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Alouettes’ winter Afghanistan trip illustrates the global impact CFL players can have
At times, the CFL's referred to as strictly a Canadian league, but that underestimates some of the impacts it has around the world. We've seen it provide a way out of dangerous environments for countless athletes, and we've seen plenty of CFL players and teams giving back everywhere from their own communities to places as far-flung as Haiti and Guyana.* The CFL also can be a connection to home for Canadians abroad, and it's remarkable how far some CFL players will go to reach out to fans around the world. For Alouettes' players Sean Whyte, Luc Brodeur-Jourdain and Martin Bedard, that included a trip to Afghanistan this winter (along with four Alouettes' cheerleaders, two former NHL players and former NHL GM Brian Burke) to visit some of the approximately 950 Canadian soldiers still stationed there as trainers and advisors for the Afghan army. Here's part of what Whyte, the team's kicker, told Herb Zurkowsky of The Montreal Gazette about what the trip meant to him:
“It was a great opportunity to say thank you to those troops, personally,” Whyte said during an interview this week, following a practice at Stade Hébert. “It was a great eye-opening experience. You realize how blessed we are here.
“A lot of those guys thanked me for coming, telling me it took them out of their routine. They had nothing but smiles on their faces. If it wasn’t for those guys, I wouldn’t be able to live my dream of being a professional athlete. It’s awesome to say that.”
While the Department of National Defence did what they could to protect the sports figures on their overseas trip, it was still a dangerous one, as illustrated by one location they were at being bombed shortly after they left:
Eight hours after leaving Kuwait — the beginning and end of the trip with a four-day stop in Kabul in between — Whyte and the travelling party were advised a bomb had been launched at the spot they had visited, six people ultimately losing their lives.
“To be honest, I was expecting one while I was there,” Whyte quipped, displaying a somewhat cavalier attitude. “We had been warned that it’s common. But they don’t have guidance systems on these missiles. They just lob them over the mountain and hope for the best.
“I was ready for one. When it didn’t happen, I was surprised. It happened eight hours after we left so, I guess, lucky me.”
That's a little more frightening than your standard offseason meet-and-greet. It's impressive that the players were willing to go into a dangerous area like this, and in Brodeur-Jourdain's case, it was his second such trip. They obviously connected with some of the soldiers there too, with Whyte telling Zurkowsky about how he exchanged one of his jerseys for a khaki security forces shirt from Canadian soldier Joey Giampersa. Offseason outreach activities like this speak well for the CFL's teams and players, and they illustrate the global impact these guys can have under the right circumstances. That's something to be celebrated.
*On the Guyana front, Hamilton defensive back Ryan Hinds is holding another Touch-A-Tractor event like last year's to raise money for improved medical care in that country through Guyana Help The Kids. That will take place at Hamilton's Robar Centre Aug. 25. More information's available here.
