Press
Terry Fox Foundation's -Team Up For Terry - Challenge
May 17, 2010
Dear Toronto Soccer Association,
“I want to set an example that will never be forgotten.” Terry Fox, 1980
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Terry Fox’s historic Marathon of Hope. His inspiring
legacy lives on in the hearts of Canadians and is reflected in the progress made in cancer research over the past three decades. This progress is due to the millions of Canadians who have proudly taken up the cause and have helped countless cancer patients.
This year’s Terry Fox Run is scheduled for Sunday September 19, 2010. Terry Fox Runs have become rallying points for communities across Canada to show their support for one of Canada’s favourite “sons” while making a difference in the fight against cancer. This year, The Terry Fox Foundation would be honoured if Toronto Soccer Association would consider getting involved in the Team Up For Terry challenge. It is a great opportunity to build a team of colleagues and families to join you on Run Day! Please visitwww.terryfox.org where you will find more Terry Fox information and team registration details.
The Foundation adheres to Terry’s philosophy that every person makes a difference and every dollar counts. For this reason, there is no entry fee imposed on a participant, and there is no minimum donation or number of participants required to form a team. We would be happy to speak with you to discuss your group’s potential involvement and can be reached at 1-888-836-9786 or via email at oncorp@terryfoxrun.org.
We hope Toronto Soccer Association will get involved in 2010 as we acknowledge 30 years of advances in cancer research, while recognizing the need to continue to raise funds. Your involvement this year will support the effort to transform every cancer patient into a cancer survivor.
We cannot think of a better way to give hope than this.
Bruna Riamondo
Manager, Special Projects
The Terry Fox Foundation
Josephine Cavarra
Development Officer
The Terry Fox Foundation
Globe and Mail 06-18-2010: The battle for Flemingdon Park
Soccer, according to FIFA World Cup lore, can unify the planet. But that’s not how things look from Flemingdon Park Field, a stretch of green in the heart of one of the most multicultural neighbourhoods in Toronto.On a recent night, a caravan of cars winds five kilometres from affluent Leaside to the coveted swath of grass that is Flemingdon, located on Don Mills Road. Out of Range Rovers and BMW sports utility vehicles hop the Leaside Tigers. The children pour onto the field – divided into six soccer pitches – trailed by parents carrying fold-out chairs, BlackBerrys strapped to their hips.
Only 50 metres away, on a piece of artificial turf too small to qualify as an official field, teenage boys in Muslim skullcaps run drills, while seven-year-olds in hijabs chase after soccer balls. Unlike the mostly-white Tigers, there isn’t a single fair-skinned child in sight in this community league, which is run by the Flemingdon Park Parent Association.To an outsider, the sight of these parallel worlds – separated only by a shopping plaza – seems bizarre. Since the Tigers practice in an area densely populated with children raised in soccer-loving regions such as South Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe, it makes sense that their league would be swarming with kids from the half-dozen apartment buildings towering above the pitch. Why not one league for everyone?The sport, it turns out, has exposed the thorny issues that arise when groups from wildly different backgrounds are forced to share a small piece of land.
Read more: Globe and Mail 06-18-2010: The battle for Flemingdon Park
Toronto Star 06-15-2010: Canada’s World Cup dreams may start here
Abirahim Ali-rage knows the power of soccer. He grew up in Somalia surrounded by crime, poverty and violence. Urged on by his siblings, he played the sport almost every day, often in bare feet and 35-degree heat. He credits such devotion to soccer for keeping him out of the kind of trouble that afflicted so many boys in his home country.
Since immigrating to Canada more than 20 years ago, Ali-rage has learned that children in Toronto’s Somali community can also drift. He’s seen several join gangs and fall victim to drug abuse. The community lacked a positive outlet for them, he says. So, last year he started the Mogadishu soccer club to instill the benefits of organized sport into the North Etobicoke-based community. With the World Cup underway without Canada, people involved with grassroots-level soccer believe the efforts of Ali-rage and others like him can help build the foundation of a stronger national program while also transforming ethnic communities.
“In Toronto, there are thousands and thousands of kids living in at-risk, lower-income neighbourhoods and they don’t get access to the programs available to everyone else,” says Charles Wyatt, founder of Toronto Soccer Community Outreach (TSCO) and president of the Toronto Soccer Association (TSA). “My experience has been that those youth are among the most talented players in the city and probably the country.
Read more: Toronto Star 06-15-2010: Canada’s World Cup dreams may start here
