By Dan Plouffe
On top of the hardware handed out to award winners, there was also a bit of cash given out at the Ottawa Sports Awards banquet on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at Algonquin College.
The Ottawa Police Soccer Mentorship Program received a $500 donation to support its cooperative efforts to engage Aboriginal youth with police officers through sport.
“I feel so grateful that the Ottawa Sports Awards have recognized something that we, as police officers and members of the community, are so passionate about – children, and the success of children, and helping kids grow up to be the best they can be and have positive relationships with members of our organization,” says Staff Sgt. John Medeiros, who began the program in 2008 with the help of Featherston Drive Public School in Heron Gate.
Around 20 kids who maybe couldn’t afford to play soccer, were struggling academically or could use a sense of belonging were selected to take part in the first phase of the program, Medeiros recounts, adding that boys and girls between the ages of six and 12 took part in the Friday after-school sessions that ran for 12-15 weeks.
With six phases now in the books, the program that features coaching help from the FC Capital United Soccer Club has helped improved relations with youth as they interact with around 10 police officers who join in the sessions.
“In the long run, it changes perceptions that we have of one another,” Medeiros describes. “Children may not view police as someone who’s going to come and arrest someone. They have a friend in the Ottawa Police Service, or I know them because they helped us out with soccer.
“It’s just a positive image and relationship built at an age where kids could be the most vulnerable.”
While perhaps not the main intent, the Mentorship program has also provided an avenue into competitive sport in the case of one standout player who the Ottawa Police sponsored to be on a Capital United team.
“One kid in that program had never played soccer before, but you could tell he was a phenomenal athlete,” Medeiros explains. “He came out every night, and it was like Thursday night, he was getting ready for Friday afternoon soccer. He was always excited and motivated.”
Soccer, Medeiros adds, provided the perfect venue to achieve the volunteer-supported organization’s goals.
“Soccer is played by some 275 million people across the planet,” says the officer of Portuguese descent. “It crosses all cultural bounds and transcends all barriers.”
More cheques for scholarship winners
In conjunction with the Ottawa Nepean Canadians Sports Club, the Ottawa Sports Awards presented $1,000 scholarships to Carleton University student Eric Kemp (orienteering athlete of the year) and University of Ottawa student Grace Lonergan (softball athlete of the year), the lucky winners of a draw.