A love of sports.
Jamie has long loved sports, especially team sports like curling, hockey and his favourite: baseball.
Before the pandemic, Jamie used to regularly play baseball. “I did really well. I got an award. One season I got one award that’s for best defense because I once got two runners out, all in one inning, back-to-back!” During that inning, the ball came right toward Jamie, he threw it to first base and got the runner out. When Jamie caught a second ball a couple of plays later, he thought about throwing it to third base but in the last second, he decided to throw it to second base instead and got another runner out!
Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, Jamie has not been able to play baseball for a while, but he does like to watch all types of sports games on television. One of his favourite interests is watching his home team the Toronto Blue Jays and seeing young players like Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on the field. But, with all the ups and downs his home team has, sometimes watching the games on television makes Jamie feel a little anxious, so he came up with a strategy: he takes a break from watching the game and follows up with it the next day to see the results.
Jamie makes it a goal for himself to attend sports games in person, where he can see the game happening right in front of his eyes and feel the energy of the crowd. He’s traveled to Toronto to see the Raptors play basketball and was full of excitement when he was able to sit close to the action with court-side seats. Jamie also loves to cheer on his favourite hockey team, the Toronto Maple Leafs. After attending a game, he was even chosen to be an extra in a Leafs commercial a few years ago!
Hopefully, with bright and sunny days to come, Jamie’s baseball team will be able to start playing again and Jamie can reconnect with his friends on the field. Playing sports makes Jamie feel good and he likes the social connections he makes. “I like team sports. I used to play baseball with a group of friends with special needs. I make lots of friends and I stay in touch with them. I always feel bad for the other team when they lose, but I like cheering my team on and helping them win. It gets them going and gets them out of the house. I sometimes get bored in the house, so I like to get out to do different things. I think sports are good for people’s health; it gets them out and having fun.”
