When it comes to hockey, let’s not forget about who really gets hurt.


We have to change the mentality that will lead a player like Chara to drive an opponent into a known danger area, (between the benches at the Bell Centre). Someone has to tell young hockey players and parents thinking about enrolling that the game isn’t like that. That we don’t treat people like that. In sport, we respect our

New Website coming: January 2012

Posted on by Callum Ng in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Like anything I try to do, getting it right is important.

Which is why CallumNg.com is currently a work in progress.

I’m coming back with a bigger and better blog, sharing my adventures, daily stories, sports writing and plenty more.

Check back later in the month and as always…

stay passionate.

July in 250 words or less!

Posted on by Callum Ng in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Invitation to the Royal Reception

Canada Day on The Hill

I have to say that July has been a pretty interesting month. It started in Ottawa, where I was invited to a reception hosting the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, (Will and Kate). I also met Prime Minister Harper, and Governor General Johnston. Not only this, but I hung out in the tent room, a giant former indoor tennis court with fabric stretched from wall to ceiling.
A little story about the whole event:
http://j.mp/lL1FQp

Crazy stuff happening on the home front! I added another truck to the Green Grads fleet, added some new employees and I am now considering two additional services for the fall. I have to say that is has been a crazy month for my business. Both in terms of milestones, and the amount of change that accompanies them. It is awesome to construct the evolution of my little company, as it goes from small to…not so small, to…who knows!

The entire month of July blew by, underneath rainy Vancouver skies. I am writing this in a Montreal hotel room hoping to fly back today to some real summer. This past weekend I announced Summer Nationals and Pan American Games Trials! It was a lot of fun, both to do something I find really enjoyable, (announcing), and to see old friends and teammates.

Tonight it is a flight back to Vancouver, and an oath to a good friend to make August an epic summer month. Time to let it unfold.

[WCSE 2011] Photos and final video!

Posted on by Callum Ng in Adventures, WCSE 2011 : Doha | Leave a comment

Also posted some final reflections on YouTube

Fellow Canadian Charmaine Crooks

Our mentor, Tracey Holmes, prior to speaking!

Our entire team, including Frankie Fredericks

Speaking at the WCSE

[WCSE 2011] Innovation and Passion takes the stage in Doha

Posted on by Callum Ng in Adventures, WCSE 2011 : Doha | Leave a comment

If I could share everything I learned today, this would be an enormous post.

So here are some excerpts instead:

Have you ever been to an outdoor sporting event in the desert?
At the 2022 World Cup here in Qatar, the new stadiums will all be cooled by sustainable energy systems. That means that spectators sit in a chilled zone of 20.5 degrees celcius, but limited to the seating area. This is crazy if you think about a 65,000 seat stadium in the middle of desert summer. And it uses 80% less energy than comparable stadiums.

One Planet living. Right now we’re using WAY too much of our resources. BioRegional is a British social enterprise that is helping the London 2012 Games own the environmental sphere. I saw the Executive Director speak today, and the website is an awesome resource. http://www.bioregional.com/

The Green Economy. This is something that the UN has been pushing for years, 1-2% of our worldwide GDP pumped into green initiatives would stabilize business and of course reduce carbon emissions, save our water, slow global warming and all the rest. And it’s not green babble. Top economists tell us this will work. Also, it is critical for developing nations.
http://hqweb.unep.org/greeneconomy/

The day was not without a little fun either. Luke, Sonali, Hissa, Dalma and I went to a traditional night market. And we found the birds.

Speaking tomorrow, it’s streaming live at 4 AM PST/7 AM MST. Get up and watch, it”ll be awesome! :)
http://j.mp/k8vbAW

The experience commences as WCSE 2011 begins!

Posted on by Callum Ng in Adventures, WCSE 2011 : Doha | Leave a comment

Dr. Jacques Rogge at the opening of WCSE 2011

I am sitting at the base of the twelve level pyramid that is the Sheraton Doha. Around me there are exquisite statements of Qatari art and expression, including a dome made of interlocking right angles that covers a grand chandelier of 10,000 crystals that sweeps light across the inside, with classic Arabian splendour.

To be honest, I sometimes stand in my own shoes, and cannot help but look around and be excited about the opportunities and experiences I have been afforded.

Tonight, I watched Dr. Jacques Rogge, and Heir Apparent HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani declare open the 9th World Conference on Sport and the Environment. I feel as though I am a part of something that will really make a difference, not only in the sporting world, but ultimately in the lives of everyone on earth.

This is a daunting yet enticing possibility.

I am startled at how much I want to help. And I am not alone! Today I met Tracey Holmes our mentor, Sonali, Luke, Hissa and Dalma. My fellow panelists for Plenary 5 and my fellow young people that will share their vision for ways we can all “Play for a Greener Future”.

Tomorrow the conference begins!

You can follow my tweets @callumng, hopefully I can get internet access to share thoughts from each panel.

It is also streaming live right here starting at 9 AM local time, so 11 PM PST/2 AM EST
http://bit.ly/k8vbAW

Goodmorning from Doha!

Posted on by Callum Ng in Adventures, WCSE 2011 : Doha | Leave a comment

Goodmorning from Doha! The balcony looked really appealing for this short video. Delegates arriving, can’t wait to get started!

In transit to Doha!

Posted on by Callum Ng in Adventures | Leave a comment

So after a one-day move across town in Vancouver, to a new place, about half a day later I am sitting in the Amsterdam airport waiting for my flight to Doha! Sort of surreal but fully awesome.

Excited to attend a be a part of the 9th World Conference for Sport and the Environment.

Never been to Qatar. Can’t wait to get there.

Act Now BC video shoot!

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Sharing the Act Now BC healthy living message

Last Tuesday was an inspiring day.

In the afternoon I was at the CSC Pacific HQ, shooting some promo video and photography for my role as an Act Now BC ambassador. When I arrived, I was already among some esteemed company. I got a big hug from Annamay Pierse, a friend, former teammate, and current World Record holder. Basically, she is a great Canadian athlete and role model. Also there was Trevor Hirschfield, a wheelchair rugby Paralympian and Bronze medalist from Beijing. Admittedly, I felt out of place. I also met the very chill Ryan Leech, a Norco Trials rider and yoga teacher. We went through the shoot sharing our message of healthy living. It was an awesome day.

Thanks to Joanna Fox, Trish Fougner, Ryan Clark and the rest of the Act Now team. You guys work hard! I know our message rings across the province loud and clear.

When it comes to hockey, let’s not forget about who really gets hurt.

Posted on by Callum Ng in Commentary, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Friday, March 11, 2011

As of this Friday morning, a Google News search of two particular names returns 2,166 results.  Those names? Air Canada. NHL.

Sports writers, bloggers, hockey fans and others are all talking, tweeting, writing about the recent letter sent by Mr. Denis Vandal to league commissioner Gary Bettman.

In short:

Air Canada director of marketing writes letter.
The letter says, “Fix hockey, or lose sponsorship”.
Letter is leaked.
Bettman says, “We can fly other airlines”
Media frenzy begins.

The catalyst of this latest PR debacle, (debacle for who is yet to be determined), was a devastating check by Boston Bruin Zdeno Chara on Max Pacioretty of the Montreal Canadians.

In short:

The puck clears the zone just beyond the Hab’s defensive blueline.
Pacioretty gives chase. Chara closes.
Pacioretty chips past Chara.
Chara interferes with Pacioretty, finishes the check and unfortunately Pacioretty’s head makes contact with the stanchion separating the two benches.
Pacioretty suffers a concussion and fractured cerebral vertebrae.

Deep breath.

As a hockey fan, I cannot help but be concerned with what happens next.

Over the past few days I have read and listened to opinions from everywhere. TSN analysts, prominent sports writers, inside the locker room at my local rink, both people who live and breath hockey and people who don’t know much about the game.

I have forced myself to watch the clip a couple times. And with this collection of opinions and visual evidence I have weighed my personal reaction, accounted for my passion and considered all angles whatever the variety.

Simply put: I feel sick.

At first I found the disciplinary measures dealt to Chara to be sufficient. It was clear interference, and nothing more. The play was part of the game.

But now, after some reflection, what I find more disturbing is my last sentence from above, “The play was part of the game.”

I am not sure anymore if the manner in which the game unfolds on a night-to-night basis is just going to lead to something potentially more serious, and with consequences more terrible than anyone can imagine.

I am not sure if it is still okay to accept this level of violence. In fact, I am not sure it ever was.

This obvious thought prompted Mr. Vandal to pen a letter to Mr. Bettman. Whatever you think of the commissioner that presides over the NHL and our game, his response was, by any measure of professionalism, rude and thoughtless. Who speaks to a sponsor like that?

But this isn’t about Mr. Bettman, or Air Canada. Understanding that the world of professional sport is driven by ticket sales and TV revenues and that the airline industry is driven by passenger miles and public image, these two men are simply behaving as one would expect.

Instead, it seems that everyone has forgot about what makes this system exist in the first place.

People.

Chara forgot. When he imposed his 6’9”, 255 lb frame on the smaller Pacioretty and drove him into an immovable object.

Some owners and GMs will tell you that it was a standard hockey play. Of course, the league agreed and Chara had no further punitive measures applied to him.

I say the standard has to change.

We have to change the mentality that will lead a player like Chara to drive an opponent into a known danger area, (between the benches at the Bell Centre). Someone has to tell young hockey players and parents thinking about enrolling that the game isn’t like that.

That we don’t treat people like that.

In sport, we respect our opponents, care about our game and want others to enjoy the fun.

Not lying on the ice, crumbled and unconscious.

I suppose the question is how.

I wouldn’t profess to know the answer right now, but what I do know is that hockey people in high places should pay attention to letters like those issued by Air Canada. Because these letters indicate that the speed, danger and violence that sold hockey in the first place, may be its undoing.

It will go on. This isn’t goodbye. And, thank you.

Posted on by Callum Ng in Singapore 2010 : Youth Olympic Games | 1 Comment

Closing Ceremonies

I wanted to write this while the memories are still fresh and I can really express how I am after my time in Singapore.

Due to jet lag, (that has been kind to me so far), I am awake at 11 PM and I feel as if it is the prime of the day. Therefore, I am taking advantage of this, to write some thoughts about the first Youth Olympic Games.

I have wondered about how to start this post. I have tried to imagine many different beginnings, but when I run out of routes I realize that I am just attempting to discover an alternative to the way I really want to start. This is because it may not be the most exciting intro, but it is how I feel I can most authentically encapsulate the YOG, and I am at a loss of how to do better.

I want to gush about the people that I met.

Let me start with my fellow Young Ambassadors, all 29 of you. You are incredible people. I learned something from every single one of you. And with a handful, I had some of the times of my life. I suppose now you know there’s more to me than frozen winters, more elegant Canadian gifts than maple syrup and that my French is actually alright, despite not being Quebecois. From you, (among much else), I know that Islam has many faces, to be aware of the 1, 2 or 3 kiss greeting, that so many things are possible and of course, laughter is never out of place, in any language.

Of course, there were the Canadian athletes, all 60 of them, each with their different tools, swagger, style and charisma. It was a delight to wake up every morning and see all the faces, so poised, relaxed and smiling. I swear that I’ve never felt attached to the performances of so many athletes all at once. And I enjoyed every minute of that attachment, even if it meant disappointment or occasional heartbreak. There was too much joy to let any of that be a mark on the experience.

I truly believe that we are the product of our experiences. The texture of our surroundings, the impressions of our environments and the slow shaping that comes from our reality. This is never more apparent than in a Games situation, where people from all around the world are made to become neighbours, separated by the floors of buildings instead of borders and seas or culture and language.

It’s peaceful there. It’s friendly. We traded pins, we spoke about home, we embraced after only hours apart. It didn’t matter at all what sport, what family name, what race. We only cared about heart and soul. It kills me to think that it only lasted 12 days. I wish it could be longer. I wish that at the very least we will always remember how we were for these days in August. I hope that the shimmer of Singapore 2010 will stay buried somewhere, in everyone’s being, and in times when our humanity is tested, in whatever manner, we draw upon that light, and allow it to spread into the world again.

So I will thank everyone who made this experience special, including an amazing Canadian mission team, Carol, Brian, Dory, Dinah, Chris, Riley and Emily. The International Olympic Committee for envisioning the Youth Olympic Games and the Singaporeans for executing them beautifully.

There were many objects tied to the Games. The CEP booths, the venues, the dining hall, the transport cars.
In the end it was the energy and spirit of people that made Singapore 2010.

I thought this might be a finale, but I feel like it is only a start, to something that I hope will continue forever and ever, and it most certainly will, for me.