SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — As Dale MacDougall walks around the Three Oaks Senior High School gymnasium, he intently watches the Axemen senior AAA boys’ volleyball team practise.
He sees something he does not like, which immediately prompts him to stop his players. His firm but calm voice takes over the gymnasium providing further instruction. Although this may seem like a minor adjustment for an early-season drill, it is this attention to detail that MacDougall-coached teams have become synonymous for.
“I still have the passion for coaching,” said MacDougall, who resides in Summerside. “I like seeing the kids succeed. As long as they are happy with what they are doing, they are succeeding and one of the biggest things is they are off the streets.”
MacDougall’s impressive resumé at the school level includes volleyball, basketball, badminton, softball and baseball. He has also coached with the Summerside Baseball minor program for 10 years, most recently a member of the coaching staff for the 2018 Atlantic 18-under AA champions.
“I’m a little old school,” said MacDougall, describing his coaching style. “I’m very, very, very competitive and the kids know that.
“I don’t put up with any BS or horsing around and the kids like it, too, and they’ve performed well for me over the years. I can’t complain.”
MacDougall does admit he has “calmed down a bit” over the years, but it’s “the competitiveness” that motivates him to continue working with young athletes.
“I love being competitive and I love to see the smile on the kids’ faces, especially during a game if we work on a certain skill or we worked on something in practice and they say, ‘I did it or we got this game because of all the hard work,’” said MacDougall. “I like to see the kids work hard and at the end of the day it pays off.”
Schools
Along with Three Oaks, which will host a six-team tip-off volleyball tournament on Saturday, MacDougall has guided teams at Summerside Intermediate School (SIS) and Miscouche Consolidated School to provincial championships.
“Our program would not exist if it was not for people like Dale,” said Three Oaks athletic director Joel Arsenault. “He has put a lot of time into coaching school sports for several years at a lot of different schools.”
One thing that has remained consistent over the years, noted MacDougall, is his coaching style.
As fate would have it, an innocent conversation with his former physical education teacher, Darryl Gaudet, launched MacDougall’s coaching career with Miscouche’s midget AA boys’ volleyball team that would last 17 years. Gaudet also coached MacDougall in volleyball, basketball and badminton at Miscouche.
“Mr. Gaudet, who is a great guy, asked me to coach out there as they didn’t have a coach,” recalled MacDougall. “I knew everything that he did for the community and I thought I would give back to Mr. Gaudet and the community of Miscouche since he gave me lots of opportunities.”
MacDougall immediately discovered the formula for success.
“One of my biggest accomplishments was winning four provincial titles in 10 years out at Miscouche,” said MacDougall, who has won a total of eight P.E.I. School Athletic Association provincial volleyball championships at different levels. “For being a school of Grades 1 to 9 and a school of fewer than 200 kids, that was one of my proudest moments coaching.
“You get into Miscouche and you have little kids and some of my guys may have been in Grade 5 and they were in the starting lineup. You walk into a big school like Stonepark, Queen Charlotte or even SIS back in the day, and in the back of your mind you think they are thinking, ‘This little Miscouche school is probably not very good.’
“Then when you win a provincial championship, it’s a nice feeling.”
Arsenault’s volleyball-playing career began at Miscouche under MacDougall, who was presented with the 2018 TOSH Association Alumni Award in June.
“Dale certainly has impacted a lot of students through his coaching career,” said Arsenault. “He is the type of coach who demands respect, he has stern expectations and student-athletes generally react quite well to his coaching style. He tends to get a lot out of his teams.”
One player who has benefited from MacDougall influence is Axemen senior middle player Jack Somers, 17.
“He was the first coach I ever had (in Grade 9 at SIS), so he’s been the only coach I have had in volleyball except for one year,” said Somers, 17. “He’s taught me everything I know. He always knows how to get the guys going.”
Connor Lilly, who is also in Grade 12, said the players appreciate MacDougall’s willingness to work 1-on-1 with them.
“If he sees something that needs to be worked on, he will come work with you and show you how he wants things to be done,” said the 17-year-old Lilly, who is MacDougall’s nephew. “I just started setting last year pretty much for the first time.
“He helped me improve and learn the position and helps all the new guys coming up learn their positions.”
MacDougall’s 17-year-old son, Ben, has played for his father in different sports over the years. Ben acknowledges that his father challenges him to get better all the time and maybe a little bit harder on him than anybody else.
“He’s pretty intense,” chuckled Ben. “If you do something wrong he will definitely let you know, but at the same time if you do something right he will let you know that, too.”
Tournament
Domino’s tip-off senior AAA boys’ volleyball tournament:
Saturday, Sept. 21
At Three Oaks Senior High School:
Pool A
Three Oaks
Bluefield
Montague
Pool B
Westisle
Charlottetown Rural
Colonel Gray
Schedule9 a.m. – Three Oaks vs. Bluefield; Westisle vs. Colonel Gray.
10 a.m. – Three Oaks vs. Montague; Charlottetown Rural vs. Colonel Gray.
11 a.m. – Bluefield vs. Montague; Westisle vs. Charlottetown Rural.
Noon – Third-place team in Pool A vs. third-place team in Pool B; second-place team in Pool A vs. second-place team in Pool B.
1 p.m. – Championship: First-place team in Pool A vs. the first-place team in Pool B.
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