Sharon Higgins
CFL.ca
Thanksgiving is a traditional time in most families to celebrate all the gifts of our life with family gatherings and a food festival of turkey and trimmings. In our family, as in other coaching families, it is something you have to work around every year.
When the game schedule comes out at the beginning of the new year you quickly scan its contents to see which games are going to affect your personal life – birthdays, anniversaries, school holidays, long weekends and yes, Thanksgiving. For this holiday you hope your game will be at home (big plus!) or at a time when you can still plan turkey dinner with family and friends on Sunday or Monday. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don’t!
Coaching families often gravitate to each other to celebrate both Canadian and American Thanksgiving as ‘real life’ families are often too far away. The football family extends to players and their wives and children. There is nothing quite like a team Thanksgiving dinner!
At the beginning of the decade we were with the Eskimos. The entire football staff and team, as well as their visiting family, gathered together in the Green and Gold room (an area overlooking the field at Commonwealth Stadium) to break bread together.
Vibrant chatter and happy holiday decorations brightened the room even though the weather outside was gloomy and cool. The children played happily with loads of games that one of the coaches’ wives had graciously organized. There was no worry for them as to what might be the outcome of the game the next day. When the meal ended each player left with a pumpkin or apple pie that were generously donated by a local business man, who at one time was a CFL official. Now that’s a gesture of incredible kindness!
Fast-forward several years to Thanksgiving with the Stampeders and a team dinner at Heritage Park, a local historic village. Such a glorious setting with the day sunny and bright; quite a contrast to the Edmonton Thanksgiving years before!
Once again the entire football staff, football team and their visiting families enjoyed festivities in the park as well as a meal with their football family.
The kids gave us an impromptu concert, taking turns with only a microphone and stage as their props! Again, there was no worry for them to the importance of a win the next day. The mood was festive, yet relaxed and one of team togetherness.
I met Tania Zampieri at the Eskimo Thanksgiving dinner. She was then the girlfriend of Randy Chevrier who plays with the Stamps. It was one of her first trips to Edmonton and being with the team in a social setting. Our daughters and I connected with Tania immediately and kicked off a lasting friendship. Tania was also at the Thanksgiving dinner with the Stamps, this time married to Randy and with a son.
Tania represents the solid friendships that unfold and stay steadfast in a team. She understands the patience, the drive and the ambition that our husbands have for the sport. Her understanding and compassion gives the necessary support to not only her husband, but the other team members too.
American Thanksgiving 2007 was celebrated at Connie and George Cortez’s (coaching with the Stamps) home with a staff that was about to implode. Tom had been let go days before from his duties with the Stampeders and not one coach at the dinner table knew where he and his family would end up the next year. Yet we all offered up our prayers of Thanksgiving and hope for jobs for everyone in the future. How amazing to be wrapped in football friendship!
Thanksgiving this year found Tom and I far away from our real life family but as the sport would dictate, we spent the holiday with our football family. Long time coaching friends Cindy and Greg Marshall (coaching with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats) invited us to share dinner with them. Greg and Cindy embody the spirit and soul of the game, carrying its fire in their hearts. They recognize the importance of team spirit and supporting not only the game but also the people who create and play it.
Sorting out formalities for Thanksgiving dinner is never boring in our life! You just don’t know where you will be nor will you know who you will be with when you sit down to eat your turkey. How thankful I am for the multiple years of being surrounded by the ever-changing faces of my supportive football family.
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