When the North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) take place, July 15 to 23, in Halifax, N.S., the Parkland will be well represented.
The 19U and 16U girls volleyball teams were in Dauphin, Saturday, for practice ahead of the games.
The head coach of the 19U girls is Jayme Menzies of Dauphin and three players from the Parkland - Bianca Beaudin of Dauphin, Randie Houle of Ebb and Flow First Nation and Kiera Haney of Binscarth - are all on the team.
Menzies has been coaching Manitoba’s NAIG volleyball team since 2012, making this her fourth time she has coached at the event.
The selection process saw tryouts in Nelson House, to ensure players in the northern part of the province would have a chance to make the team, as well as a tryout in Winnipeg, with about 120 players hoping to make the grade.
From there, the numbers were cut down for a third and final tryout.
“So I’m so glad there’s interest there and that Indigenous girls are playing the sport and want it. Especially after the pandemic. But we could only choose 12, so that was some tough decisions,” Menzies said.
The team has a mix of experience with some players having played club volleyball, such as Beaudin, as well as two players who just finished their first year of university training.
“But what’s also neat is we have kids from all across the province. We have Dauphin, Ebb and Flow, Binscarth, Cross Lake. It’s not just Winnipeg, whereas typically, the non-Indigenous provincial teams tend to be pretty urban centered. So It’s nice that there’s representation from First Nations, Métis, rural, reserve, city,” Menzie said.
Given the diversity of the team, Menzies hopes the players can open some eyes at the talent available throughout the province and not just in larger urban centres.
“That’s what is so special about this Indigenous provincial team program is there’s so much talent in Métis and First Nations kids. There’s just also sometimes hurdles in the way, whether it’s travel or funding or just the Winnipeg coaches not knowing them,” she said. “This model allows for different kids to get access to the elite programming.”
The games themselves give rural Indigenous athletes from all across North America a chance to display their talent, which they may not get from mainstream programs.
Menzies still has ties to Dauphin as she has family which lives here. So bringing the volleyball program to Dauphin to practice meant a lot to her.
“It is traditional territory to a lot of Nations, so I felt like it was special to me personally, but also for an Indigenous program,” she said. “And Dauphin has welcomed us, so well. The City gave us a bunch of free water bottles and they’re providing lunch today. The DRCSS is giving us this space free of charge. We’ve just been welcomed in the best way.”
Patti Beaudin, Bianca’s mother and DRCSS vice-principal Taylor Schmidt have also helped in a big way to host the team.
Manitoba, Menzies said usually does pretty well in volleyball. And after talking with her players, it looks like the goal will be to come home with a medal.
“There’s going to be a lot of teams there, but our goal is to bring a medal home,” she said.
For Beaudin, being one of the 12 players to make the team out of the more than 100 athletes trying out was an exciting moment.
“It was a very hard process to narrow it down and everything. I was jumping up and down, because I’m only 17 and I’m one of the youngest girls on the team and I really put my all into the tryouts. I was really, really excited when I found out that I made the team,” she said, Beaudin played varsity volleyball with the Dauphin Clippers, as well as club volleyball with the Parkland Vipers.
She feels that experience helped her to make Team Manitoba.
“I would not have been able to make the team without all of my previous coaching. With all of the coaches in Dauphin, I’ve had the opportunity to have amazing coaches. I’ve even had my grandpa to start out with, which was amazing,” she said.
The practice in Dauphin was just the team’s second. They practiced once in December before taking a break for the club volleyball season.
They will hit the court once more before leaving for Halifax in July.
Being used to traveling for practices, staying home while the rest of the team comes here was a nice change of pace for Beaudin.
“It feels pretty good, because I’m used to going there. I’m always traveling to the city (Winnipeg) for volleyball, so it was really nice that they all came to me for a change,” she laughed.
As for the games. Beaudin said they can’t go in with a loser’s mentality.
“You’ve got to go in thinking that we’re going to do the best that we can. We have some very strong athletes. We’re a very strong team, so I think we’ll do very good,” she said. “I’m just really excited for the opportunity and I’m looking forward to the games in July.”
Gabriel Beaudin of Dauphin made the U16 team which will compete in Halifax.
Other Parkland athletes competing in the games are Vayah Burns of Keeseekoowenin First Nation in U16 female athletics, Danika Chartrand of Dauphin in U14 female athletics, Maureen Thompson of Camperville in U19 female badminton, Adlore Richard of Pine Creek First Nation and Jayden
Thompson of Camperville in U14 male basketball, Madeline Amyotte in U19 female basketball, Leland Malcolm of Ebb and Flow First Nation, Mason Chartrand of Pine Creek First Nation and Rylan Chartrand of Pine Creek First Nation in 19U male basketball, Skyla Burns of Keeseekoowenin Band in 19U female soccer, Nastassija Gabriel of Ebb and Flow First Nation in 16U female softball and Trayden Guiboche of Dauphin in 19U male softball.
