Olympic gold medallist Marc Kennedy returned to St. Albert to give back to the curling club that launched his illustrious career.
The four-time Brier first-team all-star presented a $5,000 cheque to representatives of the St. Albert youth curling program on behalf of the RBC Foundation.
“It means everything to me to do this,” Kennedy said at Thursday’s cheque presentation in the Friendly Giant Lounge. “They told me I could give this $5,000 to any organization or charity I wanted, so it was a no brainer for me to give to the curling club where everything started for me.”
Last winter 37 Little Rockers and 16 bantam/junior players participated in the St. Albert youth curling program. Little Rocks is for males and females 12 and under and runs Sundays. The bantam/junior Thursday league is for ages 12 to 18.
Kennedy’s sizeable donation was made possible through the RBC Foundation, which hires both Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes as ambassadors to deliver messages of excellence and leadership to communities across the country.
Athletes are also provided the opportunity to gain valuable skills to help them prepare for life after sport, while also receiving funding to help them realize their Olympic and Paralympic dreams.
Kennedy, 30, and Olympic gold-medal hockey player Meghan Mikkelson of St. Albert are among six Albertans and 36 athletes from eight provinces involved with the program.
“After the [2010] Olympics I heard about this program. Jill Officer in Winnipeg was part of this program with the Jennifer Jones team. She said it was a great program so I applied and I got in this year,” said Kennedy.
The Paul Kane High School alumnus even spent a week in the Caribbean to talk about curling.
“It’s been really interesting. I’ve learned a lot. I get to visit community events and schools, even corporations and organizations, and all I do is share my Olympic story. Hopefully I can make a difference and try and inspire.”
Kennedy is a media darling on the curling circuit but addressing large crowds was a work in progress.
“It takes some getting used to but I found when you’re talking about something that you love and you’re passionate about and there are stories that you want people to know, it comes across very natural.”
Kennedy was six years old when he joined Little Rocks and his dad, Don, was one of the instructors. The sessions started with stretching exercises with the song Little Rock by Reba McEntire blasting through the rink.
“We did a lot of basics, like sliding. We didn’t play any games until later on,” Kennedy recalled. “It was the one place I felt like I was really good at something. I wasn’t awkward, it was so natural. I loved it and that’s never gone away. I still get that same feeling when I’m out on the ice.”
Kennedy would go on to win two men’s club championships, three U20 provincial junior championships, the 2011 Inland Cement Tournament of Champions on a junior rink, gold medals at the Canada Winter Games and World University Games, and then, with the Kevin Martin rink, three provincial men’s championships, two Briers, one world championship and Olympic gold in Vancouver.
Kennedy was also one of the six inaugural inductees into the St. Albert Curling Club’s wall of fame in 2011.
“This is where it started for me. I still have these memories of the people that got me involved and the passion that I had at a young age,” said the World Curling Tour men’s most valuable player in 2007-08.
Last winter the Saville Sports Centre foursome of Martin, third John Morris, Kennedy at second and lead Ben Hebert qualified for the 2013 Olympic trials in Winnipeg but failed to make the final at provincials.
“It wasn’t a terrible season. We still got our Olympic trials spot, but not getting to the Brier was a bit disappointing,” Kennedy said. “To be completely honest, it’s our sixth year together and it’s tough to stay at that top level all the time. You’ve got teams getting better and better and the competition is just outstanding these days so to have the year that we did was a little disappointing, but we’ve got to look at the positives and hopefully we can ramp it back up for the next Olympics.”
The 2014 Olympics are in Sochi, Russia.
“We’re definitely thinking about it. It’s in the back of your mind all the time,” Kennedy said. “This next year and a half for us is really important to get back to that same level. We’ve been there before and we know how to do it. Now it’s just a matter of putting it in place.”
