Sun Youth’s sports programs teach lessons that last a lifetime
It would be impossible to know how many lives were changed for the better by Sun Youth’s late cofounder Earl De La Perralle during the 64 years he worked with Montreal youth, but the man who has taken over from Earl as the organization’s midget football coach counts himself as one of them and is forever thankful for it.
“While I was at Sun Youth, I decided I would take a break between high school and CEGEP,” said Dimitrios Manolopoulos. “I thought I was a brilliant individual at the time and didn’t really need to continue school.”
Manolopoulos remembered how De La Perralle said he would use his connections to help him land a job. He recalled how it appeared that Earl, who died earlier this year, seemed to know everyone in the city and could have probably found him a cushy position somewhere, but instead chose to take him to a warehouse to work.
“After a couple of shifts, I said: ‘I think I’m going to go to CEGEP.’ That was just one of the life- altering lessons he taught me,” Manolopoulos said.
Today, Manolopoulos is a senior director for the National Bank and sits on Sun Youth’s board of directors. He attributes a large part of his success to his decision to pursue an education, something that was always one of De La Perralle’s guiding beliefs.
“He always said if you’re going to do something, complete it,” Manolopoulos said. “He often spoke about how, if you could, to use sports to accelerate your education and try to persevere in what you do.”
Manolopoulos followed that advice after he finished playing football at Sun Youth. He went on to play for Vanier College, then for Concordia University where he was a three-time all-star — all while pursuing an education in business studies.
Sun Youth continues to offer a variety of sports programs for young people (ages seven to 17) to play basketball, football and hockey; Manolopoulos said that while athletics teach plenty of life lessons, the organization’s coaches will always stress the importance of education to their players.
“When you look at my coaching staff, you think these guys look like football coaches, but they have a lot of academic experience behind them,” Manolopoulos said. “Our offensive co-ordinator is a former professor in mathematics and physics; my defensive co-ordinator has a degree in history; and one of our linebacker coaches has an actuarial degree — so if the kids want the help, we tell them they can come and we can help them out with their studies.”
Manolopoulos added that Sun Youth alumni like him have a history of coming back to help the organization, something he attributes to the family atmosphere that people like De La Perralle and Sun Youth’s other co-founder, Sid Stevens, have helped foster. It’s also a place that people return to when they are having difficulty in their lives, even former players.
“We just take it for granted, when kids leave our organization, that they’ll be okay — both financially and in the direction they take in life — but that’s not necessarily the truth, so I think part of Earl’s legacy is that you can always come back to Sun Youth and be part of that family. I don’t think a lot of organizations have that,” Manolopoulos said.
Sun Youth’s sports programs are open to all, but are designed to help the city’s disadvantaged by offering subsidized registration and free equipment, something that can only be possible through the generosity of Montrealers who donate to the organization — like those who took part in the Mordy Gordon Memorial Golf Tournament this month in Île-Bizard.
Manolopoulos said that one of the biggest things De La Perralle taught people at Sun Youth was to always help those who helped you: “He was a very giving individual when it came to the community and I think his biggest lesson is to give back — either through money, if you can afford it, or, just as importantly, through your time as a volunteer.”
Manolopoulos has chosen to do both. In addition to his volunteer time as a football coach and board director for Sun Youth, he also works as a kicking coach for McGill’s football team and donates the money he earns there to Sun Youth.
“I have a lot of things on my plate. It would be very easy for me to stay home and not help out, but I think there comes a time where we turn from players to volunteers and, if you can afford it, to give back both in time or money,” he said.
“Earl helped thousands of people in the community indirectly or directly and I think his shoes will be impossible to fill. It’s going to take many people working together to play his role.”
With volunteers like Manolopoulos working for Sun Youth, it seems that Earl’s legacy is in good hands.