Sean Paul Surprises Montreal Summer Camp

MONTREAL -- At first, Tiffany Lussier brushed it off when she heard rumours reggae mega-star Sean Paul would make a surprise visit to her summer basketball camp.

The 11-year-old broke out in tears of joy Wednesday when Paul showed up and she was asked to sing with the Grammy Award-winning artist in front of her fellow campers.

"When the people said he would come, I thought it wasn't true and they were just joking. . . I never thought in my life that I would see him," Lussier said.

Paul dropped by to offer advice about life to several hundred campers who listened intently while sitting on the huge gymnasium floor at Montreal's Dawson College.

"There are ups and downs in life, just like waves in the sea," he said.

"When you're up on top you're feeling good, but that's not the only feeling you need to get used to in your heart, in your brain, in your soul."

The 35-year-old Jamaican, who won a Grammy in 2004 for his reggae album Dutty Rock, told the youngsters that being down is sometimes a part of life.

"Learn how to swim. . . so you can reach back up to the top," he said.

As he left to prepare for a concert, Paul told reporters he loves to talk to kids.
"There are so many negative things, so where I can, I encourage good stuff like summer camp," he said.

"Kids learning how to control their bodies and control their minds is good stuff."
The summer camp teaches children, aged six to 18 years, the fundamentals of basketball.

It also teaches life skills to marginalized young people from different social, ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

The basketball "academy" was created in 1992 by Trevor Williams, a former basketball player on the Canadian Olympic team.

Denburk Reid, a 29-year-old counsellor, said the summer camp taught him to love the game of basketball.

"I loved playing basketball so much that I wanted to keep going to school to play basketball," he said.

"The camp introduced me to the game and it introduced me to hard work and respect for others."

He said it made him a better leader and he learned how to interact better with people from different social classes.

Reid has been taking part in the summer camp since he was 12 years old.

He now plays with the Montreal Royal of the professional American Basketball Association.

Standing only 5-foot-7, Reid said it hasn't always been easy.

"I had a lot of bumps along the road, but I kept going," he said.


The Reggae News Agency

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