Martin Parnell Finish the Race Attitude

Next Events:

Cook Islands Quest 100 (Quest #4)

• Friday Sept. 28th 2012

• Location: Rarotonga, Cook Islands, Pacific Ocean

TriOil-Soccer Quest 42 (Quest #5)

• Friday Oct. 5th to Sunday Oct. 7th 2012
  

• Location: Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre, Cochrane, Alberta
  

July 1^st is Canada Day and Sue and I headed to Redwood Meadows to be part of the parade. Right To Play supporter Carol had organized a float to collect pennies for the "Ton of Pennies" fund raiser in aid of "TriOil-Soccer Quest 42". The float had an 18' canoe loaded onto a trailer and a tipi covered with a huge Right To Play banner. Carol and her fiends had dropped off paper bags for pennies around the community and at house after house we picked up the coins. It was a terrific day and as I drove home it got me thinking about Quests for Kids.

In the majority of sporting events there's a break. This is a time to catch your breath and have some nutrition. Also, at this point, the coach will go over what's happened in the first half and talk about the strategy for the rest of the game. In soccer the first half is 45 minutes. In Quests for Kids the first half was two and a half years.

The plan is to complete 10 Quests in 5 years raise $1m for Right To Play and help 20,000 children. I started on January 1^st 2010 and yesterday, July 1^st 2012, was half time. So let's review what's happened so far:

• Three Quests have been completed; Marathon, Netball and Lacrosse.
• Two Guinness World Records have been set in Netball and Lacrosse.
• We've raised $382,255.73 for Right To Play.
• Right To Play partners have matched every $1 raised with another $3 for Lacrosse.
• A total of 9,952 children will receive a Right To Play program.
• I was made a RTP Honorary Athlete Ambassador and visited Benin in West Africa.

There's a lot still to do and, in the dressing room, the coach goes over what needs to happen in the next two and a half years.

• Seven Quests still left to do.
• Three are planned; Ultra marathon, Soccer and Hockey.
• Two are Guinness World Record attempts.
• Four need to be figured out.
• Still have to raise $617,744.27 and help 10,048 children
• Right To Play partners will add $3 to every $1 raised for the Ultra marathon, Soccer and Hockey events.
• Marathon Quest: The book is being published on October 15^th 2012.

So there it is. The full time whistle will go at midnight on December 31^st 2014. I'll give you a complete game report the following day.

Oh, by the way, Carol and her penny gang collected 420 lbs of pennies. Now that's a great way to kick off the second half.

Quote of the Day

"The fullness of life lies in dreaming, and manifesting, the impossible dreams."

Sri Chinmoy

The "Penny Float" is on the move with the penny collectors ready for action.

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Next Events:

Cook Islands Quest 100 (Quest #4)

• Friday Sept. 21st 2012

• Location: Rarotonga, Cook Islands, Pacific Ocean

TriOil-Soccer Quest 42 (Quest #5)

• Friday Oct. 5th to Sunday Oct. 7th 2012
  

• Location: Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre, Cochrane, Alberta
  

In 2008 Kraft got together with TSN and came up with an idea. They wanted to celebrate small town Canada and support community projects. They asked for nominations from across the country and the winners in the 10 Provinces / Territories would receive a $25,000 prize each.

They received hundreds of applications and in a two week vote-off; two towns were selected from each area. It then came down to a head-to-head, 24 hour, vote-off for the winner. The winning town in Alberta in 2011 was Devon. After recently rebranding their community as Bike Town, Alberta, the community of Devon embarked on a multi-phase project to build a mountain bike skills park. In addition, the reward from Kraft inspired not only the youth of the community to give back and help build the park themselves, but the entire community as well. The Mountain Bike Skills Park build began in October of 2011 and includes: teeter totters, a suspension bridge, rock features, skinnies and more.

This year the contest is between Cochrane and Innisfail. Kelly Kimmett, a Pharmacist in Cochrane, sent in an amazing application and he proposed that, if we won, the $25,000 would be spent on Mitford Park recreation area.  Upgrades would include: Improvements on the soccer pitch, bleachers for the fans, band shell and ball diamond concession and washrooms upgrades, improved lighting on the skating and fishing pond, portable rink dividers, and resurfacing of pathways for Cochrane's huge running festival Footstock. The park will be able to host a multitude of sporting and community events for years to come.

The centrepiece of the revamp is the construction of a storage/concession/media building  on the shore of Mitford Pond along with improved washrooms and skate changing area to help The Kimmett Cup organization (Lindsay Kimmett an outstanding young lady from Cochrane who was taken tragically in a MVA in 2008) put on one of Alberta's largest pond hockey tournaments each January.

Kelly had mentioned a couple of things about "Marathon Quest 250" and last Wednesday, Cameraman Sid and Soundman Per came out and did a shoot for TSN. We headed out to Kananaskis Country and I ran around Barrier Lake, across a meadow at Kananaskis Lodge and along a ridge at Peter Lougheed Provincial Park.

The big "Vote-Off" is coming. On July 11^th at 10am (MDT) to July 12^th at 10am Cochrane vs. Innisfil is the head-to-head challenge. WE NEED YOU!!!! Go to http://www.kraftcelebrationtour.ca/ and vote as many times as you can in 24 hours. If we win, the tour will come to Cochrane between Aug 17^th and 26^th.

Now is our time.

Quote of the Day

We travel on the road to adventure, on a desert highway straight to the heart of the sun. Like loves and heroes, and the restless part of everyone, we're only at home when we're on the run, on the run."

Neal Peart, Dreamline

Hanging out with Sid and Per while doing a shoot for TSN in Kananaskis Country

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Next Events:

Cook Islands Quest 100 (Quest #4)

• Friday Sept. 21st 2012

• Location: Rarotonga, Cook Islands, Pacific Ocean

TriOil-Soccer Quest 42 (Quest #5)

• Friday Oct. 5th to Sunday Oct. 7th 2012
  

• Location: Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre, Cochrane, Alberta
  

A very significant event took place on July 5^th 2012. A donation of $1,320 was made to "Lacrosse Quest 24". This gift brought the figure raised to date, from this event to $31,993.87 which is terrific.

Even more significant, "Quests for Kids" has raised over $380,000 and with matching grants from Right To Play Partners that's over half a million dollars. The cost of a Right To Play program for one child is $50 so 10,000 will have their lives changed.

Do the programs work? In June 2011, I travelled to Benin, in West Africa where I saw at first hand the impact of these programs. I visited five schools, including one for the deaf where Right To Play is working. Like kids, anywhere in the world they need a bit of structure, mentoring and guidance from adults. It doesn't matter if these kids are in Benin, First Nations communities in Canada or the kids I ran with in Cochrane and Calgary, their basic needs are the same.

In June 2010, Right To Play, with generous funding from the Ontario Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs and partners, initiated the Promoting Life-skills in Aboriginal Youth (PLAY) Program, in partnership with Moose Cree and Sandy Lake First Nations. The objective of the PLAY Program is to build on the strengths of Aboriginal youth and their communities, while supporting the value of culture and identity. The PLAY program, designed in partnership with the community, is multi-faceted and tailored to their specific needs. It aims to support children and youth to develop and strengthen essential life-skills. Prior to implementation, community members participated in a thorough needs assessment that guided the design of the program. This program has recently been expanded to 39 First Nation communities in Northern Ontario.

Right To Play is currently helping over 800,000 children world wide and operates in more than 20 countries. They have key programs in: Benin, Burundi, China, Ethiopia, Ghana, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories (West Bank and Gaza), Peru, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand and Uganda. Right To Play operates pilot programs in Canada, Norway and the United States.

Also, Right To Play programs are available online and 5,000 schools in Canada have down loaded these play based learning modules.

"Quests for Kids" aims to provide programs for 20,000 children in 5 years. The first 10,000 have been reached. Now let's help the second 10,000.

Quote of the Day

"To get the most out of an adventure, one must be flexible. It is often the unplanned parts that reward the deepest."

Pondero,  off-the-beaten-track blog

Enjoying a Right To Play program with children at Vedoko School for the deaf in Benin, West Africa.

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Next Events:

Cook Islands Quest 100 (Quest #4)

• Friday Sept. 21st 2012

• Location: Rarotonga, Cook Islands, Pacific Ocean

TriOil-Soccer Quest 42 (Quest #5)

• Friday Oct. 5th to Sunday Oct. 7th 2012
  

• Location: Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre, Cochrane, Alberta
  

On Sunday July 22^nd Sue and I drove down from Sudbury to Toronto. We had spent a week staying at Fairbanks Lake Resort with our daughter Kristina, her husband Paul and the grand kids Autumn age 8 and Nathan age 3. The Resort is an hour from Sudbury and consists of four rustic cottages and a lodge. The weather was great and over the seven days we had loads of fun swimming, building sand castles, going out on the paddle boat and doing art projects.

The highlight of the week was the nightly fishing session. Autumn is an accomplished fisher girl and she showed us all how to cast. The bait of choose was hotdogs but the "catch" turned out to be Crayfish. Each evening we'd fish 'til the sunset and the mosquitoes came out.

Going to Toronto was certainly a change of pace. Sue and I had been invited to attend the Right To Play fund raising Gala at the Westin Harbour Castle. So along with my sand bucket and spade I had had to pack a suit and tie. The guests of honour for the evening were four well known sports personalities; Ernie Els, Mike Weir, Silken Laumann and Steve Yzerman.

Entering the huge ballroom, the first thing we noticed was two tables full of wine bottles. Both Ernie and Mike have their own wineries. Sue had a glass of the 2010 Mike Weir Sauvignon Blanc and I tried the 2010 Ernie Els Big Easy Red. If I ever become a big shot I think I'll open a brewery instead and serve premium beers like Parnell Porter, Parnell Pilsner and Parnell Pale Ale.

A key part of the evening was to recognise the four individuals, not for their sporting accomplishment, but for their work in helping children. In the spring of 2005 Canadian golf icon Mike Weir launched Mike Weir Estate Winery to showcase the world class wines being made in Ontario's Niagara Peninsula and to support the Mike Weir Foundation. The Mike Weir Foundation was formed in 2004 by Mike and Bricia Weir to assist children in physical, emotional and financial need and since the wineries inception; proceeds from the sale of Weir Wines have gone to the Mike Weir Foundation.

In 2008 Ernie Els started to display an "Autism Speaks" logo on his golf bag after it was announced that their five year old son, Ben, was autistic. In 2009, Els launched an annual charity golf event, the Els for Autism Pro-Am, The first event, which featured many PGA Tour and Champion Tour golfers, raised $725,000 for The Renaissance Learning Center, a nonprofit Charter School in the area, for autistic children. Ernie and his wife Liezl have also established the Els Center of Excellence, which began as a drive to build a new campus for the aforementioned school but has since mushroomed into a $30 million plan to combine the school with a research facility.

Silken and Steve had similar stories and each received the "Red Ball Award" from Johann Koss, President and CEO of Right To Play International. I now look at these individuals in a different light and it makes me think of the Right To Play motto "Look after yourself, look after one another."

Quote of the Day

"A single event can awaken within us a stranger totally unknown to us. To live is to be slowly born."

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Ernie Els received the "Red Ball Award" from Johann Koss for his work with children with autism.

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