The Most Supportive Kids in the World are Canadian

Yup, it’s true. We’ve worked with hundreds of kids across the country and in major cities all across America. Crazy thing is, the kids in Toronto, were the most supportive we’d worked with all summer.

Due to the beginning of the school season, we’ve run into a bit of difficulty planning events. Nothing that we can’t overcome. But the schools in Toronto opened September 4th and our event was to take place September 5th with the Boys and Girls Club of Eastview in Toronto. These clubs have a very busy schedule once the transition of school comes around. 

We were happy and fortunate to provide Laurette and the BGC of Toronto with a bit of relief and a ton of fun for kids involved with their agency! 

When we first call the kids together for our pep talk for the day, it takes a bit of corralling and leadership. Sometimes it needs to be an aggressive “WILL EVERYONE PLEASE COME TAKE A SEAT OVER HERE AT HOME PLATE?!” or other times it’s making weird and loud noises that the kids will then repeat as you swing the attention towards the day.

With these kids, it was a simple,

“Can everyone take a knee for me right here? We’re going to go over what we’re going to do today.” 

And they all did it beautifully. 

Then, when going over the day’s events, they all looked intently at Adam as he explained the components of the day. Never interrupting and raising their hands if they had a question. We were amazed already!

When we divided the kids into three groups and sent them off to our three clinics: Hall of Famers and Rookies, the Pickle Drill, ESPN Highlight Reel and HR Derby. 

We played Hall of Famers and Rookies to get the kids riled up and their blood moving again after sitting around at school for most of the day. It’s the same game as Sharks and Minnows, we just call it a baseball-y name and act like our favorite HOFer.

Now, again, we have created our events to be effective towards the ADD minds of 10-12 year olds. Very high energy, quick moving and always adapting. The kids love it without even knowing it. But, once again, it does take some corralling at times to keep them engaged as they wait their turn. This Toronto bunch were so patient that they needed no corralling whatsoever and did exactly as they were told each time we asked them. 

This was fantastic for us. It made the whole day extremely fluid and easy to execute. They were a great group!

But my favorite part about these kids was the support they gave each other. In America, it’s all about competition all the time. Who’s better than who, who can throw farther, who can hit the ball harder and who can run faster. It’s what America was built on. These kids in Canada want to support each other more than I’ve ever seen. 

It was more than “Nice job David!” or “Great hustle Sarah!” It was the tone at which they delivered each supportive remark. They whole-heartedly wanted to build up everyone else. And when these kids play together all the time every day at the same agency, that usually wears on a kid. They get argumentative, frustrated and competitive over less important things. Not so with these kids. It was such a pleasure to see what we adults preach every day,

“Treat others as how you would like to be treated.”

Well, these guys taught us a lesson in Toronto. 

Thank you to all the kids who came out in Toronto and please become a volunteer with this agency. Cannot say enough good things about these kids and the agency with which they are involved. Hi5 Toronto!