News & Updates

2016 Special Guest Spotlight: Shea Emry

Posted on Jul 25 2016

Squamish Days is excited to welcome award-winning, All-Star Middle Linebacker, two-time Grey Cup Champion, and seven-year Canadian Football League veteran, Shea Emry as our special guest for 2016. After suffering a concussion, which put him out for the remainder of the football season in 2011, Shea found himself battling trials of the past. Negative self-talk, isolation, and an intensifying self-consciousness drew him back into the depressive state he had known as an adolescent; having been the victim of extreme childhood bullying.

In early 2012 Shea answered his true calling: unmasking masculinity. He began using his platform in professional sport to share his story with youth, inspiring self-care and conversation concerning wellness and mental health. He took this calling and founded Wellmen, a Men’s Adventure Club which hosts guided group adventures helping men reconnect with themselves, nature, and bond with like minded friends.

Shea has more recently been connecting to his lumberjack roots by co-founding Axe Thrown, a mobile axe throwing league and by joining the UBC Thunderjack Loggers Sports Team.

“The majority of men in our family have worked in the timber or forestry industry,” Emry says. “When I delved into the family photo albums, I saw a picture of my great-great-grandfather — huge moustache, standing next to an ancient tree he was felling. It made me feel like I’m home.”

Watch for Shea at the Festival Parade on Sunday, July 31st starting at 11am and then at the Open Loggers Sports Show at 1:30pm.