Coming all the way from Belfast, Northern Ireland, Belfast Giants Chair Robert Fitzpatrick spoke to a crowded room of Quinnipiac students in the Mt. Carmel Auditorium at an event organized by the Quinnipiac Department of Athletics on March 25.
“My greatest gift isn’t vision, I’d argue my greatest gift is humility,” Fitzpatrick said.
The Belfast Giants are a professional hockey team based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They compete in the United Kingdom’s Elite Ice Hockey League.
Fitzpatrick has been involved with the Giants for over a decade, but last year stepped down from his role as CEO of The Odyssey Trust to become chair of the team.
The Odyssey Trust is a Northern Ireland-based company that aims to reinvest money into Northern Ireland, which includes the Giants.
Quinnipiac has a longstanding working relationship with Fitzpatrick and The Odyssey Trust. Both the men’s and women’s ice hockey teams have participated in the Friendship Four Ice Hockey Tournament in Belfast. The women’s team recently competed in the Friendship Four in January.
Fitzpatrick emphasized the impact of leadership, values and having the ability to believe in yourself.
The Giants chair began by discussing the state of Belfast 15 years ago, the recent demilitarization of the area and how tensions were still brewing from conflicts of old. But he had a crazy idea to help bring the community together.
The Odyssey Trust and the Giants managed to convince the Boston Bruins to travel to Belfast and take on the Giants in an exhibition game.
“Cities don’t heal on a political timetable,” Fitzpatrick said. “They heal from shared experience.”
That shared experience was a success, and in 2014, the cities of Boston and Belfast signed a “Sister Cities” agreement with the intent to boost trade and tourism for both areas, building upon the relationship fostered from the Bruins’ visit in 2010.
The Friendship Four was built off this unique agreement between Boston and Belfast, and none of it would have been possible without one crazy idea.
Fitzpatrick emphasized to the crowd to not only think for themselves, but to stand up for what they believe in and speak on their own behalf.
“Friendship Four didn’t happen because I had all the answers, it happened because I had a clear enough sense of who I was, what I cared about and what I was willing to fight for.”
Fitzpatrick has a longstanding history of giving back to the community of Belfast, with The Odyssey Trust giving back over 2.1 billion pounds ($2.8 billion) back to the city. But what he stated he was most proud of above all, is the sense of community he’s fostered in the realm of sports.
Before departing, the Giants Chair left the crowd with one simple question:
“By accepting that until I know who I am, how can I expect other people to know me?”