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For the Love of the Game 2019 Gala Dinner

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Join us once again as we celebrate Canadian sports past, present and future at the Second Annual For the Love of the Game Gala. This is not your typical sit-down, fundraising event. We are excited to announce that this year will feature the first, Dancing with the Sports Stars Competition!

Grab a front-row seat as some of Canada’s finest current and past athletes team up with some special guests to perform their routines and do their best to wow the judges.

Tickets Here

The evening will also include delicious food, plenty of mingling with friends and athletes and our own dance party at the end of the night to your favourite 80’s tunes. The evening is a cocktail style, standing event, with plenty of food to keep you satisfied and available seating to rest those tired feet.

If you’re not able to attend the event, we encourage you to attend the “No Dinner, Dinner” by donating here. You will receive a charitable tax receipt.

Proceeds from the evening go directly toward For the Love of the Game. An organization that sends a minimum of one rugby athlete per year to a residential high-performance academy (nominations are open to athletes in any sport). It provides grants to athletes to support their participation in experiences they identify and believe will help them reach their full potential. For the Love of the Game also supports and organises high impact coaching events and clinics for athletes.

 

 

FAQs

What are my transportation/parking options for getting to and from the event?

Parking is available onsite through the ParkPlus system. Parking is available for $3 after 5:00 p.m. for this event. There is also public transit nearby or we recommend you call a taxi or Uber.

What is the dress code?

Cocktail

 

Tickets Here

IRB World Series Sevens – Vancouver 2019

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IRB World Series Sevens – Vancouver 2019

Once again, the For the Love of the Game crew will head to the Vancouver Sevens to enjoy two days of rugby in the best seats in the house!

Take a look at last years trip to Vancouver – 2018 Vancouver 7s

Interested in attending future events like this?

Contact us at fortheloveofthegame@shaw.ca

Edmonton Road Trip

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35 good souls boarded the Bus to cheer on Canada as they faced the Brave Scots at Commonwealth Stadium.

Game Day Run Sheet

1:45pm: Met at Stanley Park Pool Parking Lot.  4A Street SW & Riverdale Avenue SW Calgary T2S1R8.

2:00pm: Bus departed for Edmonton

5:00pm: Bus arrives in Edmonton.  Get some food – Food was pre ordered and we had a very civilized meal before heading to stadium

6:15pm: Arrive at Commonwealth Stadium – Great seats centre field and weather was good

7:00pm: Kick-Off – The Brave Scots proved too Brave for the Canadians and the final score was 48-10.

9:15pm: Meet back at bus – All tourists safely made it back onto the bus for the return leg of the journey.

9:30pm: Bus departs for Calgary – we left on-time although we had a good Samaritan stop to let John Beck and Gregg Jardine off apparently close to home.  They were last seen heading over the embankment.

Arrival back in YYC – Late!

Thanks to everyone who joined us for a great day of rugby (on and off the field).

Hong Kong Recap

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Hong Kong by the numbers.

Touring Party: 11
Nights on Tour: 6
Days of Rugby: 5 (Rugby Tens on Wed/Thursday and Seven’s Fri/Sat/Sun
Seven’s Matches: 42
Rain (Only when we were at Sevens Lunch!)
Hours of sleep: Not Enough
Tour MVPs: Fergus and Randy for their hospitality and looking after us VERY well.
Special Thank Yous to David McKenzie and Doug Morton for their hosting above and beyond the call of duty…For the Love of the Game.  Much appreciated and noted.

Touring Party

For the Love of the Game Tour Veterans
Mark el Baroudi, Paul Beck, Phil Beck, Liz Beck, Dana Lougheed, Dave Lougheed and Gregg (Bad Rat) Jardine

For the Love of the Game Tour Rookies (Overseas tour)
Shelly el Baroudi, Evan Beck, Taylor Lougheed and Tatum Lougheed

Regrets and There in Spirit
Good Rat (Paul left him at home and he thankfully survived to join us again) and Doug Laird (Doug will come next year!)

Out of Stadium Highlights

Too hard to call but here is a list of many – Boat cruise to Duff Island, Sevens Lunch with Happy Hour(s) at Yacht Club, Dinner at China Club, Harbour cruise ahead of dinner at Hu Tong, Team Foot Massage, Tatum and Taylor’s surprise for me at the Sevens Luncheon and don’t forget the Carbine Club Lunch.

Sevens highlights

Canada Sevens box…best seat in the house with the best fans!
Mark el Baroudi’s player of the tournament: “That small fast guy from South Africa…I love that guy!”
Team of the tournament: Kenya!
Most Entertaining Team: Fiji (as per usual!!!)
Congrats to Japan for qualifying for next year’s World Series Sevens…Always a team with heart and passion and great to see them back in.

Tour Summary/Commentary

Well my Privateers, What a week it was.  As the World’s leading Rugby Countries descended upon Hong Kong as they have for the past 43 years we arrived with high hopes and big expectations.  We were not let down.  From start to finish we were hosted exceptionally well and we had no hiccups with travel, tummies or tours.  Bad Rat was solo on the tour and sadly fell victim to Lan Kwai Fong meaning he actually got to go on 2 tours…his first and his last! – A brave and noble Rat, Bad Rat is survived by Good Rat and Greg is going to do his best to train a suitable replacement before the next tour.

The main tour started on Wednesday with the Canada Sevens Lunch, which was a fantastic way to kick things off.  The release of the For the Love of the Game Blazers was a hit and a surprise.  We drifted off to the yacht club following lunch for an amazing afternoon and then dinner at the China Club, which was a real treat.

Thursday, we enjoyed a day out at the 10’s before heading for our team foot massage.  With dinner planned at Hu Tong, we headed out for and afternoon cruise on Fergus and Randy’s beautiful boat. We were joined at dinner by Adam Janikowski and his Wife Mary Beth and her Sister and Brother-in-law and enjoyed some great food and an amazing laser light show of the Hong Kong skyline.  We took the Star Ferry back from Kowloon and got ready for the Sevens to kick off the next day.

Friday was a great surprise in that we had tickets to the Carbine Club and enjoyed the entertaining stories from john Smit and Robert Jones.  It is actually a “Long Lunch” and we finished just in time for the trek up to the Sevens.  Settling into our Seats in the Canada Sevens Fund Rugby Box we sported our “On the Eh Team” shirts and our For the Love of the Game Special Edition Orange Ball Caps.

Saturday morning, we arrived at the Stadium in time for Canada’s first game.  Our team uniform was the Mountie Jersey’s and Mountie hats.  Taylor and Tatum were Rainbow Morphs!  Weather was perfect and it was a great day of Rugby.  We finished the day at the stadium with a boat race against our friends in the box behind us.  We won of course!  Leaving the grounds, we headed to Lan Kwai Fong.  By all accounts everyone had a good time but unfortunately we lost our beloved Bad Rat who never made it out.

Sunday morning, we again made our way along the 600m walk to the stadium from our hotel.  Mark elBaroudi and Gregg Jardine had the good fortune of meeting Wasaile Serevi (AKA the greatest seven’s player of all time).  Unfortunately, Canada was out of the hunt for the Top 8 but the day didn’t disappoint with a re-match of the Vancouver Sevens final of Fiji v Kenya.

We finished off the day enjoying a final few drinks in the Box and letting the Stadium clear out.  We then headed to the Hong Kong Football Club for dinner to wrap up an amazing week.

For the Love of the Game Rugby Day

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May 6, 2018

Rugby Day

We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day for the first ever For the Love of the Game Rugby Day!  The sun was shining and the event saw many of Calgary’s next generation come out to show their support and have some fun all in the name of rugby.  Kids walked away with new skills and renewed motivation to continue pursuing the sport they love and parents walked away with insight as to how to help their kids reach their goals in rugby.  The event was a huge success with over 350 kids coming out for the morning and afternoon sessions.  We were overwhelmed by the positive response to the day and were excited to see so many in our city invested in the future of rugby!

The morning began with the U10, U13 and U15 clinics followed by lunch and some autograph signing with Al Charron, Maria Samson, Gareth Rees, Rod Snow, Ryan Smith and For the Love of the Game Founder, Dave Lougheed.  In the afternoon the U17 and U19’s had their chance to show their skills and learn from the rugby greats in attendance.  The crew from Macquarie organized drills for the kids and the team at Calgary Rugby Park did an incredible job of making sure every kid was fed at the end of the day.  We are thankful for the support of the volunteers who made this event happen, both leading up and on the day.  To the sponsors, Macquarie, Raymond James, Jarislowsky Fraser, Fidelity Investments and Alaris Royalty Corp. we couldn’t have done it without you!

For the Love of the Game Gala Dinner

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Friday, May 4 2018

For the Love of the Game Gala Dinner

The first-ever For the Love of the Game Gala Dinner was a success seeing 175 guests come together for an evening in celebration of Canadian sport past, present and future at Heritage Park Gasoline Alley. The night was packed with delicious food, entertainment and many of Canada’s finest athletes who came together in support of our future athletes.

2018 Scholarship Recipients

2018 Scholarship Recipients, Tyler Duguid and Brock Webster were in attendance to be recognized and presented with their awards by rugby legends, Al Charron and Gareth Rees.

The evening ended with a live auction to raise funds for For the Love of the Game and some serious dancing thanks to SNB Sounds of the 80’s.  We are extremely grateful to all of those who came out to support and gain a better understand of what For the Love of the Game does and the amazing young athletes we support.

Athletes included:

Kelly Vanderbeek – Olympian, Alpine Skiing
David Ford – 5x Olympian & World Champion, Kayaking
Heather McDermid – 2x Olympian Bronze and Silver Medalist, Rowing
Bruce Robertson – Olympic Gold Medalist, Rowing
Michael Smith – 3x Olympian, Decathalon
Gareth Rees – World Rugby Hall of Fame Member
Al Charron – World Rugby Hall of Fame Member
Rod Snow – 4x Rugby World Cup
Dave Lougheed – 4x Rugby World Cup
Ryan Smith – 3x Rugby World Cups
Dave Greszczyszcn – Olympian, Skeleton
Maria Samson – Women’s Rugby World Cup Silver Medalist
Ashley Steacy – Olympic Bronze Medalist, Rugby
Michele Cameron-Coulter – Olympic Gold Medalist, Synchronized Swimming

 

IRB World Series Sevens – Vancouver 2018

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Date: March 9-11

Location: BC Place Stadium
Total Attendance: 77,000+ over the 2 days (an attendance record)
Weather: Perfect outside (and inside)!
Unfortunately, it wasn’t third time lucky for the Canadian men as they came up just short against the USA after tying Australia on the first day.  That loss sent them to the trophy competition and unfortunately, a 14th place finish after a loss to Samoa in their final game.  There are no easy games on the Sevens circuit and this competition proved it with many of the top teams exiting earlier than expected.  Fiji proved their class and character once again winning the final.  They did not disappoint!

For the Love of the Game Privateers in Attendance
We were 175 Strong this year – thank you for your participation!

 

And the Awards Go To!

Best Costume

Once again, the best costumes were by Matt and Susan Godfrey for their regal presentation.  They continue to set a high bar for creativity and quality.  We’re just glad Matt made it through without tripping on his robe and heading down the stairs!

Honourable Mention 

Cowboy Elvis(s)…perfect blend of western and The King!

 

Best Post-Match Performance

Cam “Huggy Bear” Matte no colour commentary required.

Rookie of the Year

Everyone who made it out for their first trip to the Sevens.  Welcome to the fun!

Young Rookie of the Year

Griffen Morgan who ruled the sidelines and collected the most signatures!

Favourite Player for the Men

Perry Baker – Proved he has evolved into the best Sevens player in the world right now. That guy is fast and makes some great plays!

Favourite Player for the Women

Too many comments and split votes to decide on just one.  They should just make a calendar with one from each and raise some $$ for charity!

Favourite Player for Kim Berjian

Thor…oh ya… he was just there on the sidelines, Kim!

Allison’s Team Pick

2017 For the Love of the Game Fall Tour Recap – Scotland 

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Thank you to everyone who joined us at the 2017 For the Love of the Game tour to Scotland.  It was an epic 5 days that saw the stars align for an amazing tour!

We’ve created a Dropbox folder for everyone to view and upload photos, you’ll be receiving an email with an invitation to the folder.  You will also be receiving a survey to give feedback on your experience.

See below for the full tour recap!

Day 1 – Muirfield

Day one began with an early departure courtesy of Robin Paterson’s Fore Golf Travel.  We arrived at Muirfield in first-class fashion and were greeted by Muirfield’s Chief Starter, George and his welcoming staff.  We had the first two tee times of the day and wasted no time discovering the legendary course and the tall grass that lines the fairways!  We even enjoyed a little horizontal rain to give us a taste of what real Scottish golf weather is.  The rain cleared but not the wind – which was actually strong enough to blow your ball off the green from a standstill.  18 holes guided by our capable caddies Peter and Ray was followed by lunch in the clubhouse.  The centuries of history were evident and a real treat for us to enjoy.  Ryan Smith also became one of the few non-members to play a solo round with his own ball as he headed out to finish his 36 holes.

We assembled for dinner at the hotel bar and departed shortly thereafter for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society – an amazing historical setting to kick off the festivities.  We enjoyed a full dinner with Whisky pairings for each course!

Day 2 – St. Andrews (or Spa)

Day three had a Happy Birthday theme as Dana turned 29 again and spent the day at the Sheraton Spa with a number of the ladies including Kay Johnson, Sara Jane Cockerill, Hilary Joiner, Wanda Dawson and Darlene Savoie.

The golf crew headed out at 5 am in hopes they would be first in line to grab any unallocated tee times for the Old Course.  The strategy was successful and Ryan and Chantal made the first tee times for the second day in a row and headed out at 8:20. Greg Jardine was next and was greeted on the first tee with a shot of Whisky and a “welcome to St. Andrew’s” from the others in his foursome.  Karen and Mike were next, followed by Dave Spence and I as we headed out for his 50th birthday round.  He celebrated middle age with 2 legendary shots.  On #11 into a fierce wind and with the MOAB (mother of all bunker’s), protecting a tight pin placement dropped it 12 inches from the pin and drained the putt for a Birdie.  He couldn’t have played the hole any better.  His parting shot of the day saw him drain a 40-foot monster putt on 18 to the amazement of the late afternoon crowd.  The set-up was perfect, as the shot before his put my approach within 16 inches of the pin in Birdie position.  Spence sunk his putt and I dropped in the Birdie putt.  The brother’s from different mothers (Paul and Phil Beck) along with Mike Wayman enjoyed an extra couple hours of sleep and enjoyed a great round on the New Course.  Overall, a job well done at St. Andrews!

We wanted to make sure we were hydrated after a full day on the course, so we made sure to get through a nice bottle of Glenlivet Founders Reserve on the way back to the hotel.

Dinner was arranged by Craig Joiner at the New Club.  The incredible venue had 23 of us seated at a single banquet table in a grand private dining room overlooking Edinburgh Castle.  We enjoyed some pre and post dinner drinks in the private dining room and finished off the night with a glorious sing-song.​

Day 3 – Game Day!

All roads on the tour lead to game day and the stage had been set for a Grand Finale!  With my pocket full of wagers from the previous night, I felt confident that my bets would pay well.  Richard Cockerill had NZ winning by more than 40, with a number of people following his lead, and I had NZ by less than 40.  Thank you to everyone for the easy layup!!!

We assembled in the hotel lobby and donned customary For the Love of the Game orange toques for the walk to Murrayfield, the Home of Scottish Rugby.  Craig joiner planned our path to success with our first stop landing us at Le Du Vin on Randolph Place.  After a few bottles of wine and some food, we made our way to the Murrayfield Hotel, along with the other 69,000 people, for our final pre-game libation.  Kick off was at 5:15 and the atmosphere did not disappoint.  Scottish pride was the theme of the day and their defiance of the Haka with the chants of Scotland was a first.  Thank you, again, to Craig Joiner for his assistance in securing fantastic seats for the match.

Day 4

Some departed, some stayed and some slept.  Paul and Gregg, however, met up with some new friends (Good Rat and Bad Rat) who I am sure will be along on future tours.

Tour Analytics

Any discrepancies must be dealt within 30 days of the tour or they stand firm as facts!

Tour Participants: 25
Total Rounds of Golf: 18
Total Lost Balls: Lots!
Total Found Balls: N-1 (you don’t find balls in the Gorse and Heather!)
Total Birdies: Only 2 that matter!
Number of different Whisky’s tasted: At least 15
Most Popular Whisky (by consumption:) McAllans (Fan Favourite)
Most Popular foot tour: May Scott’s Close
Number of Summit’s of Arthur’s Seat: 5 (Craig, Dave, Dana, Ryan and Chantal)
Number of hours of sleep: Not Enough

Tour Roster

*Denotes Rookie Tourist
(#) Denotes number of tours

Privateers

Paul Beck (3)
Wanda Dawson*
Gregg Jardine*
Darlene Savoie*
Mike Wayman (2)
Tammy Wayman (2)
Phil Beck (3)
Liz Beck (3)
Dave Spence (3)
Dave DeJong*
Chris Mitchell*
Craig Smith (3)
Brian Reimer (3)
Michael Woofter (2)
Karen Woofter (2)

For the Love of the Game Ambassadors

Martin Johnson (Kay)
Ryan Smith (Chantal)
Richard Cockerill (Sara Jane)
Jamie Hamilton
Craig Joiner (Hilary)
Dave Lougheed (Dana)

Special Thanks

I would like to extend a personal thank you to Craig Joiner, who as you now know did so much to help put this tour together.  He did not lead us astray and continued to help us to have an exceptional experience.

I would also like to acknowledge all the ‘ambassadors’ (Martin, Richard, Jamie and Ryan and their amazingly supportive wives) who joined us on this tour.  They are all exceptional athletes, individuals and valued friends who truly played Rugby ‘For the Love of the Game’.  Without their presence, the tours would not be the same.

Finally, I would like to once again thank all of you who joined us on this tour as it is your participation and energy that makes each tour a success.  The mission of For the Love of the Game is to “inspire athletic excellence through experiences for athletes and their passionate supporters”.  We hope this was an exceptional experience for you and look forward to seeing you on a future tour.

 

Upcoming events

March 9-11, 2018            
Canada Seven’s BC Place Vancouver (8 seats remaining)

April 2-9, 2018                 
Hong Kong Seven’s 5 spots remaining – Please confirm ASAP

May 25th, 2018 
For the Love of the Game Gala Dinner at the Calgary Golf and Country Club (200 seats remaining)

 

 

Always the invitation and Never the Expectation

Our driving philosophy as we build our community is that there is ‘always the invitation but never the expectation’ to participate.  This applies equally to our tours and our request for support and donations.

We appreciate that many of you are already regular supporters of For the Love of the Game and appreciate your continued involvement and support.  We also recognize that you have many choices of where to direct your charitable funds and are grateful that you continue to choose to support For the Love of the Game.

If you are not currently a For the Love of the Game First XV or Web Ellis Member and would like to find out more about our membership levels please let me know.

If you know of anyone who would like to join us on the next tour please let them know!

Best Regards, For the Love of the Game,

Canadian slalom kayaker David Ford retiring after career that spanned five Olympics

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Read the original National Post article here:

You’ll still be able to find him on the water in Alberta’s Kananaskis Country, perhaps with son Cooper in tow, many years from now

 

EDMONTON — David Ford will always be up the creek with a paddle.

That he competed in slalom kayak for Canada for three decades was as much a lifestyle choice as an athletic calling.

So you’ll still be able to find him on the water in Alberta’s Kananaskis Country, perhaps with son Cooper in tow, many years from now. He just won’t be looking to make national teams, win medals or secure funding; the fluid components that made his chosen sport both rewarding and frustrating.

At age 50, Ford has officially retired. He went to his final world slalom championships last month in France, mostly to say goodbye.

“Sport is such a funny thing, you know. You spend your life training and always running into these people year after year,” he said. “Then you stop. And there’s a good chance I’m not going to see these guys ever, maybe. It was good to go back, say goodbye and reminisce a bit about the good old days, talk about what other people are going to do next and kind of have some closure.”

The Edmonton native, who now lives in Canmore, retires as the only Canadian to medal at a slalom canoe/kayak world championships, taking an almost unthinkable gold in 1999 and silver four years later. He was the World Cup champ in 2003 as well.

The only significant bauble that eluded him was an Olympic medal.

Slalom was added to the Summer Olympics roster for 1972, but didn’t make another appearance for two decades. That meant Ford, who was born in 1967, was never really paddling toward an Olympic berth as a youngster. He just wanted to be national champion. But when the sport returned for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, he was in his prime and ready to contend.

“To kind of accidentally become a top-10 paddler at the exact same time that (kayak returned to the Olympics) was very fortunate for me.”

Ford long thought an Olympic medal would be easier to attain, because the worlds were almost always held in Europe, where local paddlers had home course advantage, while the Olympics skipped around the globe.

But he missed out. He was a career-high fourth in Athens and sixth in Beijing, in his fifth and final Games. Only nine other Canadian athletes have made more Olympic appearances.

The sport changed dramatically when boats were shortened by half a metre after the 2004 Games in Athens. Ford was already 37 then and had been paddling the longer boats for decades. Calgary-born Michael Tayler, who competed for Canada in K1 at the Rio and London Olympics and finished ahead of Ford at the trials for the 2017 worlds, was just 12 in 2004.

“It’s so easy to turn the boats and there’s a whole fleet of kids coming up now who grew up essentially in the shorter boats, so they only know that style of paddling,” said Ford. “I’ve adapted my style and I can do everything they do, but I’m thinking about it, where they’re just out there intuitively slashing and dashing. It’s a very different sport now.

“For me, I was never about the winning at all costs. I always really enjoyed the puzzle of high performance. I really liked the training, trying to be faster every year. I still feel fit, I still test fine in the lab but the sport has changed so much that I have to think about it more than the young guys, who are just doing things intuitively. When you’re thinking, you’re just not able to be as fast. That just said to me, let it go and move on to other things.”

That, and turning 50. That, and having a four-year-old son. That, and his marriage to former alpine skier Kelly VanderBeek, who is ramping up a career in broadcast journalism.

“It was just time.”

He looks forward to full-time parenting right now and perhaps eventually to mentoring a new generation of athletes.

“If the right coaching situation came up, I would be very keen to take all these things I played with all those years and try to mold some new athletes. The dream would, of course, be to do that in Canada. But right now, my relationship with the Canadian sport system is pretty strained because I fought hard to advocate for different things, so maybe I’d have to go abroad to do that.”

He looks back fondly at the whole of his career, even at having to drum up sponsorship every year, since those sales efforts led to enduring friendships.

“I have no regrets. Living the life that I got to live, it was worth it, 100 per cent. Knowing what I know now, I would definitely do it again the same way.”

dbarnes@postmedia.com

2017 Fall Tour – Scotland 

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You are receiving this as you indicated you may have interest in joining us on the 2017 For The Love of the Game Fall Tour to Edinburgh. We have tickets/space for 16. It promises to be an amazing trip so I hope you can join us.  If you know of anyone else that would like to join us please let me know.

The key item here is accommodation and making sure everyone has the hotel for the nights they desire.  With that in mind could you please confirm if you are still planning to join us and if so, for what days…see below and let me know which option you would like.

The Full tour includes

  • Wednesday Nov 15th Arrive and gather at Hotel
  • Thursday Nov 16th Play St. Andrews – and Attend Wooden Spoon Charitable Dinner – A first class black tie event with the International Rugby community
  • Friday Nov 17th – Play Muirfiled – Team Dinner in Private Dining Room
  • Saturday Nov 18th Scotland v All-Blacks (Tickets to the game are Sold Out so it should be a great day!)
  • Sunday at Leisure
  • Monday Depart
  • You can leave out golf if you are not a golfer!

 

Option A)

  • Arrive Wednesday 15th
  • Depart on Sunday 19th or Monday 20th (This is for those taking part in the full tour!)
  • $3000 CDN ($2500 No Golf) per person (flight not included)

 

Option B)

  • Arrive 16th Depart on 19th or 20th
  • $2250 CDN One Round of Golf ($2000 No Golf) (Flight not included)

Option C)

  • Arrive 17th Depart on 19th or 20th
  • $1500 CDN(No Golf) (Flight not Included)

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