In My Opinion: Proud to say I was part of The Robbie’s fundraising efforts

By JESSICA SHACKLETON

“I grew up in Scarborough, of course I played in The Robbie.”

I spent the majority of my childhood on soccer fields and played in many tournaments in my youth career, but the one closest to home will always be the most important.

I began volunteering at The Robbie when I was eight so the importance of it was instilled in me at a young age. We arrived at Warden Hydro Field early in the morning and put up nets, corner flags, and the registration tent.

My sister and I hung out with the organizers, sat in camping chairs and listened to their conversations. We were the youngest people there, but we were part of the team in charge. The most important task I was given as a tiny kid was to help organize the parade of teams, an annual tradition at the festival.

The following year, I joined a rep team and played in my first Robbie. Once again, I arrived at the field bright and early and helped set up, and sat with the same group of organizers. Then I waited for the rest of my team to arrive so we could start playing.

It was my first tournament out of house league, and it was instantly cooler to be part of the process and know the people in charge. Each June weekend for seven years after, I continued the same pattern and had cleared my volunteer hours by the age of 10. I heard The Robbie story countless times and understood what I was playing for.

It goes like this: Soccer enthusiasts in Scarborough wanted to start a tournament, so they met up at John Wimbs’ house in 1967. While they were there, they heard Wimbs’ three-year-old son upstairs coughing. He was receiving treatment for cystic fibrosis, an incurable genetic lung disease. Right then, the group decided to dedicate the tournament to not only soccer, but raising money and awareness for cystic fibrosis. The little boy’s name was Robbie, and the tournament was named after him.

When I was in The Robbie, Mike Ellis was the Chair. Each year at the end of the parade, he made the same speech. The festival was about fun and remembering why we play soccer in the first place. The teams at the festival, or the Mini-Robbie, were 12 and under, and were not playing cutthroat competitively yet. He always hit the players with the stat that girls were far more likely than boys to quit playing organized sports by the age of 13 because it just wasn’t fun anymore.

Once I graduated to the competitive league, I was determined not to fit the trend Ellis talked about. I made it to 15 before I stopped playing competitively because, as he said, it just wasn’t fun anymore. I didn’t play another organized soccer game until I was in university.

In those years, the lessons of The Robbie stuck with me. Winning isn’t everything; respect in sports goes a long way, and sometimes you should do the right thing because it’s the right thing.

My team never made it very far in the tournament, and though it would have been nice to win, we knew that wasn’t the point. We were from Scarborough, and therefore must be involved in The Robbie and everything it stands for.

Spending two weekends in a row at a soccer field – one of them being the first of summer – had its challenges.

Soccer players and parents have a special kind of attitude. Soccer moms in minivans do not understand that when a 15-year-old volunteer says the parking lot is full, it means the parking lot is full. They also may not realize that the tournament is entirely volunteer-based, from the Chair to the referees to the convenors.

My sister eventually became a referee, but she only played in one Robbie tournament. In it, her coach got thrown out; quite a spectacle in youth soccer.

I was with the same Scarborough club for my entire career and played in it every year except my last. We had a terrible season, and the coaches saw no point in even registering for The Robbie.

They were focused on the wrong thing. Soccer is a competitive sport and is known to be an emotional one. Wanting to win is a good thing, but making winning the only reason to play is the opposite.

At the end of the day, the result isn’t that serious. What is serious, however, is the funds The Robbie raises for cystic fibrosis.

In the 1960s, Robbie Wimbs was not expected to be around to start kindergarten. He lived until he was 33. Today, the life expectancy in Canada is 52.3. The tournament has donated more than $2 million to the cause, and I’m proud to say I was part of it.