CAYUGA—Local resident Frank Rao is the donor behind a $10,869.18 cheque issued to the Cayuga Secondary School (CSS) Warriors football team that will officially allow the team to purchase the needed helmets to offer a junior football season next spring.
Rao is the president of a Stoney Creek-based family business called Innovative Traffic Solutions. He started the business in 1999 after studying and playing football at McMaster University and later Mohawk College. An Italian immigrant, Rao’s passion for football started in high school.
“This was my first exposure to organized team sports, since my parents could never afford to enroll me in any sports program,” recalled Rao.
He remembers the first time he got to put on new gear that actually fit when he enrolled to play for the Cathedral High School team in his senior year.
“WOW – this is how a new helmet feels that actually fits,” he recalled thinking. “I never forgot that feeling.”
Rao and his wife Linda moved to Haldimand in 2011, taking up residence in the Empire Estates development in York.
“We love being here in Haldimand and enjoy our family time,” said Rao, noting they have family in Cayuga and their son has been a volunteer firefighter at the Cayuga station for over 10 years.
Rao said he enjoys connecting to his community through local news, and it was while browsing a recent issue of The Haldimand Press that he first learned about the Warriors football team relaunching.
“Reading the local paper brought me an awareness and better understanding of the community and its needs, so I decided to become a volunteer and now serve on the Haldimand Accessibility Advisory Committee,” said Rao. “Your paper is where I first read about the CSS football program being revived and their challenges with raising funds.”
He said the story immediately brought back memories of that ‘new helmet’ feeling. Being safety-focused at work, Rao saw the opportunity to make a big impact toward a worthy cause.
“I thought if I can enhance the safety of the players by providing them with a new crucial piece of equipment to protect and enhance their safety, and also maybe bring that same feeling I experienced with a new helmet, it was worth the donation,” he said. “Hopefully this will be a positive team sport experience for them that will encourage them to carry on their football team experience beyond CSS.”
Rao said he also plans on being a regular attendee when football action resumes this spring.
Assistant Coach Nick Tregning shared thanks for Rao’s generous donation, stating, “It has allowed us to purchase a team set of football helmets that will not only be used for the upcoming season, but for future seasons of Cayuga Secondary School football as well.”
Tregoning praised the ongoing support of community members like Rao for facilitating the growth and progression of the Warriors program: “The players and coaches are already looking forward to getting back on the field and doing so with the safety of new helmets is going to be a great way to get our next season started,” he said.
CSS Vice Principal Colin Miller said that Rao recently visited the school to meet some Warriors players and share his life experiences and the “importance of education and how it has helped him grow his successful business.”
Miller said that Rao can expect to be honoured at an upcoming game for giving the team the leg up it needed to purchase the helmets.
“This donation also means that the program will continue to be sustainable in the future. Since our first community meeting held last spring, the community support for our football team has been overwhelming,” concluded Miller. “The wraparound support for this program has really shown our students that big dreams can come true.”
