BCBusiness

42 BCBUSINESS FEBRUARY 2017 TOP: PAUL JOSEPH; COURTESY DAVID SIDOO David Sidoo shrugs. He's sporting a half-grin, the mischievous kind that kids Šash before they reveal a secret. "It was costing UBC about a mil- lion a year to operate the team," says the businessman, philanthropist and former professional football player. "And all the team did was lose." That last detail grated on Sidoo. Despite playing in Canada's third-largest city, for a university with some 60,000 students, the Thunderbirds football team had managed only one winning season from 2000 to 2014, falling regularly to schools with a fraction of the number of students and far less money. Sidoo doesn't like losing. Full-throttle competitiveness marked his own time on the gridiron at UBC, his ve seasons in the Canadian Football League and his remarkable rise in busi- ness. That restless drive keeps him going today. As his colleague Peter Espig, a Vancouver min- ing executive, notes, "I don't think he sleeps very much." Tonight the man who doesn't sleep much looks rested and in good spir- its. We're standing on a balcony high above the eld named after him at Thunderbird Stadium, watching the T™Birds battle the Univer- sity of Alberta Golden Bears in UBC's 2016 home opener. It's a balmy Septem- ber evening, and above the trees to the west the sun is burning a crimson hole in the sky. At 57, Sidoo looks younger than his years, with curly black hair, olive skin and penetrating dark brown eyes. He's in good shape, not much heavier than in 1982, when the six-foot-one defensive back led UBC to its rst national title, cap- taining a squad that many regard as the best Canadian collegiate football team of all time. In person, he conveys con- dence and an easy informality. If there's artice to him, it's not apparent. We've just left a reception hosted by the 13th Man Foundation, a group com- posed mostly of former UBC football- players-turned-businessmen that came together in 2014 with the goal of not only saving the varsity football team but forg- ing a championship-calibre program. If the university administrators were serious about deep-sixing the club, their attitude changed when foundation head Sidoo outlined an ambitious plan to fund UBC football through the private sector by reaching out to powerful alumni and business leaders. Given the green light by Louise Cowin, vice-president of students, he then swiftly set in motion a strate¢y that landed a legendary collegiate coach and several outstanding young players. U BC's rejuvenated squad clicked right out of the gate, thumping defending champ Uni- versité Laval 41™16 in an August 2015 preseason game in Quebec City. The T™Birds nished the regular season with a 6™2 record and notched four straight playoff wins, claiming the Vanier Cup by defeating the Mon- treal Carabins on a last-second eld goal. The Cup, a big, unwieldy trophy topped with a silver chalice, was the guest of honour at tonight's reception. Everyone loves a winner, and the heavy hitters were out in full force, among them Santa Ono, UBC's new sports-loving president, and several directors of the 13th Man Foundation: Jerry Dobrovolny, director of transportation for the City of Vancouver; Kevin Konar, a vice-pres- ident at RBC Dominion Securities Inc.; and David Negrin, president of Aquilini Development and Construction Ltd. But when the speeches began, Sidoo was the one repeatedly cited as the spark behind the team's magical turnaround— an inspirational gure, a tireless worker, a guy who won't take no for an answer. Gilles Lepine, UBC's new athletic director, was eusive in his praise. "David Sidoo, you're a leader," he said. "You're a great man. You're a king." Lepine also made a bold promise: "I can tell you that we're going to win a lot of championships. We don't have ngers for all the rings we're going to win." Sidoo admits that 2015 was a Cin- derella season. "Everything broke our way," he says above the roar of tonight's 7,000-strong crowd, a new record for a UBC football game. "It's not something we were expecting." Clearly, hopes have been raised sky- high, but Sidoo believes the team will sus- tain its momentum because he's following the same three-pronged strate¢y he used "How close was it?" I ask. "Pretty close," he says. " They were really going to axe the football team?"

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