Montreal Gazette

‘COACH EARL’ HAD IMPACT ON A LOT OF YOUNG ATHLETES AT SUN YOUTH

- STU COWAN scowan@postmedia.com twitter.com/ StuCowan1

“Coach Earl” wasn’t just a coach to the kids who played for him on the Sun Youth Hornets minor football teams over the years.

“He was a father figure and a big-brother figure for all of us who played for him,” Jean-Marc Edmé, who played midget football at Sun Youth, said about Earl De La Perralle. “He was a great man.”

De La Perralle, a co-founder of the Sun Youth Organizati­on and its executive director, died Tuesday at age 73.

Edmé only started playing football at Sun Youth when he was 15, but went on to play for Vanier College before earning a scholarshi­p as a running back at Alcorn State University in Mississipp­i. He later earned an Honours Bachelor degree in Sports Administra­tion from Laurentian University and is now the director of player personnel for the CFL’s Ottawa Redblacks.

Not bad for a kid who grew up in Montreal North — and Edmé says none of it would have been possible without De La Perralle.

“There’s no question I wouldn’t be where I am now without Coach Earl,” Edmé said in a phone interview Wednesday. “Sun Youth was a place for us to play, to study. There’s a study hall at Sun Youth, there’s everything you need as an athlete to stay focused. Earl had a big influence on all of us. If it wasn’t for him, to be honest with you I don’t know where I would be today.”

Marwan Hage, another former Sun Youth player, went to the University of Colorado and then spent 10 seasons as an offensive lineman with the Hamilton TigerCats, where he started the Hage’s Heroes program, allowing underprivi­leged kids to attend games. He now owns several Tim Hortons franchises in Toronto and is vice-president of the CFLPA.

“I would not be where I am today in all aspects of my life without Coach Earl De La Perralle,” Hage wrote on Twitter. “I lost my mentor today but heaven gained an angel!”

Said Edmé: “Coach Earl, his door was always open. He was a guy that you could ask him anything about life or football. He always had good insight and answers to your questions. I remember him telling me whatever your dream is you just have to believe and work at it. Those are the two strong words that I kept in my mind all the time. If you talk to most of the guys from the Sun Youth alumni they’re going to say the same thing.”

Guys weren’t the only ones De La Perralle had an impact on.

Lizanne Murphy played basketball at Sun Youth before going to Dawson College, earning a scholarshi­p to Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., representi­ng Canada in two Olympics and then playing pro for 10 years in Europe. She is now the co-ordinator of performanc­e with the Canadian Olympic Committee.

Murphy remembers her Sun Youth teams would play in five or six summer tournament­s each year in the U.S., helping players like her get exposure with American universiti­es. It’s something that hadn’t really been done before with Canadian basketball teams — especially girls’ teams. Kara De La Perralle was Murphy’s coach at Sun Youth, but it was the coach’s father, Earl, who worked behind the scenes for the basketball teams. Players would pay only what their families could afford with Sun Youth covering the rest of the cost. Players would also do volunteer work at Sun Youth’s summer camp for kids.

Sun Youth and its sports teams remain a Montreal melting pot of different cultures, languages and economic background­s.

“When I think of our team, we were literally from all over,” said Murphy, who grew up in Beaconsfie­ld.

“I think I really learned how to work hard and to be part of something that’s bigger than yourself,” she added. “We knew we were playing basketball, but when you go into the Sun Youth gym you walk right past all the people who are waiting in line for the food bank, for the clothing drive, for the furniture drive. Same with the summer camp at Sun Youth, which is available to families of little to no income. So you did realize the privilege that we had. You weren’t aware because they never told you, but you did realize that we were very lucky to be there.

“What they’ve done with all these anonymous (financial) donors to make so many kids’ dreams come true, it’s just amazing.”

RIP, Coach Earl.

 ?? LIAM MALONEY FILES ?? Sun Youth Hornets coach Earl De La Perralle talks to players before a game in 2007. “He was a father figure and a big-brother figure for all of us who played for him,” says Jean-Marc Edmé, now director of player personnel for the Ottawa Redblacks.
LIAM MALONEY FILES Sun Youth Hornets coach Earl De La Perralle talks to players before a game in 2007. “He was a father figure and a big-brother figure for all of us who played for him,” says Jean-Marc Edmé, now director of player personnel for the Ottawa Redblacks.
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