CFL players encourage Sackville youth to live healthy lifestyle

Youth in the Sackville area had a golden opportunity last week to get up close and personal with a pair of CFL players and learn some valuable football skills at the same time.

Toronto Argonauts running back Andre Durie and defensive tackle Étienne Légaré were special guests of the community for four days last week – helping out with the local minor football association’s spring camp, attending a public reception co-hosted by the town and Mount Allison University, and visiting local schools to promote healthy living.

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“It’s important that, once you have all the nutrition in your system to keep your body going, you also stay fit and active,” Durie told Grade 3 and 4 students at Salem Elementary on Wednesday morning.

Durie, at 5’9” and 193 pounds, said he became aware of the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle when he suffered a knee injury back in his college days.

“I put all my focus on using health and fitness to get back on my feet . . . so that I could get back into training and running again and back out onto the field.”

Durie, who said he tried football for the first time at age eight and has continued to love the sport ever since, explained it’s essential that athletes eat right, stay active and get plenty of rest to keep the body replenished.

The 28-year-old father of two said he plays a variety of other sports as well and particularly likes basketball (but admits he doesn’t enjoy playing golf).

Légaré also insisted that football players need to be in good shape to succeed at the game. And when the students questioned him as to why that was so important, he didn’t hesitate.

“A football game is three hours long . . . if I’m not in good shape or if I’m not healthy, it’s going to be a long, long, long three hours,” said the 6’3”, 260-pound defensive tackle. “So it’s really important to eat right and make sure you have plenty of energy before a game.”

“It’s important that, once you have all the nutrition in your system to keep your body going, you also stay fit and active.” – – Andre Durie

The Sackville Minor Football Association (SMFA), along with some help from Mounties football manager Wray Perkin and the Mount Allison Leadership program, organized and arranged last week’s visit by the Argos, which coincided with the annual football spring training camp for local youngsters.

“It’s truly been exciting,” said Florence Rose, a member of the SMFA executive and a football mom. “These two guys are like the rock-stars of the football world for these kids.”

Rose said it’s been a privilege to host the Argos players, who have been “participating in shaping our young football players,” not only by teaching them the basics of the game but also by promoting the importance of living a healthy lifestyle and staying focused on their goals.

“When you look into their faces and see their excitement . . . you know it’s just one of those life experiences that these kids won’t ever forget.”

Rose gives much of the praise to Perkin and Leadership Mount A for making this happen.

“He’s dedicated a great deal of his time over the past month leading up to this event,” she said. “Without that involvement, this never would have happened.”

The Argos also spent time this week promoting this fall’s much-touted Touchdown Atlantic in Moncton, the first regular-season CFL game ever to be played in Atlantic Canada. The Toronto Argonauts will take on the Edmonton Eskimos at Université de Moncton on Sept. 26, a game that is expected to draw a capacity crowd of more than 20,000 fans.