Olympian Brigette Lacquette is the first First Nation woman to join the Team Canada hockey team. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

Inspiration

World-class athletes share advice at Woodland Cree Youth Symposium

Jul 10, 2019 | 5:49 PM

With hopes of inspiring young people to be all they can be, an array of special guests were invited to this week’s Woodland Cree Youth Symposium on Montreal Lake Cree Nation.

The event began July 8 and includes many well-known keynote speakers such as Olympic silver medalist Brigette Lacquette, professional basketball player Michael Linklater, former NHL hockey player Theo Fleury and Olympic athlete Waneek Horn-Miller. Lacquette and Linklater were both Wednesday’s presenters and the athletes spoke not only on how they achieved their dreams, but also how they dealt with racism along the way.

“The road was long and it was hard at times,” Lacquette said. “Everything I have been through is definitely worth it and I think that’s a piece I want to share with the kids today is that you’re going to have your ups and downs, you’re going to want to quit at times, but going through all of that just makes you into a better person.”

Lacquette, who in 2018 became the first First Nations woman to play for Team Canada’s female hockey team, described the obstacles she overcame to reach her goals. She stated those included the small number of girls who play hockey, racism, her attitude toward sports and more. Even though it was challenging at times, Lacquette said she believes any Indigenous women who want to follow in her footsteps can, as long as they demonstrate hard work, determination and perseverance.

A member of Cote First Nation, Lacquette has played for Calgary Inferno, she won silver and gold at the 2009 and 2010 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) U18 Women’s World Championships, as well as the regular IIHF Women’s World Championships in 2015 and 2019. During the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, Team Canada earned silver after the championship match against the United States.

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“Looking back, it was disappointing at the time, but it was actually quite the run,” she said, adding she is training to make it to the 2022 Olympics. “Looking at the bigger picture, it was such an honour to represent our country and playing hockey on the Olympic stage is pretty awesome.”

In his message to the youth, Linklater stressed the importance of culture and being connected to spirituality as Indigenous Peoples. As a successful athlete, he noted those attributes have been the foundation through it all. Linklater also spoke about dealing with racism in sports.

Michael Linklater spoke about culture and spirituality. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

“I think our people have gone through a lot of racism over the years and continue to do that,” he said. “I just wanted to share with them it is something they may encounter at some point in their life, and just sharing with them some of the adversity and how I got through that. It’s really important to understand how beautiful, and how important we are as a people and our culture and ceremonies.”

Linklater, who is from Thunderchild First Nation, has been playing professional basketball for 25 years, but plans to retire from the sport this August. He’s currently a member of the Saskatchewan Rattlers and also recently became the face of the Nike N7 sneaker collection. Linklater added he also has the possibility to play three-on-three basketball in the Olympics next year and he will be preparing for it.

“I’ve pushed the boundaries personally with the athletics and basketball world, and now it’s time for another group of kids to come up and push further past that,” he said.

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno