No doubt Joe MacDonald and Sid Forster are looking down and smiling over the success of a minor football program that has introduced several hundred players to the game they loved. As a tribute to the popular Sudbury police officer who was murdered in the line of duty in October 1993, and to renew enthusiasm and promote youth football, Forster with Michael Staffen, former Spartans player Al Lekun and longtime St. Charles College head coach Chris Bartolucci, they came up with the concept of the Joe MacDonald Youth Football League (JMYFL).
MacDonald was an outstanding football player with the Spartans who was drafted by the old Ottawa Roughriders of the Canadian Football League.
"To be quite honest, the intent back then was partly selfserving because Sid had become quite concerned about the lack of young players playing football," said Staffen, who played for the Spartans for seven years in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Now heading into its 14th season, the JMYFL is an unqualified success with more than 180 players registered in three age divisions for boys and girls between ages eight and 15.
Forster remains the driving force behind the league, even though he died while watching a JMYFL game during its first season.
Joe MacDonald was an outstanding football player, terrific police officer, community-minded citizen who donated thousands of hours to assisting troubled youth and having this league named in his honour is something Staffen is proud of.
Winning this Community Builders Award must be shared by the league executive, all the parents, coaches and officials who have volunteered their time over the past several years, but mostly the players who come out to enjoy the game Forster and MacDonald loved so much, said Staffen.
Lekun, an inspector with the Greater Sudbury Police Service, said, "Winning this award is a tribute to everyone who has been involved with this league over the past 13 years.
The success of this league will not only ensure youth football continues to grow in this community, but will immortalize the legacy of Forster and MacDonald for generations to come, he said.
