Summing up 36 years in about 350 words.
Next week will be my last at the Optimist. It’s time for a new chapter in our lives and we’re fortunate enough to able to pursue it, but not before saying goodbye to a community that has meant so much to me and my family.
It all began as a 22-year-old with an opportunity to eventually write sports for a paper that had extensively covered the North Delta rep soccer team I spent much of my youth playing for. I thought that was pretty cool.
As a kid growing up on the Surrey/North Delta border, Tsawwassen and Ladner were completely foreign to me.
It didn’t take long to discover South Delta was a hidden gem in the Lower Mainland, where time nearly stood still while neighbouring cities such as Richmond underwent significant changes.
We purchased our first home in Tsawwassen and later moved to Ladner where we would live for the next 25 years. There were a couple of opportunities to take my career elsewhere but, with two working parents, my job provided the flexibility of being there for my kids before and after school. That might explain how 20 years seem to fly by.
Along the way there was about a decade run coaching my son’s soccer team where we got to know and become friends with some tremendous families.
I will always remember the amazing volunteer coaches, managers and administrators in this community and the difference they have made to so many. The athletes such as Brent Seabrook or the McNamara twins, Megan and Nicole, who made significant impacts in their hometowns and continued to thrive at the highest levels of the sport.
It’s encouraging to see the current mayor and council providing the infrastructure for sports to keep thriving here, from the covered outdoor lacrosse box in Ladner to the redevelopment of Cromie Park and a much-needed new track coming to Delta Secondary. The future for athletes is bright.
And keep those submissions coming into the Optimist. Sports will always be an important part of this paper.
