Finishing your fifth season with Dinos athletics is a lot like turning 40. You start noticing the snap, crackle and pop every time you stand up, you talk about your rookie season like it was a simpler time long ago and all those stories that people respectfully kept to themselves start surfacing.
Yes, the public eye can be both a blessing and a curse. And now the time has come to shine the collective spotlight on a departing defender of the Dinos men’s soccer team: Colin Hill.
While hunting for tales about "Hilly" one learns many things. There are stories about ice cream truck mishaps, Halloween parties in Saskatoon and other unmentionable antics. But, above all else you are met with a lot of smiles, good friends and great memories. The one constant? Everyone seems to love Colin Hill.
"Mr. Colin Hill is the most unique hybrid this Earth shall ever see," marvelled long time friend and partner in crime Evan Truman. "He is simultaneously a gearhead, a jock, a metalhead and a sweet, sweet lova. But more than that, Colin is my friend-and a fucking good one at that."
He can apparently be quite entertaining too.
There was a snowboarding expedition to Mount Seymour a while back that saw Hill take a huge jump while a group of friends looked on. He soared through the air and faded out of sight before giving way to a large puff of snow. As the onlookers contemplated possible outcomes, anxious moments gave way to uproarious laughter when an anonymous voice rang out from the chair lift above Hill’s apparently unceremonious landing.
"Ohhh, dude! How’s your face?"
This was one of Hill’s many concussions, and one of his many snowboarding-related injuries. Not surprisingly, these ailments weren’t always well received by his Head Coach of six years, Andy Gibbs.
"He just looks at me and shakes his head," laughed Hill. "All the young guys that come up get Gibbs saying ‘If you don’t want to play this year, go snowboarding and blow your knee out.’
"Everyone’s got their things they do on the side, mine just tend to hurt me a lot more." It’s not only Hill’s off-field activities that leave him watching games instead of playing in them. Always aggressive and willing to sacrifice himself to make the play, Hill has taken his fair share of knocks on the pitch, but likes to think he’s given more than he’s received.
"I think I’m ahead in the balance," he smiled wryly. "I’ve knocked a few more guys than have knocked me. I mean, if you aren’t playing full tilt, all out, there’s no real point doing it at all."
The self-proclaimed "youngest old man," Hill has been in the program a long time-six years if you factor in his red shirt season. Among the many who’ve left lasting impressions, the two that stand out are one of his first ever defensive cohorts, current Calgary Storm defender Mike "Pavy" Pavicik and Dinos assistant coach and former player Lothar "Lo" Chmidt.
"Pavy was great to me when I started out," explained Hill. "He was the cat’s ass, I learned a ton from him. And I don’t think Lo gets enough credit; he’s the glue that holds us to Gibbs. Big props go out to Lo. He does all our training, he puts up with all our shit, Lo is the goods."
An undisputed man of many talents, Hill balances soccer with his duties at the Den, an engineering degree and a ton of work with the Snowboard Club. Above all however, he was a pillar of strength on the pitch.
"Colin is a rugged defender, and a silent but natural leader," said Gibbs, following November’s Canada West soccer playoffs in Victoria. "He is an integral part of all our successes and he will be sorely missed."