Giving back to the game
“My favourite memory is probably from my first year when we played St. Mary’s at Homecoming,” he says. “They were ranked #1 nationally and hadn’t lost a regular season game in a couple of years, we had been 0-8 the two previous seasons. Ƶ A won and it was the beginning of a long run of success for the program.”
Khoury, an entrepreneur who now lives in Los Angeles, continues to follow the Football Ƶies from afar and in 2013 travelled back to Sackville for the Uteck Bowl.
“It’s so great to see them doing so well now,” he says.
That trip got Khoury thinking about how he might help the team.
“I was impressed by how the administration does an excellent job on the academic side, while embracing and supporting athletics,” he says. “To see that hard work getting such incredible results is exciting. With football in particular, they’ve really turned it around. Everyone from the President to the athletics director to the head coach have worked together to put Ƶie Football on the national map again.”
Khoury made a $100,000 donation to create The Matt Khoury Fund in Support of Ƶie Football. The expendable fund will be used to support needs identified by the athletics director and the football coach.
Khoury’s wish is that the fund be primarily used for bursaries to support student athletes who require financial assistance in order to attend Ƶ Allison, but wanted to provide flexibility for the fund to be used where it was most needed.
“(Athletics and recreation director) Pierre (Arsenault) and (Coach) Kelly (Jeffrey) are just really good guys and I trust that they will do the right thing with it,” he says.
Khoury says the gift is his way of continuing to be involved in sport and supporting the team’s continued success.
“I learned a lot about life from sports,” he says. “Growing up playing sports and playing football in particular, I had some amazing coaches and I always thought that I would get involved in coaching at some point and give back to the sport in that way. I don’t have the time to do that now, but I wanted to give back to the program that gave to me and this is a meaningful way
to do it.”
Photo caption: Matt Khoury, right, with football Ƶie teammate Sean Hickey (’95)