UCC 2020 Social

UCC is one of my favourite events of the year. So much positive energy exudes from this gathering of people, and so much community is built as we all share and learn valuable information about a sport we love.

I don’t know about you but there are days where I’m really tired. Perhaps it’s the constant planning just to un-plan later, or this weird pressure to work when there really isn’t as much work to do… unless you’re on the frontline – and a special thank you to those who are.

However, to paraphrase a very wise woman – when life goes low, our community can go high.

It has been a tough 8 months in many ways, but after 21 years I’ll admit it has been nice to be able to slow down and recharge a bit, even in the seemingly never-ending cycle of cooking, dishes and laundry.

I feel lucky to be Canadian, and I recognize the luxury to do this as the leader of a Canadian business being supported by governmental subsidies, especially because it has allowed me to keep most of the VC team at least partially employed. I joke that there have been years in VC’s history where we’ve worked ten times harder and lost more money than we’ll lose in 2020, thanks to government support. 

As thankful as I am for this – and that our Prime Minister loves VC jerseys! – I also especially want to thank each and every one of you who has placed an order in our online store over the last 6 months, either for a new piece of apparel, or one of our masks, or by joining us as a VC Card Member. I see you and I appreciate you. Our whole team does and is grateful for the support.

During this time, at VC we have taken the opportunity to introspect, review what it is we do as a business and most importantly who we are – and who we want to be.

The lesson we keeping learning is to:

Live your values: Find meaning in work, and work to find your meaning.

• Since VC started living our values, we’ve never been healthier.

• It’s worth noting that making lots of money isn’t one of our values, so that claim holds true even with an 80% reduction of revenue!

• We started by cancelling any thought of events, and our community supported it

• I personally took most of June off to learn, reflect, speak up and speak out against systemic racism and injustice. This led to meeting so many inspiring individuals who are shaping our commitment to be Part of the Solution.

• We then began focusing on how we could encourage others in our community to be Part of the Solution. 

For a while it felt as though we were busier than ever, but we weren’t really going anywhere. I call it planning to un-plan. So we stopped focusing on the short term and dove into the long term. 

• Transition to non-binary fits.

• Green program efforts.

We’ve been finding different ways to connect as a community and support each other, while acknowledging our own individual challenges and setbacks.

I now want to encourage each of you to trust and invest in your values as an organization or as a community member.

I know it can be hard. We had some really humbling conversations with VC team members who found they were hitting roadblocks and that our efforts were never enough.

We have to sit with and learn to lean in to that discomfort.

I challenge you to check in on the values you’ve defined and reflect on whether they are helping every person equitably.

And, yes, I’m talking to those of us who are White Folks. We need to do so much more to live the values of Spirit of the Game and inclusivity as a community. We need to invest in education, and in action. We need to take a step back and do what we can to amplify the voices of Black and Indigenous People of Colour community members across Canada. We will be better for it.

I’d now like to invite you all to either raise your glass or clap your hands to show your appreciation for the Ultimate Canada team, and especially Teri-Lynne for bringing us together, and keeping us all learning from and connected to each other. I’m excited to see so many friendly faces and feel the sense of community pouring through the screen!

Let’s all continue to support each other and better ourselves. We will be back!