Calgary Stampeders, Rage football engage with PALS to teach football

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Representing the Calgary Stampeders, Julian Howsare visited Strathmore to engage with folks in the PALS (Physical Activity, Leadership and Socializing) community and their supporters.

Howsare was joined by several athletes from the Calgary Rage women’s football team to run drills and exercises with those who came out to participate, hosted at the Strathmore Motor Products Sports Centre on May 11.

“We are going to learn about how to play football from people who know how to play football … a lot of us are fans of the game … (and) we want to be able to share that and play the game,” said Jim Bob Geddes, a support worker who was present for the workshop. 

Prior to splitting into teams and learning to play, participants went through several drills to get them warmed up and familiarized with how to move about the playing field.

Though Thursday’s event was the first at which the Calgary Stampeders had been present to participate, PALS has collaborated with other organizations to introduce sports to their members.

Geddes explained they had worked with Lacrossing Bridges to learn about lacrosse, as well as the Strathmore RCMP and Fire Department to learn how to play baseball. 

“This goes to show the level of commitment upon the organization of the Stampeders to grow in the community,” he said. “We are hoping for sure that this could become an annual event. Why not be a yearly event that can actually grow into including the entire community of schools.”

The event, according to Geddes, came about as a result of PALS members attending a forum spoken at by Jay McNeil, Dave Dickinson and John Hufnagel. During the forum, the Stampeders made their intentions known to grow their relationships with surrounding communities, and began collaborating with PALS. 

Michelle Bishop, support worker and facilitator of PALS said the organization aims to be able to include everyone and allow folks to be able to try things, regardless of ability. 

“We started PALS about eight or nine years ago, and it is just to bring our group of friends together once a week to exercise, learn about living healthy, move and learn new sports and activities. This is perfect for us,” she said. “PALS is just a group of mostly family management support workers, working with their friends, and we wanted to get together to create a safe place to play sports, learn a healthy lifestyle, socialize and learn leadership.”

Since its inception, PALS has grown to roughly five times its original size within the community.