Losing Coach Mac
When football creates a mentor and then slowly takes him away.
BC Football Hall of Fame Inductee Bill MacGregor enjoyed a successful career with the Vancouver Meralomas, SFU Clan, and was a 1973 BC Lions Draft Pick.
When playing days were behind, he stepped into his favorite role as Coach Mac, building organizations like the Abby Senior High School Football program. With a no-quit spirit, he led the team to a 1984 Championship and was on his way to earning the title ‘Father of Abbotsford Football.’
As a High School Principal and mentor, Coach never asked for more than he was willing to give. He called for accountability for actions from his students and players and then loved on them just as hard. He understood them.
Along life’s path, there were some unexplained changes until his diagnosis with CTE. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is a progressive neurodegenerative brain disease caused by repetitive head trauma. Boston University School of Medicine and the Concussion Legacy Foundation Brain Bank researchers have diagnosed more cases of CTE than the rest of the world combined through multiple high-impact sports such as football, ice hockey, MMA, and also military veterans. A progressive disease that once triggered gets more severe with aging.
Bill spends these days with his constant companion and wife Pam, who says, “No matter where we go former students, players, parents, and colleagues stop to say hello and share a story about how Bill has touched their lives.”
During our first conversation, we asked Bill what brings him joy. He replied, “People and leading them to their purpose and it’s still in me.”
We are honored to explore this story ‘Losing Coach Mac’ to honor Bill’s brilliant life, career, and now journey with a sports-related brain injury.
Our hope is this film will offer inspiration and support for other families navigating a diagnosis of dementia as a result of CTE.
Currently in production, filming will be ongoing into Spring 2024 with a September 2024 release.
Any support for this project is greatly appreciated.
Please reach out to: Kim@freshindependence.com
“There were the Crips and the Bloods street gangs – and we were the Bill MacGregor Abby Panthers gang. He made you feel you ruled the world. He created connections with youth that were sincere, motivational, and you would go to the mat for him because he loved you. Coach called for accountability but he loved on you just as hard – even when you weren’t very loveable.”
“Coach always had a sense of when we needed guidance. He selflessly made an investment in us and his bucket of time and encouragement never emptied.“
“Never talking about or even denying the risks of CTE doesn’t help. It’s imperative to help make players current and future aware of all of the challenges they may face as a result of their choice to play football.”
“To this day I want to make Coach Mac proud of me in the way I’m living my life, the way I treat my wife, the type of father and the way I do business. He had a way of developing a sincere connected love with us. He would set a bar or an expectation of how he evaluated your potential while supporting and encouraging you with great conviction. You would run through a wall for him – and he would run through it with you.”