Interview with Bobby Orr

By Eric Rumble

When Bobby Orr was growing up in Parry Sound, Ontario, playing hockey had little to do with accolades and awards. He and his pals would lace up their skates, grab their sticks and head for the ice, often a frozen stretch of the Seguin River near his home. There were no parents and no referees and games ended at dinnertime, or sundown. "It was never anything organized," says Orr, "just all of us playing to have a good time and that's it." Nestled into his role as one of the game's most visible ambassadors, and humbly enjoying his status as the best defenceman ever to play, Bobby wants to recreate those circumstances for the kids who wish for the same things he did. Unfortunately, it's much easier said than done. "So many of today's programs are about trophies and jackets, and we think that's a big mistake," says Orr.

In 1998, Orr approached General Motors of Canada, with whom he'd developed a post-NHL relationship as a spokesman. Together they initiated the Chevrolet Safe & Fun Hockey program to help young hockey players develop positive values while learning the game's fundamentals. "Everyone should have the same opportunity, and in many areas that's not the case because programs are built around the elite," says Orr. "We want to make sure that every kid who wants to play is going to continue to play and then we'll end up having more kids in the game."

The Chevrolet Safe & Fun program has come at a time when the sport is reaching a provocative junction. The National Hockey League is flourishing with international talent and continues to solidify its sensational popularity in North America. Expansion between the present and 1966 - Orr's first year in the league - has been tremendous, from six teams to 30, with franchises implanted and plucked from more than 40 cities along the way. As a result, more kids are exposed to the game and lured by its charms, and enrollment in organized hockey programs has grown. More kids are striving to get to the same plateau as Orr did because of the potential for money and fame.

Though Orr isn't disappointed by the benefits that the league has enjoyed-many of which are indebted to on-ice contributions like his-he's quick to point out the flaw in its success: Kids are approaching hockey with their focus in the wrong place, and it seems that they are being encouraged to do so. "We're forgetting the original reason for getting involved in minor hockey," Orr says. "And it's not winning or losing. It's having fun." Orr believes that the continuing development of hockey depends on the kind of rethinking that Chevrolet Safe & Fun is bringing to the ice. "It's a very important message," Orr says, "and this is the future for the sport."

Through his involvement in Chevrolet Safe & Fun Hockey Festivals across Canada over the past few years, Orr discovered that many people share his vision. As he sees it, the reason Chevrolet Safe & Fun's ideals resonate so well is because they stretch far beyond the rink. "We're trying to teach a bigger picture than just hockey. We're not saying 'Don't compete' or 'Don't win.' We want kids to know how to deal with losing a game. There are no environments where you're only going to win, because life just isn't like that."

Chevrolet Safe & Fun Hockey has made a concerted effort to put just as much effort into on-ice instruction as to off-ice discussions and seminars with its participants. And despite the enduring knee injuries that forced him into early retirement in 1979, Orr gets on the ice with the kids whenever he can.

Having spent his formative years in and around hockey rinks, it's obvious that he's partial to the lessons the game has taught him. "Growing up, if I hadn't had sports, I don't know where I'd be. God only knows what street corners I'd have been standing on and God only knows what I'd have been doing, but instead I played hockey and went to school and stayed out of trouble." Possibly the most intriguing thing about Orr's involvement in Chevrolet Safe & Fun Hockey is the fact that he gains a lot of personal fulfillment out of working with the incoming generation of players. Along with fellow spokespersons Mike Bossy and Cassie Campbell-Pascall, being a mentor has proven invaluable to his wealth of experience on the rink. "The biggest thing we get out of it is seeing the kids smile. And hopefully we will also see that the lessons we're teaching - not only the fundamentals of hockey, but also the life values - are sinking in."

With a teacher like Orr, it's tough to imagine his influence being anything but magical.