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o one would blame NGord Buninger if he spent a quiet Father's Day away from the sports fields and arenas that fill most of his waking hours. But a quick check of his fraying mum-paged calen- dar. the one that lists all of his seven children's activi- ties, shows that he and the II-passenger van. which family friends have dubbed the "Buttinger Bus", will be busy that day. And he wouldn't have it any other way. While some people might complain about being constantly on the go. and never having a chance to relax, Gord thrives on the time he spends with his children. In fact, he and his wife Pam claim chasing after all their kids keeps them young. 'Full house' And the only reason they are so busy is they insist on giving their kids the Upper tunities they had growing up, from the oldest Maddie, 14, just finishing her first year of high school, to the youngest. tttree-year-old Rachel. In between are Natalie, 13. Jessica, ll, Scott. 9. who is the only boy, Danielle, 7. and Emily. 6. Their sporting interests include track and field, hockey, soccer, volley- ball and basketball. with field hockey just added to the mix. When the family has some down time they also like to swim and ski, depending on the season. And while most of the girls have outgrown gymnastics. Gord and Pam are thinking about enrolling the two youngest to give them the same experiences their older sisters had. b33 K 2 St. NC. Watmlzm 88560 1 wwwykquka-l Playing sports and the lessons they learned from it shaped bottr Gord and Pam, who met at local track and field events before getting together at Western Univer- sity. Both outstanding ath- Milli II maul, IRISH Ill “In”. B-K vo LVO By Bots mec I Ihronirle ser, CERTIFIED leles themselves, they starred respectively for the school's football and basket- ball teams. "We started to layer on the sports." said Gard, about a plan for physical activity for his family that started with swimming, skating and skiing. "And what makes us a busy family now is that we want to give the same opporturtRy to the youngest "We don't know where the kids will end up, but we wanted to give them the chance to figure it out for themselves. "We're not going to have Olympians, and we're not going to have professionals athletes. What we hope to have are kids who are 19 and 20 who turn into great young adults because they were great teenagers." Gord said when he and Pam got married. they always knew they would have more (Han two or three children. And sure enough, just as they had one out of diapers there was the pull to have another one. They were all such good kids so why not add one more, he thought. And figure it out they have, as oldest daughter Maddie is gravitating to track and field after medalling in her first OFSSA finals last week, while the next one off to high school, Natalie, is leaning towards volleyball. and Jessica is becoming quite the hockey player. "All of a sudden time would pass and Pam would say. 'How about another one?'" said the patriarch of the family. "I'd go. 'Well it won't be that bad.' and before you know it, it climbed to seven, "Four became five, five became six, and six became seven. And counting little Rachel. there hasn't been a difficult child in this family "e we've been unbelievably blessed." Just managing seven children would he job enough for some people. but that's not even counting the two family dogs. And while Pam might have had a small inkling of what to expect coming from a family of six children, Gord had no clue. But he loved the chal- lenge. And he, along with Pam, thought just showing up wasn't enough - they also wanted to be fu11y involved with all aspects of their children's lives. The nine members of the Swinger family, of Waterloo. include tfront row from left) Scott, Maddie, Gord, Rathet, Pam, Natal- ie, (back row from left) Jessica, Emily and Danielle. - Whether mars a 6 a.m. hockey practice or a late _ night basketball game. the Buttingers always try to have at least one parent in "He does a lot for us and barely has any time for himself, but he doesn't mind. " - Maddie Buttinger daughter attendance. Pam still recalls a sunny Saturday morning where Gord attended a soccer tournament in Amherst NY. for daughter Natalie's team. followed by Scott's game in Grimsby, with a quick stop in Oakville for Jessica's game. And if the team is in need of a coach. Cord is more than willing to fill in. "People will say they see us everywhere and there is something to that," said Pam. "But with seven active kids, you will be everywhere, especially if you make sure that the linlaanes have the same hm and opportunities as the older ones. "And the truth is you'll see us everywhere because there art so many of us" So what are the lessons they hope the children draw " from the experience? It's not all about competition, said Pam. "For Cord and I, it's also about developing inner strength, team-building, independence and doing your best while giving your hardest." And why sports over otherthings? -- "It always creates a small sense of adversity." said Gard. "And in life there is a lot ofadversity. 'And if they learn to hare dle it at a younger age through sports, I hope they'll respond well because you never know what curve- balls life will throw you." Especially when the lessons are of winning with pride and losing with digni- ty the motto of his old my! school. St. Jerome's. “Losing the big game at our house isn't a big deal because a day later it's on to the next thing," said Gard. "But at the time it forces the kids to look at who they are and give it their best," So what do the kids have to say about all their dad does for them. including going into work at 10 p.m, after all the kids are in bed? "He stresses that winning isn't important unless you try your best." said Natalie. "He supports us in all the decisions that we make," said Jessica. "He's always therefor us." And when the kids on the playground say the boys are better athletes that girls, Scott's got an answer for them. " I think they're kind of being sexist." said the enlightened nine-year-old. Danielle, Emily and Rachel added more varia- tions to the theme of what makes a good daddy, but it was up to the oldest. Mad- die, to sum it up. "He encouraged me in whatever I wanted to try." she said. "He does a lot for us and barely has any time for himself. but he doesn't mind. "He always seems to find the time to watch each of us play. and support us. He's someone we can talk to. He keeps us going." _ Bolt VIIANAE PHOTO