A group of eight Ditidaht youth have made it onto the provincial canoeing team.
Robin Mack, Kyle Mack, Tristen Tate, Jari Tate, Sebastion Sutherland, Kristine Edgar, Tyra Johnston and Chayton Sam will head to Saskatchewan this July to compete in the North American Indigenous Games.
The games will be held in Regina, July 19 to 29, and the canoe riders will make up part of Team BC.
“They’ve gone through a series of steps to get there,” said proud team manager Georgina Sutherland. “They’ve competed in the aboriginal and non-aboriginal championships and they needed to gain enough points just to make it onto the development squad (for Team BC).”
Sutherland plays an active role with canoeing in Ditidaht.
“We have a team of 57 kids here, aged between five and 19, and of that 57, these are the ones that qualified in their own individual age groups to compete at the games.”
The games will feature a variety of squads from various communities across Canada and the United States.
Sutherland and the rest of the gang are very much looking forward to Regina and have high hopes heading into proceedings.
“We have very high hopes,” she said. “These kids get up at 5:30 a.m. everyday and practise for two hours and sometimes they practise for two hours in the evenings as well.”