Game on!
July 25, 2005
By Cam Tait
Confession: I am a hockey fan. I love the game. Always
have been, ever since my Dad put me on my knees on the floor between
the kitchen table legs and handed me the potato masher as my goal
stick. So it's not surprising that I was going through withdrawal
last winter when the National Hockey League took a yearlong
sabbatical to set a new financial route. Finally, last week, hockey
fans had something to cheer about again because hockey is back. A new
collective bargaining agreement has been struck between the owners
and the players, and that means professional hockey will be back
again in fall.
You might not know the difference between a body check and a
paycheque, or that a good penalty kill is better than road
kill...but if you work in the nonprofit sector, you have to agree on
one thing: having the NHL back is a good thing. A damn good thing.
Because without it charities missed out on a lot more than the
game.
How many times did someone walk by a table at a silent auction last
winter that had an autographed jersey or stick from an NHL player?
How many times did they question both sides for being greedy? Which
is a valid point. Fans had every right to be disgruntled with
players and owners. But, did we take our frustration out on the wrong
people? Did we refrain from writing a bid down on a sheet of paper
because we felt the lockout should have never happened? I strongly
suggest that it wasn't the players or the owners we were punishing by
not bidding. It was, sadly, the charity.
And we have to seriously ask ourselves if that was fair?
NHL players have been very good about making public appearances on
behalf of nonprofit groups. But we didn't see many of them attending
news conferences to announce campaigns last year. I find that
interesting in itself. In a year when players had all the time in the
world - except Europe, of course, where several chose to play - there
weren't a lot of news releases coming from charities to announce that
an NHLer was sharing his time.
But that's all behind us. When hockey officially returns, charities
will win. Hands down. More items like autographed hockey sticks,
sweaters, and tickets will be at silent auctions. A
once-in-a-life-time experience might be thrown in too, such as a
behind-the-scenes look at how a hockey game is actually organized.
(Take it from me, someone who has had the great opportunity to have a
peek. It's amazing.) Auction bidders will probably view such things
with open minds, which leads to open wallets. Charities will
certainly benefit.
Players will once again visit kids in hospitals, be honorary chairs for
fundraising drives, and we'll be inspired by their play. Hundreds of
thousands of kids will get their heroes back. And that's exciting.
The loss of the season has hurt many people. The ripple effect of the
lockout might be more far-reaching than we will ever know. But it's
over. As a hockey fan I couldn't be happier, not only to welcome back
the game I love, but to know an NHL in business means a great deal
for nonprofit organizations. Let's play.
Cam Tait is a sports reporter and columnist for the Edmonton Journal. He covered community investments and volunteers for 19 years. E-mail Cam at cam@charityvillage.com with thoughts, suggestions or ideas.
Opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of CharityVillage.com®.
