Als bring positive message to Westmount Park School

Alouette players Dave Stala, Luke Fritz, Damon Duval, Pascal Masson, Bryan Chiu, and Scott Flory talked to students in grades 1 through 6 about the importance of teamwork, education and eating right as part of the Montreal Alouettes’ annual 'School is Cool' Basketball Jam '08 campaign.

The campaign consists of various players from the team going to different elementary schools on and off the island of Montreal.

Westmount Park’s gym teacher, Don McCarthy, felt that the program’s message really hit home with the kids because of where it came from.

“A lot of kids in this school love to play sports," McCarthy said. "At this age a lot of these kids think that school isn’t important, so when they see professional athletes come to their school and tell them that staying in school is the way to go, you know they’ll listen.”

For principal Christina Delaney, the visit by the Als is important because it’s something that makes the kids feel special. “For the kids, the fact that the Als were able to take time out of their schedules during the off-season to visit them makes them feel very special about their school, and more importantly, themselves.”

The Als did more than just talk to the kids. After lunch, the students were treated to a staff versus Alouettes basketball game.

The students were ecstatic as they watched the Als’ players display their athletic ability as they quickly ran up the score the Westmount Park staff. The gym erupted near the halfway point of the game when Als receiver Dave Stala bent the rim sideways after a two-handed dunk.

For Alouettes’ offensive tackle Luke Fritz who is one of the event’s managers, getting out in the community and talking to the kids is something that he enjoys doing. It’s also something he wishes he had growing up.

“I love doing events like this," he said. "I love going out there and talking to the kids about things like school pride, respect, team work, and nutrition… I grew up in a small town four hours from Vancouver and we never had anything like this. I wish I had something like this growing up."

Stala felt that one of the advantages to an event like this is that it gives people an opportunity to see what the players are really like off the field.

“People usually only get to see us on TV when we’re playing," he said. "They get to see who we are as football players, but not who we are as people. This gives people, especially the kids, a chance to see who we are off the field.”

According to child-care worker Elliot Roth, one of the advantages of the event was that it provided the students with an opportunity to see the staff in a different light as well.

“The kids get to see us acting like them,” Roth said with a big smile. “They get to see us joking around having fun and being carefree. For (the students), it’s a big change from the norm. They’re used to seeing us in the authority role. So for them, something like this is cool.”

When asked whether she would be open to have the Als return next year, Delaney was more than open to the idea.

“We would definitely love to have them back. For us it’s the perfect end to a hard winter.”