Friday Night Lights
New Steve Montador Student Bursary announced at annual Team 55 Let’s Tackle Suicide Awareness event.
Steve Montador’s buddies wanted to find the right way to remember their friend.
At Team 55’s Friday Night Lights fundraiser the organizers of HOPE (Helping Others Participate Equally) unveiled the Steve Montador Student Bursary.
The former NHL defenceman suffered from the effects of concussions prior to his death at age 35. The bursary will cover the costs of expensive neuro-psychological tests students suffering from concussions require to get a modified work load at postsecondary institutions.
“We know how difficult it can be for students transitioning from high school to college and university especially trying to pursue their academic studies while still suffering the effects of a concussion,” said HOPE member Ryan Sedgwick.
“A reduced academic course load for these students is critical, but sometimes the necessary neuropsych exams needed to secure approval for these reduced workloads can be very costly.”
The costs of the exams can exceed $3,000, Sedgwick told The Examiner.
Funds raised through HOPE events, such as the Kirk Gaskell Cup of Hope three-on-three hockey tournament each March, will help fund the program. HOPE is also teamed with Team 55 in raising funds for the Your Family Health Network’s youth concussion program.
Montador was a board member of HOPE, an organization comprised of many former athletes.
“Steve was best known to the public for his playing days in the NHL but to a group of us here in Peterborough he was just one of the lads,” Sedgwick said. “We had an unfortunate close-up view of watching Steve suffer from multiple concussions from his NHL playing days. This ultimately helped cut Steve’s life short.”
HOPE felt the bursary was a worthwhile cause Montador would have supported “So these students have the opportunity to succeed,” Sedgwick said.
In an interview, Sedgwick said it was important for HOPE to find the right way to honour Montador.
“We wanted to help people dealing with something similar to succeed and push forward and enjoy their lives,” he said. “As a group, we maybe didn’t know how to help him. We were just a bunch of guys from town who played sports together and had fun on the weekends together but we didn’t know how to help him or recognize the signs early enough.”
Through his life and his death, Sedgwick said Montador educated them.
“It’s too bad he’s gone because I think he could have done some great things to help further that education portion. Not just for the NHL but on the grassroots level,” said Sedgwick.