Cowboy hat trick: Garth Brooks surprises ball-hockey camp kids
Kathryn May, Ottawa Citizen
Country superstar Garth Brooks strolled in on ball-hockey camp at Stittsville's Sacred Heart High School Saturday morning, and barely a head turned.
Brooks, in jeans, a blue hoodie, ball cap and running shoes, quietly took his place at the end of the gym as one of the coaches, when someone gasped: "There he is! He looks like a parent."
"Thank you. That's what I love," Brooks said later in an interview. "Eighteen of my best years were spent being a dad — well, actually 23 … The greatest gift ever was getting to go home and raise my kids. That was the greatest."
The 70 kids, mostly from disadvantaged families from across the city, had spent the first part of the morning learning how to play ball hockey from the Ottawa Senators' Chris Phillips, his former teammate Shean Donovan and NHL veteran Darroll Powe before Brooks arrived.
They all knew the Senators players, but few, if any, had heard of Brooks, one of the best-selling artists in U.S. history.
But that was part of the plan. These kids, ranging in age from 9 to 13, had been picked for a day-long sports camp sponsored by Brooks' Teammates for Kids Foundation. Organizers claim Brooks wants the focus on kids, not him, so his appearance was kept hush-hush. Even the media invited to attend were not allowed to reveal the location of the camp beforehand.
"They don't know who I am, but they know who these guys are and they worship them — and they should — so it's good to see these guys with those kids," said Brooks.
Brooks is in Ottawa for four back-to-back shows as part of his world comeback tour after taking off more than a decade to raise his three daughters.
He had already set up in 1999 Teammates for Kids, which provides financial aid to children's charities. As part of the tour, he has held a camp in each of the 39 cities where he has played so far, bringing in professional athletes to coach each one.
Brooks started Teammates with baseball and football and rolled it out to hockey, which he said has been a "perfect marriage," saying the hockey community "oddly enough is the most charitable."
Athletes who become Teammates make pledges or donations, which the foundation's board triples. All overhead expenses are covered by the foundation, so all money raised goes to children. Shean Donovan was one of the first NHL players to join Brooks' Teammates foundation 15 years ago, and Saturday was the first time he was asked to coach a camp.
"You go into these locker rooms and tell these guys that 100 per cent of your money goes to the kids, that's all they need to hear. They go, 'Hey, sign me up,'" said Brooks.
Brooks showed little of that superstar showmanship he displays on stage. He was low-key, talking to the kids, taking part in the drills and games and giving the occasional pep talk.
Brooks said most of these kids won't grow up to become professional athletes, but that he and the coaches drill the "five words of wisdom" — courage respect, discipline, attitude, character.
"Character is probably the one we most like to get on people," he said. He mentions a pro baseball player who tells the kids that "going 0-for-4 that day, it doesn't define my character, but how I handle the result is how I define my character."
Tara Howlett and Caitlyn Brewer, who brought 13 children from the recLINK program for children in Centretown, called the camp an "amazing" experience.
Howlett said such camps would normally be "out of the realm of possibility for these kids."
"They are learning to play ball hockey from the Senators Chris Phillips — that is a once-in-a-lifetime possibility," said Brewer.
For Brooks, it's all about "harmony" of teamwork.
"The whole thing is about being teammates. Black, white, gay, straight, Catholic, non-Catholic, whatever. Put them all together — that's love. Hockey players, musicians, football players, we are all teammates, and part of something bigger than just ourselves, and I think that is coolest part of what all this is. When you see this all working in harmony, I think that is love."
The Garth Brooks Teammates for Kids Foundation and ProCamps took place Saturday, April 2, 2016 at Sacred Heart High School. From left, Ottawa Senators' Chris Phillips, former Senator Shean Donovan, former Philadelphia Flyer Darroll Powe and Garth Brooks are surrounded by 60 boys and from Christie Lake Kids, Ottawa Senators Foundation, Tim Hortons Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ottawa, and the Gloucester Recreation Department. Ashley Fraser / Postmedia
From left, Garth Brooks, NHL veteran Darroll Powe, former Ottawa Senator Shean Donovan and Ottawa Senator Chris Phillips talk things over at the sports camp. Ashley Fraser / Postmedia
Garth Brooks talks to the kids taking part in a day-long sports camp sponsored by his Teammates for Kids Foundation. Ashley Fraser / Postmedia
Garth Brooks gets in on the action at a day-long sports camp sponsored by his Teammates for Kids Foundation. Ashley Fraser / Postmedia
Garth Brooks watches the action at a day-long sports camp sponsored by his Teammates for Kids Foundation. Ashley Fraser / Postmedia
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