After helping out in CHSLDs for a year, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif will be flying to Kansas City in the coming weeks.
Posted on May 26, 2021 at 7:04 p.m.
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The number 76 of the Chiefs, accompanied by his sister Marilou, a rowing athlete, still took a few minutes of his time to meet with young athletes as part of a virtual event on Wednesday afternoon.
In a testimony published on his Instagram account on May 8, Duvernay-Tardif reconsidered his experience of the last year, when he put aside football to help in CHSLDs.
“This experience made me evolve to such an extent that I would never have thought possible, he wrote in particular. I have met amazing people who have sacrificed so much and taken care of vulnerable people with so much passion and dedication. These nurses, orderlies and doctors made me realize the difference between treating patients and taking care of them. ”
As part of an event organized virtually on the Facebook page of Go therefore play, an initiative of the 70 sports and outdoor federations of Quebec, the offensive lineman and his sister Marilou answered questions from young athletes and their parents. parents.
When asked what he will do in the next few weeks, the 30-year-old has indicated he will return to Kansas City to continue his preparation for the Chiefs’ training camp, which begins on July 25. .
The pandemic has created a hole in my career, but I am excited to return.
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Laurent Duvernay-Tardif
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The host of the event, Pierre-Yves Lord, asked him if he should “over-prepare” to silence any doubts that there might be about him because he did not play last season. . The one whose main role is to protect quarterback Patrick Mahomes will struggle to secure his place among the Chiefs starters.
“Yes, there are doubts, but that makes you want to prepare yourself more. I wouldn’t say “over-prepare” because you can never be too ready. In all this climate of uncertainty I work with a sports psychologist and he always tells me to control what I can control.
“Right now the only thing I can really control is my preparation, making sure I come to Kansas City in the best possible shape. ”
Meeting with Angy
A 13-year-old mixed football player, Angy Sigouin, joined the virtual meeting and was able to ask questions directly to Laurent and Marilou Duvernay-Tardif.
“What do you think of girls in football in mixed teams? She asked.
To which the NFL player replied:
“I think what is missing, to encourage young people like you who are very courageous to go and play in mixed teams, are models at a high level. When you turn on the television and watch a sports match, you have to have as many chances of finding a match for women as for men. Collectively, we must appreciate a women’s match as much as a men’s match and understand that these are the same exploits, accomplishments, efforts and sportsmanship. When we will be able to do that, we will encourage even more people like you who did not yet have a spark for sport, we will be able to initiate them. ”
The brother and sister, whose complicity is obvious, seemed happy to provide their advice to the younger generation. They also told some tasty anecdotes about their family dynamics, while sending a message to young athletes.
“In our family, we often talk about DT power [DT pour Duvernay-Tardif]. People laugh at us sometimes because we’re too competitive. We are at the table, we are competing for something. We play a board game, it ends up in a quarrel because we are too competitive.
“It sometimes happens that Marilou brings his rower into the living room. Before dinner, we sit down, we see what the best 500 meters in the world are like and we all do one to see if in our weight category we would be in the top 50. You can’t eat if you haven’t. Is it healthy all the time? Certainly not, but that’s what we drive. We have fun doing it. ”
You have to find a balance outside of your sport. Marilou is studying, I have some too [fait], Delphine [leur autre sœur] too. Basically, we are student-athletes, and cultivating that is what gives meaning and what makes you stay groundé.
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Laurent Duvernay-Tardif
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Marilou Duvernay-Tardif, who currently trains with the national rowing team in Victoria, BC, also shared his story. A former gymnast, it was only around 15 or 16 that she turned to rowing. At the end of the meeting, she spoke to young athletes who have had a difficult year.
“What I would like young people to remember is that sport is made to be liberating, to make you happy, [permettre de te] go beyond, bring you a feeling of pride, ”said the 22-year-old woman.
“When it comes out of that, you have to ask yourself questions and get back to basics. For me, the basis is having fun while moving, knowing that it is something that is good for me, for my physical and mental health. It’s important that it stays that way. If it is no longer that, a solution must be found. ”
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