The Value of the Argos Community Relations Program

[jerrym]

Jamal Campbell discusses in video form and in the article below about what the Argos Community Program has meant to him and how he is now working in the Jane and Finch neighbourhood now to pass it forward.

Before I tell you about my experience with football, I need to get something straight. Basketball was my first love; without the Argos’ Level the Playing Field program, I’d have never found my way to the gridiron. ...
So how did a bunch of 15 and 16-year olds with hoop dreams from inner city Toronto discover football? We first heard about it at a school assembly, where I met Jason Colero for the first time.
Back then, Jason – the Argonauts Director of Community Relations – was the same person he is now. He came into the room full of energy, he was ready to go at the drop of a hat.We’d never been introduced to football before, and Jason walked in the room and said ‘We’re here to bring football back to inner-city schools and we want to start with you guys.’ A couple weeks later, we were suiting up for our first practice, trying to figure out how to put the pads on. The Argos were really supportive during those early stages of our program. They followed that assembly up with equipment for our team, tickets to see them play and 1-on-1 coaching from their players.

What I liked about football was that I could go out and hit someone without getting in trouble. For a lot of us, it was a chance to compete in a different environment and in a different way than basketball. ...
We were losing pretty bad, but one thing that football has taught me is that if you can look at the guy beside you and know that he’ll have your back no matter what, it’ll push you to go harder and makes it everything worth it at the end of the day.

Despite our team’s struggles, it became clear early on that football was the sport for me. ...
Bishop’s was calling my phone every single day in Grade 12, and I had seen what certain players from their program had become. That was enough to convince me to attend until York came calling.
The opportunity at York was a unique one. They were in the process of recruiting a large class with the goal of rebuilding the program, and it presented me the opportunity to stay home.

I arrived at York as part of a large recruiting class with somewhere close to 50 student-athletes. There were a lot of complications, but ultimately there were about 12 of us who stuck it out until our senior year. ...
I knew that there weren’t many people from my community who had this kind of opportunity to play at the university level.
I was tired of hearing all the negative talk about Jane and Finch, and I saw this as my opportunity to make a change. I wanted people to look at my community and say ‘there’s success there, if this guy can do it, so many other kids can too.’ That’s what kept me focused. ...
Being drafted by the Argos was the best possible thing that could happen to me. I have memories and pictures of being in high school and running onto the field with Argos players. It was always an outlandish thought in my head that one day I’d wear the Double Blue but I never thought it’d be a reality. ...
Without the Level the Playing Field program, I don’t know where I’d be today. There weren’t many opportunities for inner-city kids in Toronto to play football for free. It opened the door to the sport and it made us want to do great things with it.

Giving back to my community has always been important to me; my mom taught us from an early age that we needed to do our part to give back.
Toronto drafting me and allowing me to stay in the city just opened the door to allow me to do that on a larger scale. I’m so grateful that I could stay in my community and be the motivation for the kids here.
When I was younger, my mom worked at the Jane and Finch Boys and Girls Club, and I got to be there while she was working. I think spaces like that are important for kids in any neighbourhood of the city because it gives them a safe space to just be kids.
Through programs like that, kids get introduced to sports, academics and arts. I wouldn’t be where I am now without the support I got from the people around me and the programs that kept me on track. I feel like the least I can do is pay that forward.

Jane and Finch.
Type that into a Google Search and you’ll get a quick snapshot of the way that most people see my neighbourhood. They see violence, gangs, shootings and crime, and they miss everything else.
They miss the community, the unity and the hustle. You won’t hear about the food, music and art from every corner of the world, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who recognizes all the unique individuals coming together as one.
But this community doesn’t have to be defined by violence, crime or negativity because there is so much more than that.
I’m just one example of the many athletes, artists, doctors, lawyers, teachers and life-changers that are coming out of here.
I grew up here and never left. This community has taught me lessons that I couldn’t have learned anywhere else and I wouldn’t trade my experience for anything.

http://www.cfl.ca/2017/04/05/crossro...otball-option/

[AngeloV]

Jamal Campbell discusses in video form and in the article below about what the Argos Community Program has meant to him and how he is now working in the Jane and Finch neighbourhood now to pass it forward.



http://www.cfl.ca/2017/04/05/crossro...otball-option/

Strange, I could swear by the postings of some that the Argos don't do a damn thing in the community.

[Argo57]

Strange, I could swear by the postings of some that the Argos don't do a damn thing in the community.

The Argonauts and most (if not all) CFL teams are involved in many great community initiatives but sadly in Toronto it seems to go unnoticed.

[Will]

The Argonauts and most (if not all) CFL teams are involved in many great community initiatives but sadly in Toronto it seems to go unnoticed.

While I believe that charity work should be done with altruistic intentions, it is unfortunate that the Argos never seem to reap the reward from their work in the city.

[jerrym]

While I believe that charity work should be done with altruistic intentions, it is unfortunate that the Argos never seem to reap the reward from their work in the city.

That work has led to the addition of Jamal Campbell to the Argos, as well as to his ongoing work in the community. Certainly it has produced limited media coverage over the years, but I suspect it does not go unnoticed or unappreciated in these neighbourhoods. I'm sure Jamal was not the only one who saw the CFL in a different light because of the Argos work. Pinball was not only loved for what he did on the field but also for his community work.
Nevertheless, media coverage is what drives the modern world. With respect to the media, some of the lack of coverage relates to many in Toronto having a "world class" mentality that pooh=poohs the CFL, but some of it is also due to a lack of savviness by the Argos in generating coverage.

[ArgoRavi]

That work has led to the addition of Jamal Campbell to the Argos, as well as to his ongoing work in the community. Certainly it has produced limited media coverage over the years, but I suspect it does not go unnoticed or unappreciated in these neighbourhoods. I'm sure Jamal was not the only one who saw the CFL in a different light because of the Argos work. Pinball was not only loved for what he did on the field but also for his community work.
Nevertheless, media coverage is what drives the modern world. With respect to the media, some of the lack of coverage relates to many in Toronto having a "world class" mentality that pooh=poohs the CFL, but some of it is also due to a lack of savviness by the Argos in generating coverage.

Some of it is due to a lack of media compared to a few years ago as well. For example, is there a dedicated football reporter for the Star or the Globe and Mail these days?

[paulwoods13]

Some of it is due to a lack of media compared to a few years ago as well. For example, is there a dedicated football reporter for the Star or the Globe and Mail these days?

Nope, and there won't be anytime soon. Newsrooms are shrinking, and sports coverage is receding in perceived importance to business success. We are fortunate to have one newspaper in town (the Sun) that cares about in-depth coverage of the CFL, but even it is in a downward spiral. Today's sports section had just 20 pages (used to be 28-32 most days) and as a result, there was no room to cover Orridge's departure.

[jerrym]

Great to see the Argos continuing their community work again this year.

@MattBlack39 @raylawsonps @CFL @TorontoArgos...Angela and Matt had the BOKS class practicing agility and moving like pro football players 🏉 pic.twitter.com/zfCfofq4fV

— BOKS Canada (@boks_canada) April 6, 2017

[jerrym]

Good to see the Argo cheerleaders also participating in the anti-bullying program.

Back in class for another female @TorontoArgos #HUDDLEUP assembly! #antibullying #oneteamonedream #argos #community pic.twitter.com/L14LzVlzEz

— Argos Cheerleaders (@ArgosCheer) April 7, 2017

[jerrym]

The effects of the Argos community program are not fully apparent often times until years later. A good example is Montreal's first draft pick, Fabion Foote, who was inspired by Pinball Clemons to become a football player and now Foote wants to do the same.

Fabion Foote was on a school trip in the seventh grade the first time he saw Michael “Pinball” Clemons. Foote was a face in the crowd to one of the thousands of speeches that Clemons has given across Canada through 28 years of affiliation with the Toronto Argonauts.
He was still a few years away from putting on a football uniform and even further away from being a Montreal Alouettes’ draft pick, but Clemons had struck a chord with him.
“He’s a really good guy, he’s a motivational guy, someone you can look up to as a role model,” Foote said. “He was always encouraging and positive and it was nice to see.” ...
Taken 12th overall in Sunday’s CFL Draft, Foote points to Clemons as the reason he wanted to become a professional football player. ...

Over the years, Clemons has been something of a recurring figure in Foote’s life. As a kid, Foote grew up in the Jane and Finch area of Toronto, where he first heard Pinball speak in junior high. By 2009, when Foote, his mother and his sister had moved to Rexdale, Pinball was making speeches at his high school, Thistletown Collegiate Institute.
“I don’t know him, but I feel like I know him,” Foote said, “because he was always at these events in Toronto, trying to help the youth stay on the right path.”
Foote tight-roped that path as a kid. While his family and those actually close to him helped steer him the right way, the young athlete always had Pinball’s words in the back of his mind. He grew up playing just about every other sport that school could throw at him — badminton, volleyball, basketball, soccer — until he found football in the 12th grade. ...

Even when he saw friends and people from his neighbourhood go one way, he felt something pulling him in the other direction.
“I stayed out of that. For me, I always felt like I was different than the people around me,” he said. “I think to myself a lot and I tried to have a better understanding of situations without getting myself in the wrong groups.”
It’s hard for him to think about anything other than his football career taking off right now, but Foote has plans of taking his sociology degree, heading back to school and becoming a teacher.
“I’d like to inspire younger kids, because a lot of people that I know didn’t choose the route that I took by going to school and getting an education and doing something they like,” he said. ...

All of these years later, Clemons hears about Foote’s goals and he’s the one motivated.
“This is the amazing example. But you kind of want to think this is also the kid that was driven enough to make it anyway,” he said.
“I can’t help but get excited about a young man like this. I believe that working with kids and trying to give them greater access is one of the most noble things on Earth.

https://www.cfl.ca/2017/05/12/oleary...spired-career/

[Topshelf]

I think the Argos are by far the most active toronto team in the community, And that's without beginning to touch on Pinball's work.
The MLSE play book is new FA or player arrives in trade they go to sick kids for a photo op, media puts it on front page.
the argos don't get enough recognition for the work they're doing,