This story part of our NSS Alumni Series – a collection of interviews with inspiring NSS grads. Image above: Madeleine Davidson #933 competing at OFSSA in 2010.
A Home Run For Madeleine Davidson
Interview
by Joe Pascucci
From monstera to ficus elastica to aloe, Madeleine Davidson, Class of 2010, is surrounded by a good number of plants in her Junction, Toronto apartment. Davidson is Senior Manager, Business Communications at the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Blue Jays loom large in the life of Toronto sports fans – who hasn't had the experience of catching a game on a beautiful sunny day, hot dog in hand, with the Rogers Centre roof open. Despite a disappointing 2024 season, the Jays are valued at $2.1B with player salaries in the $235M range*. A serious operation. To boot, the Rogers Centre just finished Phase 1 of a big renovation in 2024, and players and sports fans are pleased.
The Blue Jays loom large in the life of Toronto sports fans – who hasn't had the experience of catching a game on a beautiful sunny day, hot dog in hand, with the Rogers Centre roof open. Despite a disappointing 2024 season, the Jays are valued at $2.1B with player salaries in the $235M range*. A serious operation. To boot, the Rogers Centre just finished Phase 1 of a big renovation in 2024, and players and sports fans are pleased.
I sat down with Madeleine, and we talked about how Northern shaped her and lead to her role with The Jays. "We work on a wide range of projects, with many different audiences. What's most important," Madeleine tells me:
... is working across all Blue Jays departments on how we connect with and speak to our employees and fans, making sure we are consistently sharing the same message and telling the same story. That includes working with media and influencers on the stories they want to tell, or content they want to create about the team; supporting our executives on speaking with the media or staff; making sure we’re up to date on the news; and keeping our employees informed.
Madeleine beams at me through her camera and says:
I often credit Northern as my spark for sports management. I was in the Girls' Athletic Association and I was the president in grade twelve.
Madeleine so enjoyed her Northern experience that she half-jokingly wishes her career could be running the school’s athletic association. Reminiscing about her younger days growing up in North Toronto, Madeleine smiled about the fact she did not excel in sports at either John Wanless or Glenview. That all changed when she came to Northern.
I think because there were more sports [at Northern], it gave me kind of a different angle. I always ran track-and-field and cross-country. That was my cornerstone, but then I changed winter sports every year. So the first year I played hockey. The second year I did ski and snowboard. The third year I was on the swim team. And I also did rugby all the way through.
One of Madeleine's teachers at Northern, coach and former Olympian Mr. Vamplew, guided her through her athletic years.
He was incredibly influential. I had him in grade nine geography, and then I joined the cross-country team and he was just so supportive of my running, but never taking it too seriously – which was really important, and I think made the sport sustainable for me, and always made it fun. Mr. Vamplew would even have snacks in his classroom when I came in from the track and was starving.
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NSS coach and former Olympian Mr. Vamplew nominated Davidson to carry the Olympic torch as it made its journey through Toronto on its way to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Games. Madeleine held the torch high, making her trek along Yonge Street. That torch is on display at Northern.
With warmth in her voice, Madeleine tells me: "We gave [the torch] to the school – it felt really important to me because Mr. Vamplew helped me get there."
Away from athletics, there was another who influenced Madeleine: band teacher Ms. Ene Lomp. "She was my homeroom teacher in grade 11 and 12, and she was a wonderful mentor who, even though I became so sport focused, was still encouraging music in my life, which brought important lessons in balance."
Davidson’s musical instrument was the saxophone, but at the time she really didn’t appreciate music. Ms. Lomp changed that for her: "She had a balanced and compassionate approach and she was definitely a formative person throughout the four years."
Davidson’s musical instrument was the saxophone, but at the time she really didn’t appreciate music. Ms. Lomp changed that for her: "She had a balanced and compassionate approach and she was definitely a formative person throughout the four years."
Moving into grade 12, with Rugby as Madeleine’s passion sport, her track coaches believed she had a real chance of getting a U.S. scholarship, and no longer wanted to see her being slammed around in rugby games. So Madeleine decided to focus full time on track.
Above: Madeleine in her element, on the track and at a cross-country event.
At OFSAA that year, Madeleine capped off her Northern years with a silver medal in cross-country and a bronze in track.
I think a lot of people say OFSAA medals are some of the greatest things you can ever achieve. My husband has been to two Olympics and he's won two NCAA titles and he's said his OFSAA medals are some of his most prized possessions. So they're very important to me.
Madeleine's coaches were right: her running got noticed and University of Louisville’s cross-country coach Brice Allen came calling with a scholarship offer. With few sports management programs offered in Canada, the Louisville scholarship offered Madeleine an excellent path forward.
The places I saw women in sports, in a professional setting, looked like physiotherapy or being a trainer on the sidelines. Louisville had a really robust sports management program and that immediately caught my attention.
Another Canadian at Louisville was Matt Hughes, Madeleine’s future husband. They first met during her recruiting trip in 2010. Matt's event was steeplechase and, as the Canadian record holder, competed in both the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics, finishing 10th and 6th respectively. Madeleine and Matt married in 2022.
Madeleine with husband Matt Hughes
Madeleine majored in both sports management and kinesiology during her two years at Louisville, then transferred to Boston College to finish her undergrad in Communications and complete a Masters Degree. "I've always loved reading and writing, and Boston College didn’t have a sports management program, so communications seemed like a good fit for me."
Madeleine with father Mike and grandma Joy during her college days in the U.S.
After Boston College, Madeleine still had her US work visa and managed to land a position with Edelman, one of the top public relations agencies in the world. "That's where I learned the basics of the career I now have. Edelman certainly challenged me and taught me a lot of what I do today."
When her work visa expired the company transferred Madeleine to their Toronto office – she was now back home. Then in 2018, a position with the Blue Jays caught her attention.
When her work visa expired the company transferred Madeleine to their Toronto office – she was now back home. Then in 2018, a position with the Blue Jays caught her attention.
"I was keeping my eye on job boards and an entry level role in communications opened with The Jays, my hometown team, and I applied for it. I was at the right place at the right time. And I had the right level of experience. In hindsight, I had set myself up so that when an opportunity came, I was really well positioned for it."
Year after year, Madeleine's role with The Jays expanded to where she is now, as Senior Manager, Business Communications, overseeing and managing the corporate communications team, as part of the club’s communications department. Whether it’s Major League Baseball or the other major leagues in North America, professional sports is about wins and losses. But the job of the business communications department is to engage meaningfully with fans no matter what the team is experiencing on the field. Madeleine notes the communications upside when the team is having its struggles: more room for creativity and innovation in storytelling:
I've learned over the past six seasons that anything less than winning a championship is a disappointment. There are always highs, lows, and challenges, whether the team's performing well, or not meeting expectations – when we get to put more of our energy into telling great Blue Jays stories, often off the field or behind the scenes, that fans might not always see. And then when the team is performing well, there’s more routine with most of the focus on game outcomes.
At a Blue Jays game with Mom Christine, Stepdad Rico DiGiovanni and husband Matt.
In the past few years the home of the Blue Jays has undergone a significant facelift giving Rogers Centre more of a true ballpark environment for players and fans alike.
Probably the most fun part of my job over the past few years [has been] the work the team has done to overhaul the stadium – to make it really a fans-first baseball stadium. I love concerts, I love live music, but it's cool to have a ballpark that's made for baseball. Watching fans experience the game in the new spaces has been really rewarding. No matter what is happening on the field, it's really, really fun to go to Rogers Centre.
Photos courtesy of the Toronto Blue Jays
Madeleine believes that with the size of Rogers Centre they have a unique opportunity to welcome fans to the ballpark at a more family-friendly price point than some of the other sports teams in the city. “Because of that, I think there's an opportunity to bring more community into the ballpark, bring new Canadians to the ballpark, and bring younger Canadians to the ballpark. I think that's what's really up and coming for the Blue Jays.”
As we conclude our interview, I ask Madeleine to reflect again on her years at Northern. She cited a special family connection: her grandmother Joy Davidson (and biggest supporter) had also attended Northern and drove Madeleine to many of her sporting events. She tells me with pride in her voice, "she still remembers the NSS fight song." Today when Madeleine speaks to students about her journey she points to Northern and how it planted the foundation for her. "I always reference that starting point at the Girls Athletic Association and how that was the seed of a dream for me, of where I could put my effort and my energy and my life's purpose."
Her advice to students now in high school or university is to listen to the spark inside them. "Northern's a great school because it has so many extracurriculars, so much going on – you can be inspired by different areas and that's really special. That's what I love about Northern.”
* Source for Toronto Blue Jays team info – https://www.forbes.com/teams/toronto-blue-jays/
LINKS
Interviewer Joe Pascucci NSS'76 is a veteran sports journalist and was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2015. With professional roots in Winnipeg, stretching back to 1982 when he was a sports reporter for Winnipeg’s CKND-TV, Joe has freelanced for ESPN and TSN, and was Sports Director for Global Winnipeg from 1986 until 2014. Joe became a CFL historian of note by compiling a celebratory video of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers' history, producing videos for Bombers Hall of Fame inductions, and transferring to video key historical moments from the 1930s to '70s, including matching grainy footage of the Bombers’ 1939 Grey Cup victory with a CBC radio broadcast. Joe is a Director of the Northern Secondary School Foundation.
