parker guy memorial award

​Parker Guy was born Aug.14, 1998 in Portage La Prairie. He grew up with his two older sisters on a family farm near Westbourne and attended school in MacGregor.

Parker took great pride in his community and started volunteering at a young age with various 4-H activities, helping at the local community club and coaching kids’ baseball and junior high basketball. Parker participated in many sports and had a knack to remember all kinds of sports statistics, but his love was basketball and football. He started playing football when he was 7, playing with the Portage Pitbulls until he was 15 years old. With no team to play with, he had to take a hiatus until his grade 12 year when he was given the opportunity to play with the Neepawa Tigers.

He loved football but more importantly his team mates. He thrived on seeing his teammates succeed on and off the field. He loved to win but his teammates were more important. He went out of his way to be sure everyone felt a part of the team, and that their contribution no matter in what capacity was instrumental to the team’s success.

Parker graduated from MacGregor Collegiate with honors in 2016. Two weeks after graduation, he developed a lump on his right shoulder where he had suffered a sports injury earlier that year. He was diagnosed on July 20, 2016 with Ewing sarcoma, a bone cancer and the twin strain to the same cancer as Terry Fox. He was 17 years old. Parker had to put his acceptance at U of W for a Bachelor of Education degree on hold while he went through chemotherapy at St. Boniface for the next 9 months, enduring 18 rounds, followed up by 25 rounds of radiation.

He never complained while overcoming obstacles from his treatments. He continued to live as normal as possible including coaching basketball while undergoing his chemo. One year after being diagnosed, he flew to Vancouver where they removed his right clavicle. At the end of July 2017, he was told he was cancer free.

A few short weeks later, after suffering with a persistent back pain, he was given the diagnosis that the cancer was back in his spine, and it was terminal, just a couple days before his 19th birthday. He handled this news with grace and dignity far beyond his years. When his Tiger teammates came to visit, he didn’t want to talk about himself. It was more important that he had the opportunity to express to each of them that he believed in them and their ability to achieve their dreams.

Parker started a bucket list, which included spending the day with his fellow Tiger teammates meeting the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and his favorite player Andrew Harris. Although the guys couldn’t get away to join him, the wish was fulfilled. He spent the day out on the field with the players, broadcasters and members of the organization.

He was to re-join the Bombers at the Banjo Bowl that weekend and meet the CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie, but was too weak to attend. The commissioner decided to drive out and visit him at home. They talked about football, shared stories and Parker talked about his teammates and what football meant to him.
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Parker passed away September 19, 2017 at the age of 19. Upon his passing, the Bombers wore Parker’s initials on their helmets in his memory and the broadcasters shared some moments on air about him. Parker seemed to impact people where ever he went.
One of his fellow teammates later wrote about Parker

“Parker wasn’t only a good football player but a good person. He was someone that led by example, always being the first guy to practice, and to him, practice wasn’t taken lightly. He treated every rep like it was a game situation and brought the team together to do the same. He always made sure that no heads were hanging, and that until the clock ran out there was still a chance to run the board up.”
 
The Parker Guy Memorial Award will be first awards in Nov 2018.