Congratulations go out to the players, coaches, managers and parents of the U10 Ladner Storm girls soccer team, who found out earlier this week they had topped the online voting in a Canadawide contest to be crowned the 2012 BMO Team of the Week.
Winning a national contest is quite an accomplishment, but what struck me most about the team's effort - and there certainly was a concerted push by all involved in order for the local girls to come out on top - is that the big prize isn't really theirs to keep.
They did it for all for the wider community, which I think speaks volumes to the character and commitment of this group of girls and their supporters.
It's one thing to put in a whole bunch of work to get out the vote if the reward at the end of the process is a bundle of cash or a trip to some fantastic destination. It's not too hard to get, and stay, motivated when you'll personally benefit from those efforts.
Yet that wasn't the case here. Although there was a big cheque at the end of the rainbow, the $125,000 grand prize the girls won doesn't go to the team, but rather to the refurbishment of their local soccer field. It's something the whole community, or at least those that play soccer, will benefit from, a gift these girls, through the Bank of Montreal, are giving to Ladner.
The players did get tracksuits and a $500 team prize after their initial weekly win, and now that they're the Canadian champs, they'll have the opportunity to see a professional soccer game and be on Canada AM, so they haven't been forgotten about by any means. They also won $5,000 for the charity of their choice.
But the big winner in all of this is the wider sports community. I've coached enough soccer games in low-lying Ladner to know the fields, particularly in the winter, can be an adventure, so much so they're often closed when games roll around on the weekend.
I'm not sure how much $125,000 can do about that situation when artificial turf fields run in the neighbour hood of $3 million these days, but it's not a trivial amount either and I'm certain that in conjunction with the Corporation of Delta the Storm's windfall will be put to good use.
Wherever the money ends up being spent, the result will be a testament to the hard work and selflessness of the Ladner girls and all their supporters.
They're the champs in the 2012 BMO Team of the Week contest, but we'll all end up sharing in the spoils of that victory.
