We will launch this spring, as part of the launch of our football season, what we'll be calling a “try football” campaign to really encourage Canadian youth to try the game of football. That could be flag football or touch football. It could be simply taking a football to the park and throwing it around with your family and friends. We think just the simple act of getting that football in your hands and throwing your very first spiral will have a powerful effect on drawing people into our sport.
The other part is that we want to start talking about the positive narrative of what the game does for people and how it changes lives. Two weeks ago I was with the Toronto Argonauts. They asked me to make a number of phone calls to amateur football volunteers. I had a chance to speak to a remarkable woman who was telling me about her involvement as a volunteer in amateur football. I said, “May I ask you what got you into football?” She said, “Well, Randy, it's not well known, but my son suffers from depression. We took him to football for the very first time a couple of seasons ago and it completely changed his life.” It completely changed his life. She said, “He is stronger. He loves his teammates. The game of football helped improve the quality of his life. It helped improve the quality of our family's life. It's the happiest place for our family, because it has transformed us.”
We have to start telling those stories about how our game is playing a positive role. I talk about it on a very personal level. I wasn't a very good student for most of my growing up. When I was an elementary school student and a junior high school student, my mother would come home from parent-teacher meetings crying just about every time. It was the game of football that led me to a love of learning, knowing that in order to play at the professional level I would have to become a better student. I walked around high school with one of those old orange dictionaries—some of you might remember it—because I was a terrible speller. I had neglected my studies for so long. It was football that inspired me to become a better student. I graduated with an honours degree in business. Football changed my life.
We know that tens of thousands of those stories are out there and they need to be told. People need to hear that football is a force for transformation. It teaches teamwork. It teaches hard work. It teaches the value of friendship. There are so many lessons to be learned on a football field and in a football locker room. We need to start telling those stories.