In the tragic bus crash that claimed the lives of 15 members of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Humboldt Broncos, one among the dead was Broncos play-by-play commentator Tyler Bieber. According to the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Bieber was well known in the Humboldt sports community as a “passionate volunteer,” who had a hand in many different sports across all levels.
“My son was one amazing man. He would get up at 5:30 every morning and go to work, but his day didn’t stop there. After, he would volunteer with the high school kids — teaching them basketball, football, he taught the girls flag football — he had a real passion for that.” —Marilyn Hay, mother of Tyler Bieber
In addition to his volunteer work as a high school coach, Bieber was also the vice president of a touch football league in Humboldt, with involvement in the Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program and a football academy in Saskatoon as well. He was in his first year with the Broncos, which he had initially been hesitant about because of how it might affect his commitments to his pre-existing coaching and volunteer work.
Outside of his work-based sport life, Bieber frequently shared his thoughts on Twitter from the leagues he followed, including the NFL, NBA and CFL. It seemed like he was an avid fan of many different leagues, and especially of supporting Canadian sports:
It's likely true that we all know somebody similar to Bieber — somebody who didn't just consume sports, but made sports their entire life and dedicated their work and their leisure time to following and supporting sports, certainly to the benefit of his community. He will undoubtedly be missed.
