Grey Cup Legacy Male and Female Coach of the Year

Donnie Smith has been teaching health and physical education and coaching at Garden City since 2002. In that time he has coached boys & girls hockey, baseball, curling and volleyball.

Donnie's most notable accomplishments as a coach have been with the boys baseball and boys hockey program. Donnie began convening the Zone 14 Baseball league in 2005. Since that time, it has grown to over eight teams allowing both baseball players and non-ball players across the Zone to come together and play a lifelong sport.

Donnie has led the school’s baseball team to numerous Zone 14 championships including with the longest run being within the last five years: 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, and 2021.

Provincially, Donnie has led the team to five final four appearances winning four Provincial Championships within the last six years - Champions in 2018/2019, 2021/2022, 2022/2023, 2023/2024 (semi-finalist) & 2024/2025.

Within the Gopher hockey program Donnie was a co-contributor to spearheading the Boys hockey team in 2003. Since then Donnie has been the head or assistant coach of the team depending on his balance of the Garden City girls hockey team, (when there was no one, and coaching his own boys from Timbits, to house, A1 and into AA. In years where the school had no coach for the girls team, Donnie would slide over and assist or take the lead role with that team.

Within the last six years Donnie's presence on the bench with the boys team has led to some very successful records for the Gophers in the A division of the WHSHL: 2019 - city & provincial finalists, 2020 - 1st in regular season, regular season semi-finalist, 2023 - 1st in regular season, city champions, and provincial finalists, and this past season the team was first place in regular season losing in the B division semi-finals.

Donnie co-convened boys baseball provincials (2019) and hockey provincials (2022), began the Zone 14 baseball league and has been the league convenor since the start, and has assisted with multiple KPAC championships and provincial championships.

Although Donnie's records, volunteerism and championships speak for themselves, his passion and love of sharing the game is second to none. In baseball Donnie has always carried a larger bench, giving athletes the choice to be part of something. Donnie has given students with minimal connections to the building a Gopher jersey and allowed them to be part of these moments regardless of skill. Although many times there isn't enough room in the dugout the boys have been tasked with learning the game in different ways, mentoring each other and creating an experience that is within the true spirit of high school sport.