VANCOUVER – Vancouver police detective Kal Dosanjh, through the Department Athletic League, organized a soccer tournament for the inner city youth of Vancouver with over 500 participants.
The tournament also brought out the likes of venture capitalist David Sidoo, who admires and contributes to such community work himself.
“I wanted to recognize the work of the Vancouver Police Department; to put on an event of this magnitude is a not easy, there a number of police officers volunteering and community groups coming together to make this happen,” said Sidoo.
“Particularly, I wanted to thank Constable Kal Dosanjh the main organizer for involving me and all his hard work to make this event and program a reality; Kal is truly a positive role model and someone our community should be proud of and support. Kal is an outstanding police officer and comes up with some great initiatives that I look forward to supporting in the future.
“I wanted to also thank Police Chief Jim Chu for having the insight to have the Vancouver Police Department be involved in the community with the youngsters at this age, these type of programs do make a difference. From this type of tournament that Kal does to The Surrey RCMP with Rosy Thakar’s program It’s A Girl Thing, our community is doing some great work to help the youth and make a difference in their lives,” Sidoo said.
Dosanjh, who is very active in the Indo-Canadian community, said this program would not be possible without people like Sidoo’s financial contribution and other sponsors stepping to support these youth programs that the Vancouver Police Athletic League coordinates.
“David is an example of what sports can do, being the first Indo-Canadian professional football player,” Dosanjh said. “David would agree with me that by engaging the youth in a sporting activity it will provide them with a positive outlet, provide them an opportunity to develop self esteem, provide an environment which facilitates personal growth and promotes learning to work well with others in a team setting. This program is designed to develop a strong connection with youth at any early age, so that a sense of community, safety and integrity become well entrenched values.”
