Football 2/23/2021 11:52:00 AM

Laurier Grads Soar: Ian Troop

Laurier Grads Soar is a multi-part series that returns for it's fifth instalment for the 2020-21 academic year. The segment features former Wilfrid Laurier University athletes and student-leaders in the Athletics and Recreation Department, and the success they have enjoyed since leaving Laurier. Written by award-winning journalist David Grossman, different features will be released throughout the year that will emphasize the role Athletics and Recreation played in helping them achieve success.

Ian Troop: Corporate Executive, Board member, Strategic Adviser and Community builder

There's a saying that leadership matters.

Ian Troop is one who knows that quite well.

Troop can share some of his multitude of experiences in skills and initiatives – and they range even from those important high school days, to those in university, followed by the passage into the career and corporate world.

For Troop, there were perpetual times playing football, fortuitous blunders, academic showcases, startling times in business and livelihood, but there was a great deal of development, maturity and wisdom that reminds him of why he thoroughly loved what he did.

Hard to believe, but this same individual once played the viola in the orchestra at Toronto's Kipling Collegiate, and was even a soloist in the school's version of the Rogers and Hammerstein musical “The King and I”.

There was time to be a multi-sport athlete, team captain, member of a championship basketball squad, and two-time Athlete of the Year back in those teen years. Troop will tell you that it was also about building skills that would, one day, benefit him in character, charisma and in pursuit of a vocation.

Like most youngsters, Troop remembers having great ambitions – especially in football.

When it came time to exhibiting his defensive accomplishments and proficiency in the sport, it was as a linebacker at a Toronto Argonaut evaluation camp, nervous but perceptive, that he caused some attention. Selected as the top player in his position during that appraisal experience, Troop also seized the scrutiny of a veteran Canadian university coach.

David “Tuffy” Knight, who would later in life be inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, liked what he saw of an under-sized Troop. At the time, Knight was coaching football at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, and he went on to convince Troop that he would be better with post-secondary studies in Canada, at Laurier, than experimenting in the United States.

Troop bought in. Knight had worked his magic.

“I remember those times very well, Tuffy was committed to developing talent and winning,” said Troop. “That was appealing to me. My father was pushing me to go to Queen's, but there was something, a fondness for Tuffy and a liking to Laurier. Looking back, it was the best decision of my life.”

Troop would spend four years at Laurier. Oh yes, there were great times playing football, also assuming responsibilities as a don, heading up a men's residence, and earning an Honors Degree in Business Administration.

“For me, it was all about doing the best with the opportunities, to learn by doing and building skill sense,” recalled Troop. “At Laurier, those were special times, and you realize it even more after you have embarked on a career and the challenges of life.”

Troop accomplished his wish to play football at Laurier, grind away and master his responsibilities. There have been plenty of fond flashbacks, including his personal highlight - a victory over the University of Western Ontario, in overtime, in London.

Not one to brag about personal accolades, Troop was chosen to the Ontario Universities Athletics Association (OUAA) all-star squad in his third year and was also on a Yates Cup championship team. His only misfortune was when he tore knee ligaments that required surgery.

Many would consider calling it quits after a serious injury, but he was committed to countless hours of rehabilitation, and a determined Troop returned to the gridiron.

“Laurier was a great place to go to school,” said Troop. “The small size of the school helped people get involved, get active. I had under-estimated my own values, but the school's culture was huge. The spirit and ethos fit. It became clear that Laurier was a good fit for me.”

Despite being picked by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the 1981 Canadian Football League draft, Troop knew his football days had come to an end. It was time to move on.

“It was tough to leave Laurier, but I had gained so much and benefitted greatly learning about commitment, responsibilities, leadership and graduating with a great education, experiences and friends,” said Troop.

Among his numerous awards, Troop, and the entire 1978 Yates Cup champion football team, was inducted into the Laurier Sports Hall of Fame. He was also Laurier's Alumnus of the Year. For his community work, Troop was awarded the Queen Elizabeth Jubilee Award and the Sovereign Medal for Volunteer work.

For him, with every new day came an opportunity.

Troop remembers the first job interview, from Proctor and Gamble, and the offer that followed, as well as the 20 years with the company that included a term as Vice President. It was working for a multi-national consumer goods corporation that led to Troop becoming President at ConAgra Foods.

Twice named as one of Canada's top Chief Executive Officers of the future, it was in 2010 that Troop was selected as CEO for the Toronto Pan Am Games – an international spectacle set for Toronto in 2015.

“For me, it was a fantastic experience, rewarding in many ways, and those Games exceeded people's expectations,” said Troop. “Watching people work together was gratifying and productive. For Toronto, it was something very special.”

Troop was actively involved with the National Hockey League Players Association, serving on the Advisory Board, and pointed to his management and leadership experience as key items that made his involvement possible.

Committed to volunteering and community work, Troop, as Chairman, has contributed to the Oakville YMCA and capital campaigns for the new West Park Health Care Centre in Toronto, scheduled to be completed in 2024.

-END-

David Grossman is a multi award-winning communicator and storyteller with a distinguished career in Broadcasting, Journalism and Public Relations in Sport and Government Relations. In 2018, he was the recipient of Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Media Member of Distinction.

Ian Troop: Corporate Executive, Board member, Strategic Adviser and Community builder

2016-17 Features

2017-18 Features

2018-19 Features

2019-20 Features

2020-21 Features