Youth Leadership
Through Sports program gives kids a chance to improve their skills
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Cole
Currie, 11, says he wants to apply for sports scholarships.
(photo by Alicia Bridges/CBC)
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Cole Currie, 11, wants to be a professional lacrosse player
when he grows up.
He said he was inspired by the Thompson brothers (Lyle, Miles,
Jerome, and Jeremy), four brothers who all play in the National
Lacrosse League.
Currie, who is from Mistawasis First Nation and lives in Blaine
Lake, was in Saskatoon on Sunday to participate in the Youth Leadership
Through Sports program.
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Kids
at the Youth Leadershp Through Sports Program run a "beep"
test - a multi-stage fitness test that includes running.
(photo by Alicia Bridges/CBC)
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The program offers kids between the ages of 10 and 14 sport
testing, strength and conditioning exercises, and sport nutrition
education.
Currie said he hopes the program will help him in lacrosse and
basketball.
"I just really want to get better at the sports I play because
that's what I want to do with my life," he said.
Speed, agility, endurance and power
About 70 boys and girls attended the first day of the new program,
coming from seven different First Nations communities.
Hosted by the College of Kinesiology, Huskie Athletics and the
University of Saskatchewan, the activities took place at the Physical
Activity Complex.
The day's activities included testing speed, agility, endurance
and power; giving them information about nutrition for sport; and
winding up with a yoga session for recovery.
University of Saskatchewan kinesiology students and Huskie athletes
led the training.
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A
young athlete performs a test to see how high he can jump.
The kids who participated on Sunday will be coming back throughout
the year to record their improvement.
(photo by Alicia Bridges/CBC)
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Mark Arcand, Saskatoon Tribal Council chief, said the program
is an opportunity to get kids from First Nations communities to
visit the University of Saskatchewan and to use the state-of-the-art
sports facilities there.
"Our goal here for today is to see how we can get actually some
kids into university scholarships, because as First Nations children,
we have some good talent it's just fostering that talent."
Building on natural talent
He said there is a lot of talent in First Nations communities
many athletes participate in Saskatchewan's Tony Cote First
Nations Summer/Winter Games and the North American Indigenous Games.
But few young people from these communities go on to get post-secondary
sports scholarships.
With this program, he hopes they can build on that raw talent.
He also hopes that the kids participating in the program will
go back to their communities and teach their peers what they've
learned.
Looking to the future
All of the kids went home with a backpack full of sports equipment
they can use at home, like a skipping rope and resistance band.
Many of the communities they're going home to lack infrastructure
and facilities, Arcand said, so the activities they're learning
are designed to be done anywhere.
This is a one-year pilot program. The kids will be invited to
attend more skills days throughout the year to track their progress,
and will build upon previous sessions.
Arcand would like to see the program expand to different age
groups, and said he's already heard interest from older teens.
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