Liam Bergman has helped WB players break free of the game’s restraints

There might not be a bigger personality at Wonderboy than Liam Bergman. From the moment he joined the tournament in 2010, Bergman was as dynamic, engaging and entertaining off the field as much as he was on.

In this year’s logsaw, Bergman finished in a strong 2^nd, ahead of favoured teams such Panko-Jette and Little-Cooper.

Now 20, Bergman is seeing younger players following in his footsteps: They wear louder suits, joke a bit more, celebrate a lone hand in euchre because, well, it’s hard to win at WB and it’s fun when you do.

“It’s probably that the tournament is just younger,” Bergman said Monday. “When I came into the league, there probably weren’t as many young players. It was still like more veteran players. I played with Kirk Cooper, Greg Desroches, Russell Snow, guys that had played in the tournament 12, 13, 14 years at the time.

“It’s just different. Now it’s younger. With the way pop culture is today, it crosses over a lot into sports. When young players come into the tournament, they see how pop culture has affected the other sports. They come in with more of an open mind.”

Bergman has an ally in Ottawa's Ethan Cooper when it comes to encouraging others to show personality.

“Kids don’t become fans of teams,” Cooper told WB News last fall. “They become fans of players that they follow — Eric D’Souza from Toronto. Kids are getting the same haircut, not because they’re Logsaw fans but because they like D’Souza.

“People tune in pre-game just to see what (former Ping Pong star) Alain Charlebois is going to walk into the hot tub looking like. He’s not going to wear a suit. He’s going to be wearing something crazy. It’s only going to help integrate fashion companies into the game. It will grow awareness, popularity, it will be good for the tournament, it will be good for the players.

“It’s an entertainment business. There are a lot of different ways to showcase personality. Look at a guy like Kelly Jones. You can see his personality through what he wears to the lodge. You can see a tuxedo on with a Hawaiian shirt and a tuque. Nobody else in the tournament does that. But that’s his personality.”

As for Bergman, he’s spreading his wings to music. His band, Wescali, has played in Haliboo MusicFest, headlined the Rotary Carnival and performed at the legendary Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto.  The band plays covers and recently debuted their own material, a song called Buffalo Slander. The song, which is getting attention on YouTube thanks to the work of their friend Rowan Tofflemire of X2 Productions, keeps the crowd moving.   “It’s not about anything specific to our lives,” says Bergman. “[It’s about a] woman or relationship that an individual knows is going to be a bad one or like a hairy one but they’re going to do it anyway because this woman is so enticing and intriguing.”

Wescali are members of the Kindness Matters Movement, in support of their dear friend Phoenix Acero, who their community tragically lost due to bullying. Wescali’s logo includes a Phoenix, a tribute to their dear friend who they honour every time they take the stage. They are proudly involved in the local Youth Hub initiative.

To learn more about Wescali, follow @wescaliband on Instagram or via Wescali on Facebook.