I like to get to sporting events early if I can. To me, watching people prepare the field/gym and athletes going through their pre-game routines is part of the whole experience.

On a particularly cold late fall evening, I went to North Canyon High in Phoenix for a football playoff game between Phoenix Thunderbird and Goodyear Desert Edge.

There were a handful of people working. One man was carrying a couple of cardboard boxes. He had a wool hat pulled over his head. He walked over to me, and I couldn’t tell who it was at first. Then I knew.

It was Brian Cole, the North Canyon football coach. His team wasn’t even playing, but he was working the game, helping to get some of the concession stands ready so that some of the proceeds would go to his football booster club.

That is the kind of man Cole is – going the extra mile for his players and program.

He was a long-time firefighter for the City of Phoenix, serving his community by day and his players in late afternoons, evenings, even some weekends. He always displayed a good work ethic.

Cole led North Canyon to the Class 5A Division II championship in 2005 over Peoria Centennial.

His teams might not have always had as much talent as their opponent or might not have been as big, but they always seemed to fight to the end.

I was surprised to see that Cole recently resigned his North Canyon post to take the head-coaching position at Joy Christian in Glendale, a Class 1A school that plays eight-man ball. Family reasons played a large part in the move, and that is a good thing.

North Canyon’s loss is Joy Christian’s gain. I have no doubt that Joy Christian will be an eventual contender. Cole will make that happen and help the boys develop off the field as well as on. That’s what it’s all about.