Issue link: http://publications.winnipegfreepress.com/i/590580
6 HOME GAME PLAYBOOK SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2015 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS I f athletes have any doubt about their impact on fans, they only have to read this story about Cathy Garski. A simple gesture from Blue Bombers alumni Trevor Kennerd more than two decades ago transformed Garski into a devoted fan and dedicated volunteer. From selling break-open tickets at the 1991 Grey Cup to starting the Blue Bombers' women's football clinic to sitting on the board of the club's alumni association, Garski is the fan in fantastic. It all began back in 1988 when she went with some co- workers to watch a lunchtime downtown parade celebrating the Bombers' Grey Cup victory. Having only been to one football game in her life, Garski was pretty much a disinterested bystander. That is until a car went past carrying Kennerd, the team's place-kicker. "Somehow we made eye contact and he waved," recalls Garski, 53. "It just kind of ignited this thing. I wanted to meet him." It wasn't a romantic crush, she hastens to explain, rather the type of attraction you'd have to a celebrity such as a movie or rock star. The following year, she and her friend, Roseanne, attended Bombers' training camp, watching the two-a-day practices and talking to players and coaches afterward. She did meet Kennerd and it was fun. "But very quickly it became about the game," she says, adding she loved its rhythm and easy-to-follow rules. "We ended up getting season tickets for that year and I've had season tickets ever since." When the Bombers won the Grey Cup in 1990 – the last year the team captured the title – Garski went to the downtown parade again. This time, though, she didn't just stand by and cheer the players and coaches she'd come to know. "I was good enough friends with Trevor and with Bob Cameron that this time I jumped into the back of the truck and rode with them all the way from The Bay to city hall in the Grey Cup parade," she recalls with a laugh. "It's totally hilarious. Within two years, I was just enamoured with the whole football experience." One thing happened at the city hall courtyard that flipped the switch from fan to passionate team supporter. "I bumped into Mike Riley," she says of the former coach she'd talked to at practices. "And he said to me, 'All the Bombers need is 25,000 more fans like you.' And that stuck with me ever since. "It got me thinking about how it had started for me, with such a simple wave, and how I became so captivated by the game and the team. And it really inspired me to find ways to let others have those moments. I still do that today." She began volunteering in 1991, when Winnipeg hosted its first Grey Cup championship, decorating the convention centre and selling break-open tickets. She then helped the team on game days with its pre-game block party and was soon co-ordinating its volunteers. In 1994, she and fellow football fan Leah Lansard came up with an idea that "it would be really cool" if the Bombers had a women's football clinic. "We went so far as to put a little business case together and arrange for a meeting with Lyle Bauer, who was the assistant general manager at the time." They offered to run it as volunteers and try to "develop some new season-ticket holders" and educate female fans. Bauer gave his blessing and the duo ran it for five years. Participants got to meet players and coaches, learn about rules, put on equipment and try some plays on the field. The club now runs the popular clinic, which was held twice this season. "It's very gratifying that it's still going strong," Garski says. Coincidentally, when they started the clinic, it was "brought to you by the Bob Cameron Fan Club." That was a group of about seven women, plus a few husbands as associate members. Garski, president of "the exclusive club," explains the punter became like a big brother to her and she'd once rented a house from him. At games, the club members would wave a homemade banner bearing the name of the fan club. They'd also bow to him in homage when he came off the field. When Cameron's son, Brett, tried out for the team a few years ago and played in a pre-season game, out came the banner for the kicking offspring. "We wrote 'Son of' on it before Bob and did the same thing with Brett. It was fun," Garski says with a chuckle. Cameron always got a kick out of having a fan club and says the dedication Garski has to the football club is special. "To do what she's done, to make the contribution that she has to the Winnipeg Football Club over the years, is extraordinary," Cameron says. "People talk about doing stuff. Well, she does it. She gets it done. There's fans and then there's fans and then there's Cathy." In 1996, Garski was recruited to help with Touchdown Manitoba, the annual fan event at Grey Cup that celebrates the province with a social. No surprise, she became the president of Touchdown Manitoba and grew it into "one of the premiere parties for fans" at Grey Cup, Garski proudly says. She did that until 2011, skipping 2006 when she was on the organizing committee for that year's Grey Cup in Winnipeg. The Bombers now run the Touchdown Manitoba event, and Garski will likely be there when she enjoys this year's Grey Cup — her 20th — at home. She was also recruited to be on the Blue Bombers board in 1997, which at that time had about 60 people. She pitched in to help with anything, from working on the club's annual fundraising dinner to stuffing season tickets in envelopes. "I thought she worked for the football club," former offensive lineman Chris Walby says. "She's as passionate about the Bombers as anybody I've met in my life." But it was in 2000 when she found a volunteer role that fit her to a T. She was asked to help out the Bombers alumni association by its then-president – Kennerd. "He said something along the lines of, 'The alumni needs someone involved to help us get organized.' I was like, 'Yes!' " A software specialist, Garski built the association a membership database. She also tracked down alumni players, coaches and staff, handled requests for alumni appearances, managed the existing website and gave the association a social media presence with a Facebook page and Twitter account. "I think she's persevered through some hard times," Walby says. "There was a lot of the guys I remember in what I call the old men's club, who said, 'Who's this lady? She never played in the league. She's never played professional football and she wants to be involved in our alumni association?' " Yet she proved her value over and over again by finding former players "like a part-time detective" and sharing news about what they were up to, Walby adds. Although the alumni association hired a part-time staff member a few years ago to handle the membership and appearance duties, Garski continues in the social media role. She also became an elected board member of the association, a three-year term that ends after next year. "I wouldn't even want to try to guess the number of hours Cathy has put in with the alumni," Kennerd says. "We just thank her so, so much." Garski viewed Kennerd's request to help with the alumni as "coming full circle" in her link with the team. Even though she's never been paid, there have been a few tangible thank-yous, such as merchandise or tickets to various events. She was also given the Cactus Jack award by the alumni association to recognize her contributions. But it's the people she's met and the things she's been able to do that have been her reward. "It's certainly not the same as someone who played the game and won championships, but it's been a major focus for me, the greatest passion of my life," she says. When asked if she's married or has kids, she responds with a laugh. "My joke is I don't have kids, I have a football team." And she's not about to neglect them any time soon. [ ALUMNI PROFILE Superfan Cathy Garski has a heart of blue and gold By Judy Owen for the Winnipeg Free Press Top: Cathy Garski with former Bombers coach Mike Riley, who inspired her to start volunteering for the club. Below, from left: Trevor Kennerd, Garski, Riley and Bob Cameron at the 2010 Legacy Dinner. Bottom: Garski joined members of the 1990 Grey Cup-winning team at a 25th anniversary reunion this summer, including Cameron (far left), Kennerd (in front of Garski) and Chris Walby (wearing white in the back row).