Aaron Wales is officially the new head coach of the St. Joseph Celtics Football Team.
“I’m really excited. We’re a pretty prestigious program provincially,” he says.
Taking over for Trevor Prichard, Wales says the former coach remains a huge source of influence and support for him as he starts this journey.
“Trevor’s been a long-term mentor for me as a coach and I was finishing my education degree and expressed interest in coaching. I still bounce ideas off him constantly. I don’t have to be Trevor Prichard in the football community. I can be myself and run this team. I still have some great people around me. I think he really set me up for a great situation to step into”, he says.
Wales first got into coaching after he finished playing junior football, saying that he missed the game too much to simply walk away.
“I started coaching the Celtics offensive line a bit the first couple of years. I also spent some time coaching bantam football with the Grande Prairie Norsemen. I ended up doing some defensive line coaching the last couple of years with the Celtics and now I’m stepping into that head coach role,” he says.
Wales says while results on the field are important, it’s not the be-all, end-all when it comes to his philosophy.
“Ultimately the goal is that when the guys leave here they leave as good young men and members of our community. I’m a younger guy, and I hope I can be a good role model for them as well,” he says.
Wales appreciates the support of friends, family, and colleagues as he starts this new venture.
“This has been a long-term goal of mine for a while. A lot of my close friends are guys that I played high school football with this program and it kind of shaped us as people too. My parents are super proud too,” he adds.
The St. Joseph Celtics are coming off a provincial championship, finishing as one of the top teams in Alberta.