Raptors Game Night With Ford Canada & Right To Play!

Thanks to the good folks at Ford Canada I was able to check out the Toronto Raptors vs. the Chicago Bulls at the Air Canada Centre from a great suite and with some fantastic people.

While the Raptors season hasn’t been as full of highs as fans have hoped it would be, there have been highlights like the crowning of Terrence Ross as Sprite Slam Dunk Champion, the addition of Rudy Gay and the emergence of Jonas Valančiūnas in his first season of North American basketball.

And to see the home team pull out a nice win for the home crowd, and with a great view – was awesome.

Note: It was also awesome to be courtside during warm up and seeing Amir Johnson putting in work for TO while Derrick Rose shot a ton of jumpers in his rehab for the Bulls.

Friday night was also a chance for me to meet some awesome people from Right To Play.

(from the Right To Play website) Right To Play is a global organization that uses the transformative power of play to educate and empower children facing adversity. Through sports and games, we help children build essential life-skills and better futures, while driving social change in their communities with lasting impact.

Rannie and I were joined in the Ford Community Suite by a group of Toronto students from Runnymede Collegiate who are part of an after school volunteer program that partners with George Syme Community School. The high schoolers range from grades 10 to 12 and visit their elementary school protégés once a week in 2 six week sessions each school year.

As part of a Right To Play pilot project, the teens work with the younger students on fun games and activities that will help them learn teamwork, cooperation, the fundamentals of winning and losing and how to have fun – the right way.

Note: We heard that the younger children’s favorite organized sport is dodgeball, our future is in good hands.

It’s a really cool thing. Something that hits me in the spot that has always wanted to take a shot at coaching youngsters in a sports capacity. And something that reminds me of all of the cool things that I’ve learned over the years through my own volunteering at churches and daycares and etc.

It’s also something that I hope spreads to more schools in more cities and helps more and more students. The idea of growing and learning through sports and play is right up my alley and I truly believe in it.

I’d like to thank the group from Runnymede and the team at Ford Canada for inviting me to hang out with them in the suite.

Also, you can check out more from the Community Suite and other awesome things that are going on at the Ford Canada Blog.

Here are a couple pics from the night. The 2 on the top are mine and the 2 on the bottom came from Ford Rannie.

Keep up the awesome out there kids!