Community Corner: Thoughts From The Passenger Seat

JASON COLERO
Toronto Argonauts Manager, Community Relations

Jason Colero started as a water boy and now, 25 years later, he’s the heart and soul of Argos’ community outreach programs. The friendly and energetic Manager of Community Relations now educates youth through a myriad of programs he leads throughout the GTA.

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150 km travel to GTA schools; $25 in fuel; Limitless reflections with an Argo, Priceless!

The theme for this week’s Huddle Up Bullying Prevention (around the office we casually refer to it simply as ‘Huddle Up’) assemblies could be road trips; or the meaning of family; or just thoughts from the passenger seat. Often times, on a trip to a school outside the GTA the players ride with me from Mississauga. The time of the trip can last anywhere from 45 minutes to two hours. This week, defensive back Jason Shivers and I (we call ourselves the J2 Tour) travelled to Angus, Ontario, a town just outside Barrie. The trip took a total of one and a half hours which allowed for lots of reflection and shop talk.

I won’t get into the shop talk because this is about community and the off-season stories of the Argos. Jason talked to me about a number of things including a life plan which he says is something he has that is similar to a business plan. It’s where you plan to be in the near future. He explains that his actions throughout life all relate to his long term plans. He prepares himself not just for football but for life after football. As we talked more, I realized that this was very true for anyone, not just an athlete. Instead of just taking things day-by-day, and figuring whatever happens, happens, it is always a GREAT idea to have a plan that you can follow. But be flexible, if something alters your plan then you just adjust the play and call an ‘audible’.

Upon arriving at Pine River Elementary in Angus, he thanked me for including him in Huddle Up because he is not only able to share his views with others, but, as he says, it is “therapy” for a lot of the guys, including himself. Above all, he said it is very rewarding to see how a message can affect the life of the participants of our program.

This point was proven when after one of our assemblies a teacher told us that one of his students had just reported that he was being bullied. He went on to say that we had inspired the student to have the courage to speak up.

The J2 Tour has given me a lot to think about with regard to my own life plan. Stay tuned for that and for more details on the upcoming assembly with offensive lineman Jeff Keeping that will be featured on Global TV’s “Making a Difference”. In the meantime, I would love to hear from all of you. If I have met you – you can e-mail me at jcolero@argonauts.ca.