JASON COLERO
Toronto Argonauts Manager, Community Relations
Jason Colero started as a water boy and now, 26 years later, he’s the heart and soul of Argos’ community outreach programs. The friendly and energetic Manager of Community Relations now educates youth through a myriad of programs he leads throughout the GTA.
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Imagining ‘what if’ is always going to be part of football, sports and life. What if we scored on the first drive? What if we just stopped them when it was second and 10? Or simply, what if we made it past Montreal in the East Final?
The ‘what ifs’ in sports are always great to think about and usually harmless in nature. However, as I listened to Cory Boyd speak about his bullying experiences I began to reflect on some of the other speeches by former huddle-up participants, like Argos alumnus Chuck Winters.
Chuck talked about choices and how they mould you for the future. He reached the students by explaining how he almost didn’t give football another shot after college. If he hadn’t showed up for an arena football tryout then he would not have made the team and been put in touch with the team’s then-defensive coordinator, Rich Stubler. Stubler later joined the Argonauts and among the first calls he made was to Chuck – just in time to win a Grey Cup championship in 2004.
Even Michael ‘Pinball’ Clemons who, throughout his football career, was told he wasn’t big enough. He eventually signed a professional football contract (Kansas City Chiefs) despite his size disadvantage. Injuries limited his time there and he was released, but he didn’t quit. He healed and one day he received a call from, what was to him, a foreign city in a foreign country, Toronto. Then-Argos G.M., Ralph Sazio was on the other end of the call and he invited Clemons north for 1989 training camp. What if Pinball hadn’t picked up the phone that day? It’s terrible to think, but maybe he wouldn’t have been such an important part of our storied franchise.
Those ‘what ifs’ are key parts of life and specifically our message to youth during the bullying prevention presentations. Personally, if it wasn’t for a bystander stepping up for me then I probably wouldn’t be here at all. It motivated me to make a phone call to the Toronto Argonauts hoping that they would have room for one more ball boy. Never would I have imagined that the call I made 27 years ago would result the creation of a bullying prevention program that has run for 10-years and affects over 250,000 students in the Greater Toronto Area. I would hate to consider; ‘what if one brave person had not spoken up for me during my high school years?’
I am quite sure that someone or something in your life has allowed you to carry on in some way and I’d like to hear your ‘what if’ story. How did someone or something change your life? Why are you better because they stepped in? Email me at jcolero@argonauts.ca.
Make your passion your life and no one can take that away.
– Jason