The People we meet... are all connected 



I had the good fortune to teach at the same high school as Jason Riley for many years. As a CFL fan I was enamoured by the fact that my colleague had won a Vanier Cup at UBC and then a Grey Cup with my beloved Ti-Cats. Jason and I had a lot in common with our love of sports and high level coaching. When I wrote my first book, Can't Miss: The Kevin Pangos Story, Jason was supportive and said that he too would love to write a book someday.

This blog is not about Jason Riley.


When I was writing my second book, A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp, I hired a local editor, a woman I had never met. Her name is Jennifer Sharman. Not only did Jennifer apply her skill and passion into making the stories in my book come alive, but her journey became one of the most poignant in my book writing process. It turned out that she and I had a connection as she had been treated for cancer by my wife Joy, an oncology nurse. Eerie coincidence? Read on.

This blog is not about Jennifer Sharman.

When A Hero's Journey came out I had a book launch and my good friend Jason Riley came. He told me that he had been working on his book for years and it was done but he needed someone to help him put it all together. That day I introduced Jason to Jennifer. Turns out his book was nowhere near done.

Last week Jason was interviewed by Clint " Bubba" O'Neil on the CHCH TV Podcast called Sportsline to talk football and talk about the release of his book "Taming Mad Dog." Something he said gave me cause  to reflect on the very connection we all share, if only we search hard enough. Jason had indeed hired Jennifer to edit his book. In the original transcript Jason talked about being bullied as a young boy but told the stories just as events in his past. Jennifer, being Jennifer, told Jason that the bullying actually could be a big part  of his journey as an adult and that he should delve more deeply. This would make the bullying, and the hard lessons he learned,  a central theme to the book. He just had to have the guts to share. And share he did. 

This blog is about the universe and how, in some way we cannot comprehend, we are all connected, and we should celebrate the fact that we are all part of something bigger than ourselves. 

Jason and I had a mutual connection to sports, teaching, and coaching. We admired each other for the passion it took. Jason was excited that I completed a book because he could now see that he too could complete something he had thought about for years. "If Dooley can do it...." sort of thing.

When I released my second book Jason took the time to drive in from Hamilton to be at my book signing. At the time I saw this as a sign of respect, but maybe there was more at work here. If Jason doesn't take the time on a Sunday afternoon, maybe his book journey is completely different. Jason was excited that the person who edited my book, who played a huge role in seeing my dream put into print, was in the same restaurant. That afternoon made all the difference. For Jason and for everyone who reads his book.

Then two years later I see on the CHCH Podcast that what Jennifer did for so many aspects of my book, she did the same for Jason. If he doesn't hire Jennifer, who probed into the depths of his subconscious to get to the 'benefits' of being bullied, his book would have been a shadow of what it became. 

Because of Jennifer,  Jason was freed to explore the pain that bullying caused him but also the connection to him playing with so much anger that he excelled at the highest levels. As a young man Jason fought a lot and looking back he credits football for perhaps keeping him out of jail because he was given an outlet for his anger.

And as heroes do, Jason has used his words, and his horrific memories, to impact others. With Jennifer's help and prodding, Jason was able to discuss how bullying affected him. As an educator, he also saw that bullying is worse now because of the prevalence of cyber-bullying, where anyone with a phone or keyboard can lash out at others. 

In reading Taming Mad Dog I now understood the passion with which Jason taught. Yes he gave back on the football field, coaching high school and at McMaster, but he also made his classroom a safe haven where students loved to be.  Now through this book he is giving the same message to the next generation. He also is giving back to the CFL as an executive to the CFL Alumni Association. 

I can relate to the therapeutic aspect of writing a book, and of the 'take the bat off the shoulder' aspect to having an idea and actually pulling it off, and I'm proud of Jason. Taming Mad Dog has a lot of great football lessons and anecdotes  but it's the life lessons that will linger. I'm proud that in some small way the connection Jason and I had led him to Jennifer, and led to the writing of a great book. 

As an aside, Taming Mad Dog is available at Lulu.com. The founder of Lulu.com? Ticat owner Bob Young. OSKEE WEE WEE!

HELP WANTED

Testamonials needed.... In marketing my book I would appreciate the power of testamaonils from those who have read the book A sentence or two is all it takes and I will list them on my website aherosjourney.ca and various other links. Email me at coachdools71@gmail.com

The Olympia Alumni Association .... if you are an Olympia Sports Camp Alumni we need to to register for the OAA and get those in your circle of Olympia contacts to do the same. The link is at:

 https://forms.gle/woWsggqM7zpUyHge9


Olympia has created an App that will allow Alumni to connect with the camp events, read content about some amazing Olympia people, and maybe sign your child or grandchild up for the week of their lives. 

We know that the stories captured in The Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp just scratch the surface of the amazing people of Olympia and we envision the OAA as a way to share many more hero's journeys and for all alumni to have a vehicle to stay in touch.

 If you have someone who you feel is a hero of their journey and who the Olympia community would like to hear about connect with me at coachdools71@gmail.com.  Within a community of everyday heroes there are many stories that people would love to read about, stories I would love to write about. 

Copies of A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp can be ordered through Amazon, Indigo.ca and are available at The Different Drummer Book Store on Locust St in Burlington. Or if you live in the Hamilton/ Halton area etransfer $30 with your address and I'll deliver it to your door.

Online copies are available at aherosjourney.ca

Audiobook version is available at Audible, Amazon, or iTunes 

If you would like us to come to your town for a book event or get copies into your favourite bookstore , email me at coachdools71@gmail.com

If you or your favourite camper are looking to get to camp in the summer of 2024 check out the website at 
olympiasportscamp.com. A week when you will meet so many great people. A week when you'll learn a lot about what you are made of.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
 Karl Svoboda began his rugby career at Belleville's Centennial Secondary School and the Belleville Bulldogs club team. When he started with the Bulldogs at 16 he was the club's youngest player. When he retired from the game he was the club's oldest, and probably most accomplished. Karl had success in rugby the world over. He won three OUA championships with the University of Toronto Blues and he first made Canada's national team in 1985. He ended up being team captain of the national team for years and played in the first three Rugby World Cups in 1987, 1991, and 1995. He also played senior rugby for the Ajax Wanderers and attended the prestigious Oxford University in England at the dawn of professional rugby in 1996. I gleaned this information from research because for a decade or more of sharing week 5 coaching duties and sitting around campfires this understated superstar would rather play guitar and talk about fishing or that day's bike ride or swim than boast
Read more
Image
In the summer of 2019,  Blaine Scatcherd  was introducing himself at the opening meeting of week 5 and told the assembly of coaches that he worked as a counsellor at Olympia for 4 ¾ years. People who knew the story, including Dave Grace, roared with laughter at the self-effacing honesty Blaine showed when recounting an incident that may have been the worst in his career, yet a defining moment that changed him forever and made him a better teacher and coach, and a better person.    Blaine Scatcherd is from Ottawa, where he was coached in football at Glebe Collegiate Institute by Olympia coach Skip Riddell. He went on to play football at Acadia University and played professionally in France for 2 years before embarking on his teaching profession.   “Skip recommended to me in grade 11 that I work at Olympia as it was a great place for an athlete and would-be coach, so I applied to Olympia with Skip’s reference. I went down to Toronto for a group interview and thought I aced it. I didn’t g
Read more
Image
They say that a picture tells a thousand words. How about two pictures? In the writing of A Hero's Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp I got to interview a lot of people dedicated to Olympia and to the vision of Dave Grace. Out of this process I learned three things about the 50- year journey of the staff of Olympia: 1- Olympia inspires young people 2- Staff inspire others to do the same 3- Staff move on in their lives, carrying Olympia with them, while others replace  Staff like Randy Kipfer and Kevin O'Reilly This picture of Harlem Globetrotter Curly Neal with some amazing counsellors can be found in the book at the start of Chapter 6-Allies and Ogres . It captures an Olympia moment shared by good friends and a world-class basketball entertainer, but the insert is the key element of an Olympia journey that spans decades.  There are literally hundreds of stories of staff who have graced the lands of Interlaken. Every story is unique, every story is echoed th
Read more