Pearl Lorentzen

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Lakeside Leader

Awasak Family Services sent an Indigenous U11 hockey to a tournament in Las Vegas last week.

“It’s not just about hockey,” says Krista Auger. “It’s about having access and equity that otherwise these kids wouldn’t have.”

Auger is a research analyst and youth leadership and life skills coordinator at Awasak Family Services. This hockey team is part of the organizations focus on promoting healthy living and families for members of three First Nations. Awasak provides a range of services as part of its mandate to handle child and family services under the Awas’ak Wiyasiwewin Child Law which was written and passed by three Kee Tas Kee Now Tribal Council (KTC) First Nations in 2023. These are Loon River First Nation, Lubicon Lake Band, and Peerless Trout First Nation.

In social services, people often talk about prevention and intervention. When it comes to families, prevention means providing families with the resources and skills they need to be a healthy unit. Intervention means removing children from unsafe environments, temporarily or permanently. Many systems have different organizations for prevention and intervention, but the Child Law and therefore, Awasak Family Services combined these. One of the programs promotes recreation and wellness.

The hockey team falls under the recreation and wellness program. It started out as a one-off team to go to Alberta Native Provincials.

Awasak sent two teams, says Auger, the U11 team with boys and girls and a girls-only U13 team.

Most of the U11 players are urban, says Auger.

In this context, urban refers to off-reserve towns including Slave Lake, Peace River, and one city Grande Prairie.

Most players live in and around Slave Lake, says Auger. A few played pond (non-competitive) hockey, but most were on minor hockey teams. This made the team quite competitive. Before provincials, the coaches figured the team would be about a B level, but they tiered up and made it into the bronze medal game.

At Native Provincials, they lost bronze in the last three seconds, adds Auger.

The team had so much fun, Auger, the coaches, and parents wondered about picking another tournament for the team to compete at. They decided on Las Vegas.

This is the first international travel for many of the families, says Auger. Many families had to get passports and for some, it is their first time on a plane.

Alberta Native Provincials were in April and the team has been practicing weekly since then.

“We never have all of the players (for practice),” says Auger, “but we have the majority of them.”

The team has 19 players, and 18 went to Las Vegas.

One family wasn’t able to make it, says Auger, because the wildfires in the Red Earth Creek area disrupted the father’s work so the family couldn’t go.

The trip is paid for with a combination of Awasak rec money and fundraising by the parents.

Auger was involved in the development of the Child Law. One of the things she heard from community leaders was that improving access to hockey was important.

The international tournament is a pilot, says Auger. Once it is over, Awasak will look into the costs and benefits to see if it is worth it. What will likely continue is having teams for Native Provincials, with the possibility of starting practices in the fall.

Awasak focuses on the four aspects of the medicine wheel: physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental.
Participating in sports touches on all of these, says Auger. “I think it teaches a lot to the kids, especially competitive sports.”

The three nations have young people who have competed at AA and AAA hockey in Alberta, says Auger. However, they have to compete outside of the area, likely in Grande Prairie. Some youth are billeted and other families move to Grande Prairie. However, this move means a loss of community, she adds, and community is very important to Indigenous people.

A sense of Indigenous community off reserve is one of the benefits of the team, says Auger. “They’re all Indigenous kids. They’re creating that community while being away from their community.”

The U11 team has members from the three KTC nations, Bigstone Cree Nation, and Métis players.

It can be hard for players and parents when they are the only visually Indigenous family on a hockey team, says Auger.

“Eventually, I would love to have a league in the nations,” says Auger.

One of the barriers to this is lack of indoor ice on reserve. All three nations have outdoor ice rinks, but no arenas. Lubicon is getting a multi-use centre with an arena through a land claim. Auger hopes to build similar buildings in Loon Lake, Peerless Lake, and Trout Lake through Awasak’s infrastructure funding.

“We still have a long way to go,” says Auger.

At the moment, on-reserve members have to drive two to four hours for practices, plus travel for games on the weekends.

Another popular sport among member kids is volleyball. Awasak has brought in some volleyball camps and is looking to start a volleyball league or add teams for existing leagues.

One challenge is finding certified coaches on reserve, says Auger. For hockey, the training is in Edmonton, Grande Prairie, and sometimes in Whitecourt.

Rec wellness funding
Along with the Native Provincials/Las Vegas hockey team, this hockey season Awasak helped around 20 families off-set the cost of hockey. These players live on and off reserve.

Hockey is very expensive, says Auger, and many families can’t afford it.

The rec wellness funding has no age limit, says Auger. Decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. The activity doesn’t have to be sports. One member applied for cooking and pottery classes, because that was what they were interested in. Awasak has also helped members participate in taekwondo, volleyball, baseball, etc.

One of the challenges with adults, says Auger, is Awasak can’t sponsor beer leagues. If the team agrees to be sober, they may sponsor it.

Loon River, Peerless Trout, and Lubicon members who want to apply for rec funding can call Awasak at 1-844-6AWASAK (1-844-629-2725).