Athletics are a roadmap for life

The values of athletics extend far beyond the arena and the field. At the inaugural Excellence in Athletics breakfast on June 20, Toronto Blue Jays president and CEO Mark Shapiro discussed how the rigour of sports has shaped his perspective.

“I just think that sports are one potential platform to provide a roadmap or a fabric for how you approach life. Whether it’s that never-ending pursuit of improvement—you’re never done, you wake up every day and you go, ‘Where is that opportunity?’”

Held at the Coca-Cola Court in the Mattamy Athletic Centre, and presented by the Ted Rogers Students' Society, the event brought together corporate and community leaders to raise money for student-athlete scholarships. Over 300 people attended, raising $102,000.

In an onstage interview with Jamie Campbell (Sportsnet host and RTA ’89 grad) and Jaime Hills (current Ryerson Sport Media student), Shapiro said, “I think about sports psychology all the time. It’s a lot about being present. … I think the lessons are there: resilience, determination, perseverance, grit—those are absolute separators for the executives.”

For Shapiro, the ways that athletes deal with the stresses of their games are easily transferrable to the workplace. “It’s a consciousness and awareness. When you start to feel stress, you start to feel anxiety, you start to feel pressure, feel things that are going to lead potentially to bad decisions, it’s just be aware. ‘Okay, why am I feeling this anxiety? What’s contributing to it? What can I control?’ I always get back to control, because the things that lead to your anxiety are often things outside of your control, like someone’s opinion … but there are a hundred things each day you can control.”

This holistic approach is key to Ryerson’s athletic philosophy, said Ivan Joseph, director of Athletics, in a speech. “We are educators first and foremost, and we are builders of the community. How are we adding to that city-building initiative? These athletes don’t belong to Athletics. They belong to the Ted Rogers School; they belong to the Faculty of Communication & Design; they belong to the Digital Media Zone. Helping them, you help build the reputation of the university, because by investing in them … you’re relieving the financial pressures on them, and allowing them to give back to our community—to be mentors and role models.

“It’s not about winning or losing games. It’s about: Can you learn? Can you develop? Can you be better than you were yesterday?”

For more information, visit Ryerson Athletics (external link) .