A beloved Port Moody coach who guided the St. Thomas More Knights football team since 2000 passed away late Saturday evening. Bernie Kully was 41 when he succumbed to the throat cancer that was diagnosed in December.
Kully took a leave from coaching as well as his duties as a teacher and counsellor at the Burnaby Catholic high school to battle the disease, but he was never far from the sidelines. After watching the Knights defeat Centennial secondary 57-0 last Friday on his computer at home, he sent a congratulatory text to the Knights’ interim coach, Steve De Lazzari.
De Lazzari said many of the team’s defensive schemes for their game this Friday against the Terry Fox Ravens came from suggestions Kully sent him last week.
“I’m not used to doing his role,” De Lazzari said. “I’ve got the defence looking at me, and I’m not sending the signal because that was Bernie’s job.”
Ravens’ head coach Martin McDonnell said Kully’s passing leaves a huge hole in the high school football community. The team will honour him with a moment of silence before Friday’s game at Percy Perry Stadium in Coquitlam.
A prayer service for Kully is being held at All Saints Parish in Coquitlam (821 Fairfax St.) tonight (Wednesday) at 7 p.m. A funeral mass will be held at All Saints on Thursday at 11 a.m.
— For a more complete report on Kully's passing, go here
