Laurentian University SPAD grads give back to community

It was a day to give back in Sudbury, as alumni of the Sports Administration Program (SPAD) at Laurentian University gathered for its 50th anniversary.

A whole slate of events had been planned for several days, but Saturday was slated for the community.Laurentian University SPAD program alumni gave back to the Greater Sudbury community as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations on Saturday. (Laurentian or SPAD program)It started with serving a hot meal to the Elgin Street Mission. Afterwards, the alumni group presented the mission with a cheque for $3,000 to further its efforts.As part of their 50th anniversary celebrations alumni of the Laurentian University SPAD program served meals at the Elgin Street Mission. (Laurentian or SPAD program)From there, a hockey equipment drive was held at Countryside Arena in hopes of ensuring all children in the area are able to play Canada's game. The drive saw many families invited out, including those from Greater Sudbury Housing.

"We wanted to give back to the community," said alumnus Claude Delorme.

"When you're a student going through it, you're so focused on the academic year and the setting of the university, that we really didn’t get too many opportunities at the time to give back to the community and when you're in the workforce, you realize how important that is, and when you're in the planning cycle, it was really a priority for us."

Delorme graduated from the program in 1983 and spent 39 years working with professional baseball, with ties to both the Expos and Marlins.

"We collected used hockey equipment, Sudbury Wolves partnered with us, Skate Exchange donated 50 pairs of skates and new helmets and the Wolves are doing two nights, inviting their fans to bring used hockey equipment, and getting Sudbury Minor Hockey and the Playground House League partners with us, it makes it very encompassing," he said.

The Wolves also held a 2-hour skate and a skills clinic.

"Hopefully they'll love the game and they'll become really great players and it will give them something to enjoy," Delorme added.

"Today's been fantastic, the kids have been out enjoying everything and now they're skating with the Wolves, they're just very excited," Stephanie Dempsey, a parent at the event, told CTV News.

"I'm so excited to have the kids back out, they're having fun, it's been a long couple years for them, they're getting physical activity and the equipment, like that's huge."

For Laurentian's current crop of SPAD students, it's also an opportunity to look at the alumni and be inspired. To know there is life after university and a path forward for them, to explore a career in sports administration.

"It's very inspiring, like I'm hoping to be just like them one day you know, be very successful and yeah, it's very cool to see," said first-year student Aiden Dionne.

"A lot of people are really successful in different industries so it just goes to show how far-reaching the SPAD program truly is," said fourth-year student Emilie Bonin.

"The program means everything right, if it wasn't for that I would have never worked in sports," said Delorme.

"That was my true passion, to really join the business side in the sports environment and to be able to work for 39 years with two professional teams, I couldn't ask for more. We owe everything to the sports admin program and reuniting the alumni is a chance for us to get close to the student body and help mentor some of the students and make sure they're successful as well."

The program offers four to eight month internships with sports industry businesses and many alumni offer their time and industry contacts to aid students.

SPAD is the only undergraduate business degree in sport management in all of Canada.

“While it is the best preparation for working in the sports industry, the SPAD degree is also valued by many non-sports organizations,” Laurentian University said in a previous news release.

“Because SPAD graduates are great team players with tremendous work ethic, as well as being outgoing, engaged, and creative thinkers, banks, marketing firms, apparel companies, insurance companies, and many other companies in a variety of industries prefer to hire our grads.”

"The program and directors … have given so much of their time and given us the opportunity to do field trips with professional teams, to get experience before we got to the workforce, it just facilitated that growth," added Delorme.

More information on LU's SPAD alumni activities can be found on their Facebook page.