I always like stories about professional athletes not acting like pricks. Makes me proud that he is my neighbour.Thanks to Sidney Crosby, there are 1,200 more kids playing hockey in Western Pennsylvania than there were two years ago.
Crosby launched the Little Penguins Learn to Play Hockey program in 2008 to help underprivileged children in the Pittsburgh area gain access to minor hockey. The concept was to equip kids between the ages of four and eight from head to toe and then co-ordinate ice time and instruction.
The Pittsburgh captain recruited the assistance of his primary sponsor, Reebok, as well as Dick’s Sporting Goods and the Penguins to get the initiative off the ground. With their help, Crosby supplied equipment for 600 kids during the first year of the program. He followed with another 600 this year.
"Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!" one enthusiastic parent wrote to the Little Penguins coordinators.
"It is absolutely fantastic that there is so much love for the game and desire to get young kids involved in hockey. The level of personal generosity from Sid is immeasurable. We plan to pay forward this good deed by donating our equipment to the rink once our son grows out of it for another child to use. We couldn’t believe the value of the program and almost felt like it was too good to be true until my husband picked up the equipment and we were ready to go! We just couldn’t believe it! Thank you so much to the sponsors and to Sid especially for showing his thanks to the fans and really influencing my child’s love for the game."
Along with skates, gloves, helmet, pants, pads, socks, stick and bag, the children receive a number 87 Little Penguins jersey as part of their equipment package. Several parents emailed the program co-ordinators to explain how much it meant to their kids to get a sweater with Crosby’s number on it.
"I can’t say enough of what this has done to my two sons," wrote one parent.
"The opportunity that Sidney, Reebok, Dick’s, and the Pens have given is tremendous. My sons can’t stop talking about it. When we first received the equipment we tried it on and they just stood there in a mirror looking — they felt like Penguins. When they received their shirts, they wore them to bed for the next week or two. (I would go in at night and take them off). I am sure they slept with little pucks in their heads. I just want to say thank you for all of you making a difference in a five- and seven-year-old life."
As a kid, Crosby used to deliver flyers door-to-door to make extra money to play hockey. So it’s no surprise he has embraced a cause such as this one now that he’s an adult.
"Hockey is such a great sport and the goal of this program is to create opportunities for even more kids in the Pittsburgh area to take up the game," Crosby said in a news release when he started the program.
"With the Little Penguins program, they can be fully equipped and learn the game in an organized and fun way."
The Little Penguins was the second charitable initiative Crosby launched since arriving in Pittsburgh as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 draft. He also bought a luxury suite at Mellon Arena three years ago and offers it to a different charity for every home game.
He was already an idol around Pittsburgh for his on-ice exploits but his quiet contributions to the community in other areas seem to be raising his status to another level.
"Being aware of all of the professional commitments and responsibility — personally and league-wise — the look of awe in a child’s eye can easily be overlooked," read one of the other several hundred emails. "My son considers Sidney Crosby right up there with Batman and Spiderman — a superhero, not a superstar. Aiden’s fifth birthday is on April 5, and he wants a Sidney Crosby themed birthday (his mother has done the Superman and Spiderman themes at Aiden’s request the last two years). So we’ve found a cake maker to make a hockey player cake, and I’m sure we’ll be filled with Sidney and Penguins paraphernalia on his birthday. With all of the demands on him aside, I just wanted to let Sidney Crosby know that there are little kids out there who want to be just like him — for all of the right reasons. Thank you!"
Charity starts at the draft or Hey Chaz!
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Kind of similar to the Wayne Gretzky Foundation.
I dig it when celebs/athletes actually do some good with through their dough and/or persona. They don't have to. They could live like Caligula, and blow it on ale and whores.
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Chazwozel
But..but Crosby's a whiner/diver/pussy....
If you're going to idolize a sports athlete Sidney Crosby is the guy. He's an all around good kid.
If you're going to idolize a sports athlete Sidney Crosby is the guy. He's an all around good kid.
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Chazwozel
Far better guy than your hometown hero Patrick Roy, who's probably the biggest asshole to ever play goal.[/QUOTE]
He's from Quebec. Not Montreal
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