Golden Bears and Pandas give back to the community

Following the success of the Golden Bears’ Teddy Bear Toss on November 22, the University of Alberta Athletics Board (UAB) is looking into expanding its current volunteer work.

The UAB works hard to foster community engagement with varsity athletes. So far, they’ve been successful, and there’s more to come.

The Bears hockey team wanted to bring in the Teddy Bear Toss

The Teddy Bear Toss on November 22 “has been one of the most successful” fundraisers yet, according to UAB president Miranda Risling.

“We decided to do the Teddy Bear Toss because it was something that the hockey team was invested in and wanted to do. It was electric, seeing how many people were excited. It really brings a sense of community.”

Apparently, the Teddy Bear Toss was something the team wanted to do for a couple years now. And it’s only going to grow from here.

“Now that everyone’s got a taste of that sense of community and doing good, it will start to expand and it’ll just grow bigger and bigger,” Risling said.

Beyond just the student athletes, the university’s A Team really gets the ball rolling. Members such as Kimberly Lo helped to facilitate the Teddy Bear Toss and other events to drive home its success.

What are the varsity teams doing now?

Almost all of the U of A’s varsity teams have worked to help the Norwood Child and Family Resource Center. That relationship is continuing to develop beyond its partnership with the Teddy Bear Toss.

“Norwood Child and Family Centre is such a special place full of the kindest, hard-working people. It is a privilage to work with them and I hope to continue getting more Bears and Pandas teams out to help their incredible cause,” Molly Stesko with the Pandas rugby team said.

However, there’s a lot of ways the teams get involved in the community. Most teams and players get involved in read-in-week, blood drives, Free2BEMe, and Pick A Present. Joel Martins-Correia for the Bears’ soccer team specifically works with the Free2BEMe program. In doing so, he is able to provide fitness opportunities to physically and mentally disabled youth.

Something the Pandas varsity teams are really proud of is the For Girls By Girls program.

“Each [women’s] varsity sport is assigned an afternoon to teach girls [ages] eight to 17 about our sport. It is an amazing experience to help guide and inspire young girls to participate in sports,” Calli Giroux with the Pandas swimming team said.

On the mens’ side, the Bears’ varsity football and soccer teams volunteer with the Special Olympics. Dwight Francis says it is “one of the best experiences [he’s] had through the course of being a part of Golden Bears football.”

“It is very endearing to hear how grateful the Special Olympics athletes are that we are there. They treat us like we’re superstars, and it means the absolute world to them,” Thomas Hope with the Bears’ soccer team said.

“It’s rare that you’ll find a varsity athlete that won’t want to help,” Risling says

Over the past few years, it’s been difficult to volunteer as much as the players and the UAB would like. In part, this has to do with sports falling off because of COVID-19 and the lack of turnout most teams see. However, with the Teddy Bear Toss, fans are starting to get more involved.

“The hockey team has the crowd. So it’s just getting the involvement and getting all the green and gold out there,” Risling said.

The Teddy Bear Toss is really serving as the catalyst to incorporate more fan involvement in the varsity sports community.

“Now that there’s some traction to it, [fans] are like ‘this is gonna be awesome next year’,” Risling says.

Overall, community involvement is something the U of A sports teams are very proud of and want to continue.

“As varsity athletes, I think we all know the type of role model we can be in the community, and when we have the time, it’s rare that you’ll find a varsity athlete that won’t want to help,” Risling said.