey, who was inducted into the Barrie Sports Hall of Fame in 1985, died in 2006 at the age of 88. 

Over the years, Porter says he has had the privilege of being in touch with parents of students who have been a part of the Central experience, be it sports, music or that high school experience which can shape someone’s life forever.

Success stories in a wide variety of sports on the provincial level created a "brand recognition" for Barrie Central that reached beyond provincial and international borders, he says.

“That is something that should be considered an important component of Barrie’s history," says Porter. 

The high school was established in 1843 and has occupied a number of addresses over its lifespan, the majority of which were spent at the last location on the corner of Bradford and Dunlop streets, says Porter. The history of the school is filled with names of influential Barrie folk who graduated from the school, with the name changing over time from Barrie District Collegiate to Barrie and District Central Collegiate.

“So it is completely accurate to say that the demographics of former players would include all ages. At the closing reunion ceremonies in 2016, the oldest alumni was 94 and was remembered as a standout athlete,” says Porter. “Speaking for my own experiences as a student from September 1976 to June of 1982, then on staff from September 1998 to June 2016, the ages of athletes would realistically included 14-year-olds up to 21-year-olds.”

When the hammer — required by the Simcoe County District School Board and its ‘restrictive to repair’ option — came down, the school’s future was sealed.

“When the final edict was announced, my Red, Black and White soul was crushed,” Porter says. “An oft-told theory was that Barrie Central was a unique school with an intriguingly different aura. To quote one of my graduating students, when queried at his final day as a Centralite in June of 2016: ‘People who never went to Central will not understand how different it was, but anyone who spent time with her will agree that she was something very, very special.'”

The fact that the site, which includes Red Storey Field, was sold for residential development was "salt in the wound," Porter says.

“Any Central alumnus will admit that closing a building is something that has to occur," he says. "They all get too old to repair, at some point. The egregious sin committed by the (Simcoe County District School Board) was eradicating Central from existence by actively crushing any and all suggestions for carrying on her memory.

“Apparently 174 years of excellence was not enough to even erect a memorial."