BLOG: From the Eastern Endzone – Amazing Volunteers

Football New Brunswick held their AGM and Awards Banquet yesterday in Fredericton. I have attended these banquets for a number of years now and it never ceases to amaze me the quality of volunteers that are honored each and every year.
The coaches from pee wee and bantam football are always a special group of individuals who ooze passion and are always a perfect model for the sport. As you listen to them talk about their season and how they were affected by players commitment and the dedication of their other coaches you realize that you want to be out on the field and experience the same feeling. You start to feel the energy flow and you start thinking of a new season.

Football New Brunswick (FNB) has some other very high ranking awards that elevates individuals into a unique group of volunteers. As these awards are presented you will notice how the gathering held onto their every word and  their families beamed with pride. One of these awards is called “The Gridiron Award” presented to an individual who goes above and beyond. This person will have made a significant effort to better football by multitasking and being irreplaceable. Listening to them you wonder when they are ever home, but they soon tell you that they balance home and football. They are very humble and usually blown away for being selected and honored for doing something they simply love.

FNB have two other high ranking clubs, the first “Long Time Service Award” and the other “Life Time Service Award”. A long time for some can be a month or a year but football considers 15 years a long time. There were 3 coaches awarded this honor and to them it was just 15 years. They had many people to thank and wanted to share stories and moments about others who shared their journey.These journeys were recanted in vivid color and it was like we were all be treated to the top sporting moments of the last 15 years. I tried to remember my last 15 years and who had shared it with me. Looking around the room you could see others remembering and seeing their journeys, enjoying the moment. The best for last may fit this next award, the “Life Time Service Award”, for at least 25 years of volunteering. This year their were two awards in this category, both were unique in and both had amazing journeys. The first started back in 1950 and spanned 3 generations of family members playing and volunteering. Over 60 years. You may need to stop for a second to realize how long this really is, seeing someone who has been in football longer than I have been alive. That sure puts the word passion and love of the game in perspective. The other story is as remarkable, although it was a tale of 25 years, mostly in touch football. Someone who had played in two national touch tournaments in the 90’s and then has played in or coached in 22 of the last 24 city championships, has won 19 of those with the last 8 consecutive championships and 13 undefeated seasons. An unbelievable story to hear and then to think about how seasons are built and won or lost on a play. Truly remarkable.

Then as these latest “Lifers” receive their ring proudly they look to their side where their significant other stands just as proud displaying the necklace representing their accomplishment. Their accomplishment of supporting this great feat and being there to listen, sacrificing family time but all the time lending their passion. For FNB knows that their success comes from more than just the volunteer that is directly involved, it comes from the home, the heart and the sole of football families, who all have this special passion and love of the game.

As the awards ended I sat there thinking of how great these people really are. We are quick to honor professionals who are really only doing what they are paid for. We are quick to put some of them in the hall of fame. Very few ever thank the person who started them into their career, who watched them move on and then began a journey for other athletes. The person who would spend more time and money, seek no fame or payment, only to be humbled at a banquet of their peers for doing something they loved.

And so 2013 will start some new journeys and passionately end some others. But in the middle there will be those who silently and productively continue on. None to be put in a hall of fame but all to be welcomed into a family who share their passion and love of the game.

If you make it big in football or take what football teaches you and become successful in the world, remember who started you, mention them and thank them. Pictures and those honored are available on the FNB web site.

from the Eastern Endzone…

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