THEO FLEURY
Theoren Fleury is a former NHL All-Star, Stanley Cup winner, and Olympic Gold Medalist. His book about his life, Playing With Fire, was published in 2009 and went on to become a number one bestseller. Now he is one of the country’s most sought-after keynote speakers. In the book he shares funny stories from behind the scenes with the game’s biggest stars. He tells amazing anecdotes of living hard at the top of the NHL, the crash that followed, and finally his comeback and redemption. Theo Fleury knows what it takes to become a champion, build a strong team, and overcome incredible odds
Who was your inspiration growing up?
Any small player that was doing well in the NHL at that time.
were there any issues you dealt with as a young per- son that you see young people dealing with today?
My size. What I heard the most was, “He is too small, too small.” Like everything in my life I turned that around pretty quickly. I’ve always been a guy that takes negative energy and internalizes it then turns it into something positive.
What is the role of a leader in the community?
A person that leads by example. That means a hardworking honest person who cares about people and always has something nice to say to people. A really positive person. Despite the fact that there’s so many issues in the community, it’s important for a leader to be independent. Someone that can motivate youth. Someone that is walking the walk. I just got back from the Inspire Awards, and it was great to see how many Aboriginal people there are in this country who are doing amazing things. To celebrate that is really incredible!
What is your vision for your community?
Because of what happened to me as an adolescent, my vision is to put an end to sexual abuse in this country. We have made incredible strides in the last five years. We are learning lots about the issue. It’s the only affliction in the world that actually has a cure for what happened to us, and that’s exciting! When you have that you can really build something incredible around that. In the big picture, there is a need for us as a community to become more independent. But at the same time, not giving up our language and not giving up our spiritual way of life is
important. There is a need for our youth to become educated because we obviously need more Aboriginal doctors, dentists, lawyers, all those kinds of fields.
What advice would you give young athletes and leaders in our community?
The reason I had success was because I worked harder than anybody else. Because I worked as hard as I did, I overcame the obstacle of everyone telling me I was too small. HowI prepared to play every game, and the way I competed as well—I would do whatever it took to win. I always tried to make an impact in every game I played. Preparation was key. I don’t know if you’ve ever read that book The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. He basically says whatever field we choose, if we want to be the elite we have to put in 10,000 hours of practice. When I read that it was a very profound statement for me because I did put in those 10,000 hours. It’s an amazing thing because it can work in any field. The guys that do great in the business world are the ones that put 10,000 hours into business. Great writers have written 10,000 hours. It’s that hard work that is going to get you to the next level.
Sometimes life is very simple; work hard and be nice to people. It’s not rocket science, but we make it that way. I grew up just like every other Aboriginal youth. I grew up in a small town, my parents were very poor, and we lived in a low rental house. But once I found hockey, that was my thing and I worked extremely hard at it. A lot of the fundamentals— skating, shooting, passing—over and over again, hours on end. In my sport if I stepped on the ice and I had to think about where I needed to be, then I’m in big trouble. Those ten thousand hours allowed for the fundamentals of the game
to become part of my body so that when I stepped on the ice I never had to think because I’d gone over every possible scenario in practice.
If you had a message for the aboriginal community or the world, what would it be?
No matter your race or creed, no matter where you come from, everyone has it inside of them to be successful. No matter what’s happened to you along the way in life, you surround yourself with good people that truly care about you. Educate yourself, work hard. Never take no for an answer. And find some sort of spirituality. I don’t care ifit’s Allah, Buddha, or Creator, as long as it’s something that keeps you grounded. If you do these things, there’s no doubt in my mind that you can have incredible success and live a great life. And it’s okay to ask for help. It doesn’t mean that you’re weak; it actually means that you’re stronger than everybody else out there.
Why is education important?
Education opens up a lot of doors. It gives you choices and opportunities, and it’s good for your soul. We live in a world where information is so readily accessible that there is no excuse to not be educated. When I retired from hockey there was a point in my life when I didn’t have Plan B, and Plan B should always have education attached to it. There’s only 700 jobs in the NHL and most of them are taken. You have six million kids playing for basically 20 or 30 jobs every year. Yes, it’s nice to dream, it’s nice to have goals to one day be playing in the NHL. But let’s be real about this because when you don’t make it and you don’t have an education to fall back
on it is difficult. It is tough to figure out, where do I fit in this world? And education answers those questions.
And it’s important that the youth know that anything is possible with education. Because education gives you so many more options and it opens doors for sure.
What role should our traditions and cultures have in the lives of our first nations youth in urban and rural settings?
They’re essential. If I look at my own personal recovery, I struggled for a long time until I found the spiritual way of life and living. That life, it’s a very simple life. I’ve had some great spiritual mentors that I have become close to and they have taught me a lot of incredible things. My spirituality is what gets me through difficult times, for sure. In the rural communities it’s so readily available—more than in an urban setting. But I know there’s a sweat lodge on Main Street in Winnipeg. There’s opportunities, and if you’re willing to learn and seek out, they’re readily available. Because the Creator is everywhere, in rural and urban areas. Spirituality is key to keeping grounded, focused, and humble, and it will help you get through many difficult times.
How does a leader effectively listen to the voice of the people?
He has to take ego out of it, and power out of it, and put himself in each individual’s place, and take that information and always try to do the right thing.
did you have to overcome specific challenges to be where you are today?
I would say the biggest thing was just size. I’ve always said abig guy needs to prove that he can’t play and a little guy hasto prove that he can play, because with coaching and whatnot they think they can turn a big body guy into a solid NHL player.
They don’t always look at what’s inside of you and sometimes that’s hard to detect, what’s inside of someone. You just persevere, persevere, persevere. I was always the first guy on the ice and the last to leave. I was always the first guy in line to do the drills because when you’re small you have to do those things because people pay attention to that, and that’s how I overcame my size, was my enthusiasm and love for the game.
What role has your native heritage played?
Métis blood is pretty powerful stuff. My role model was Louis Riel growing up. If you look that guy up, he was very educated, he was resilient and tough, and that’s the way I played hockey. I find that there’s incredible talent in the Métis community. The genes that have been passed down are so powerful; we have so many talented athletes, and strong people.
What is the story behind your story?
Because I played the sport that I played, I had incredible role models and people that helped me every step of the way. And even when I stopped playing hockey there are still those people in my life that continually help me in this journey. No matter what kind of trauma we’ve suffered in our lives, we can always find a new path, find a new way to ease that pain or struggle.
Spirituality has been essential to me to getting some semblance of peace and happiness. I know that there are people in the Aboriginal community that have suffered from similar things that I have and are still struggling. You just have to surrender and give it up to Creator and trust that faith will take you through the most difficult times. Because I know it has for me. I’ve always believed that there was something out there greater than myself. Because I know when I moved away from that is when I had the biggest struggles. You have to get back to the spirituality.
No matter where you come from or who you are, you just do some real simple things in life and those things can set you on a different path, a better path. If you’re always willing to help a person get through a difficult time, there are a lot of gifts at the end of it. I didn’t want my abuse to define who I was for the rest of my life. I knew that I was better than that, and I knew that was going to be the hardest thing I have ever done in my life was to face that head on and go through it. Like I said, I’ve had incredible people that have helped me along the way, and helped me understand why I am the way I am. And
I will continue, because I don’t think you’re ever at a place of completeness. I believe that there is an afterlife, and more out there to the meaning of life.
