The GOAL Initiatives Foundation & GOAL MTL: The depths of Montreal’s football community

Paul Desbaillets is arguably the most knowledgeable Montrealer about football*. He’s an entrepreneur with the Burgundy Lion Group, which has screened the world’s most high-octane matches over the past decade and a half. He is the creator of The 1st Half podcast, host of The 1st Half Culture Show video web series and podcast, host of a live radio show on TSN Radio 690 Montreal, and the football culture editor of Cult MTL.

He knows the sport inside and out.

Paul's also the founder of the Goal Initiatives Foundation, dedicated to empowering future generations through football and promoting health, wellness, and inclusivity, the foundation has held annual football festivals, tournaments, and fundraising events like GOAL MTL.

For Paul, football became a conduit for him and other GOAL MTL organizers to make a positive impact on the lives of others.

“It’s a karmic thing. You can’t take without giving back,” Paul says. “I don't know how to explain it, but it's very fulfilling. When you see hard work culminate in something positive, there's honestly no better feeling.”

What started with a handful of people gathering on an improbably cold June day, raising money through games and a barbecue, has become a community-driven CRA charity. It has remained active even during the pandemic, offering free workshops and talks.

Driven to foster equality and opportunity for all, regardless of their backgrounds, it uses the unifying power of football to bring together diverse crowds—from members of Montreal’s hospitality industry and business community to celebrities, athletes, and media stars—around the energy of friendly competition and camaraderie.

“It’s part of my world and part of me, and putting smiles on people’s faces... it just feels right.”

The 14^th edition: More than a game

GOAL MTL 2024 takes place at Percival Molson Stadium on July 28 from 11 am to 4 pm. Free entry allows attendees to participate in sports and charity events. As 23 teams and 69 fundraisers gather to support their campaign, proceeds from on-site purchases will fund their initiatives and beneficiaries for the year.

Proceeds from 2024 will go towards refurbishing Verdun Elementary School’s football pitch and funding a 16-week lunchtime program on sports and nutrition with football veteran Patrice Bernier of CF Montréal at Saint-Henri’s James Lyng High School.

“It’s beyond exciting because Verdun Elementary School’s football pitch will be something tangible for the local community, following years of sending containers full of football equipment to Sierra Leone or the impact of teaching programs,” Desbaillets says.

“If all goes to plan, construction starts on July 29th, the day after GOAL MTL. Seeing these kids enjoy something made possible by people’s hard-earned dollars is amazing.”

It serves as a litmus test, Paul explains. “We could do it again next year. By upgrading these schools with GOAL’s raised funds without a 10-year tender process, work can be done within the same calendar year.”

Other beneficiaries include the non-profits and community organizations of Lasalle Rapides Soccer, Grassroot Soccer, Fondation Patrice Bernier, and DeRo Foundation. They share in GOAL’s funding for youth football programs and teams, support clinics and camps, and partnerships with schools and community organizations.

With more than a decade of experience, the event has become a well-oiled machine: Coffee flows from Café Olimpico, Bossa’s caters hearty Italian eats, and a mix of spirits, beers, and non-alcoholic drinks are available. There’s a tie-dye station, an on-site silent auction, tattoos by Linus of the Sud-Ouest’s Burning Monk Tattoo, and free haircuts from Maison Privée. The “Top-Bins Challenge,” sponsored by Putter’s gives contestants a chance to win a cash prize in a skills competition.

Alongside these activities, football remains at the heart of the event, with warm-ups involving hundreds of people, football jugglers teaching tricks, opportunities to meet athletes and professionals from CF Montréal, and, of course, playing the Beautiful Game.

“What’s beautiful about GOAL is its ability to bring together various groups and industries—bars, restaurants, entrepreneurs, you name it—in a real melting pot. We’re uniting under one banner despite our differences,” Paul explains.

Because football is for everyone

When the GOAL Initiatives Foundation started 14 years ago, organizers like Paul knew there were pockets of people talking about football in Montreal, but it hadn’t reached the fever pitch seen today. However, passion for the sport and GOAL’s ambitions have grown together.

“Starting with football to pique interest, it has since opened conversations and doors that might not always be opened. Over time, we realized the grandeur of the sport and its role in a larger, global conversation,” Paul says.

“You start to understand that, like anywhere in the world, football is a sport that anyone can play. Anyone can do it, and anyone can use a ball. It might sound cheesy, but it’s true.”

“I'm passionate about football and what it does for communication, for when people are cheering and screaming and crying and getting together and how they’ll be yelling at each other one moment and then hugging after the fact.

You can talk to anybody anywhere on the planet, even if you don't speak the same language, and words like Messi or Ronaldo will make a connection with that person. That's massive. That's absolutely massive.”

Montreal's a football town

As the GOAL Initiatives Foundation turns the competition of football into collaboration, the sport grows locally. In Paul’s eyes, it’s a natural evolution for Montreal. “Montreal is full of immigrants, and most people who come here have a football story. There’s some sort of connection,” he says.

“Football is embedded in the city’s founding community pillars. Look at the symbols on the Montreal flag: the fleur-de-lis for the French, the rose for the English, the thistle for the Scottish, and the clover for the Irish. Football is the main sport in those countries too. It’s in Montreal’s DNA.

The more we talk about it, the better. The Major Soccer League is only 25 years old—give it another 75 years and then we’ll talk. It still feels relatively new, but it’s there and it’s growing. It will increasingly become a part of everyone’s life.

Remember, it’s generational too. Parents need to teach it to their children, who will then teach their children, creating a long-lasting tradition.

It is in the fabric. Football will become as ingrained in Montreal as the Montreal Canadiens, it just needs another 75 years. That’s how the thread of fandom, family, community, and ecosystem builds into the fabric of a community. You can’t fake it.”

The 14th edition of GOAL MTL and its soccer festival tournament & fundraiser takes place at Percival Molson Stadium this Sunday, July 28, 2024 from 11am to 4pm. Entry is free. Give and get a lot in return.

GOAL MTL is presented by the Burgundy Lion Group, DRW, Sodexo, Jack Daniel’s, and Quincaillerie Notre-Dame.

*Editor’s Note: Out of respect for the Beautiful Game, we’ve opted to avoid the North American tendency of calling football ‘soccer’. It just felt right. Don’t @ us.