B.C. athletes prepare for North American Indigenous Games
Posted July 14, 2023 12:19 pm.
Last Updated July 14, 2023 12:20 pm.
The North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) start this weekend in Halifax, and B.C. will be well represented.
Players from across Canada and the U.S. are now gearing up for the tournament, which will take place from July 15 to 23. Athletes aged 13 to 19 will participate in various events, including basketball, volleyball, lacrosse, and shooting in the archery competition.
More than 500 Indigenous athletes on Team B.C. will be competing this year.
Seventeen-year-old Teeyson McCarthy from Lake Country, B.C., has been playing basketball for nine years.
“It’s like a contact sport so you’re just in the game and really feeling the energy and the flow of the game, so I just really love feeling that energy and getting ready to play,” McCarthy told CityNews.
Basketball is a family passion, with McCarthy saying her three older siblings also play, as did her parents.
“So I felt like I was just following in their footsteps,” McCarthy said.
The teen is 6’2″ tall, with height also being something she and her siblings have in common — her brothers are 6’8″ and 6’5″, while she says her sister is 6’1″.
“It’s definitely very helpful to be tall and play basketball,” McCarthy said.
She explains the week of practice prior to the competition has been important for her and her team.
“We had to condition ourselves prior to coming to the training camp, so that’s helped, everyone’s already kind of in pretty good shape,” she said.
Truth and Reconciliation calls to action a ‘driving force’, coach says
U19 team assistant coach Kaitlyn Lafontaine-Hait says the players have been bonding through hours of conditioning.
“Pretty long days,” she admitted. “We are getting in one practice and one game each day this week, and we have all six basketball teams here for the next few days practicing together,” she said earlier in the week.
Not only is Lafontaine-Hait a seasoned coach, but she has played in the games herself.
“I am really excited to see the experience that our team gets because I know how exciting it is and how meaningful the experience is going to be,” she explained.
Basketball players on team B.C. practice ahead of the 2023 North American Indigenous Games. (Angela Bower, CityNews Image)
For her, basketball is also something that runs in the family.
Her father, David Lafontaine, has been coaching basketball for over 40 years. He says the NAIG helps build strong communities.
“For such a long time, Indigenous athletes have been ignored and Indigenous people have been racialized. And we have young people that are very proud of their ancestry and this is a great platform to promote healthy lifestyles, setting goals, and to persevere and work with other people. It’s great for young people,” the U16 Basketball head coach explained.
“The driving force, of course, is the truth and reconciliation calls to action — number 88; bringing young people into sport, which is important to them.”
McCarthy also sees the benefit, saying she’s been able to connect with other players through training and the lead-up to the games.
“Especially, right now, I’ve never met any of these girls prior to coming to this training camp and the training camp before, so it’s nice to just meet new friends,” she said.
