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Various Aboriginal athletes from Alberta had their share of impressive accomplishments this past year. Recognition came in personal awards or in winning championships. Most of these athletes are only just beginning their careers. The list below is subjective.
Ammon Crowfoot
Not too many athletes win awards proclaiming them as the best of the best. But Ammon Crowfoot, a teenager from Dewinton, won the accolade this past spring. Crowfoot, who has Blackfoot, Saulteaux, Mohawk and Oneida ancestry, was chosen as the national male recipient of the 2009 Tom Longboat Award, recognizing him as the country’s top Aboriginal amateur athlete. He was in the running for the national award after previously being named winner of the Alberta Tom Longboat Award. Crowfoot, a student at Calgary’s Western Canada High School, excelled in a couple of sports. In the fall of ’09, Crowfoot finished second in the Grade 11 boys race at the Alberta high school cross-country running championships. Later that school year Crowfoot, a point guard, led his school basketball team to the gold medal at the provincial 4A championships.
Heather Kashman
Heather Kashman will be competing in Halifax in the Canada Winter Games in February 2011 as a member of the female Alberta hockey team. It’s one of the many accolades Kashman received in 2010 on the strength of her skills as a hockey player. Kashman, who is Métis from Edmonton, is playing her second year with the Edmonton Thunder. She was named athlete player of the month for December by the Indigenous Sport Council (Alberta), named the winner of the North Division Player of the Month for October by the Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League, and recipient of the Alberta Aboriginal Youth Achievement Award for athletics. On the strength of Kashman’s scoring ability and two-way play, the Edmonton Thunder is undefeated and currently in first place in the AMMFHL. Kashman was recently offered an athletic scholarship to the University of New Hampshire.
Red Nation Jets take the national championship after three consecutive second place finishes.
Red Nation Jets
For some athletes winning a national championship is the pinnacle of their sporting careers. And even for those athletes who go on to even greater glory, memories of placing first in a Canadian tournament is special. The Red Nation Jets, from the Alexis Nakota Sioux First Nation, captured the women’s division at this year’s Canadian Native Fastball Championships. A total of 22 teams participated in the women’s category at the tournament, which concluded in early August at Saskatchewan’s Whitecap Dakota Nation. The Jets won all six of their matches at the nationals, outscoring their opponents 65-6. The club easily won its final game, thumping the Saskatoon-area squad, AMI Pride, 17-0. The Jets had placed second at the nationals in each of the three previous years. By winning this year’s crown they also ended the Manitoba-based Northern Lights’ four-year reign as Canadian champs.
Michael Swampy
Most athletes would love to go out by winning a championship. Michael Swampy, a 6-foot-1 point guard who starred with the Edmonton-based Jasper Place Rebels, was able to do just that in his final year of high school basketball. Swampy, who is Cree, led the Rebels to a perfect 13-0 regular season record in their city-wide league. Swampy and his Jasper Place teammates then went on to capture the Edmonton championship. It was believed to be the first time in 15 years the Rebels had won the city crown. The Jasper Place squad came up just a bit short, however, in its attempt to also win some additional hardware at the provincial championships. Swampy led the Rebels to a fourth-place finish at the Alberta tournament, which was held in Lethbridge.
Jessie Lilly
Some people might not realize they are good at something until they give it a shot. And that’s exactly what happened to Jessie Lilly, a teenager who lives in Edson. Though she was a competitive swimmer before, Lilly was a bit hesitant in taking up a sport that was new to her — triathlon — until a friend’s urging convinced her to do so. Lilly, whose father is Métis, is glad she did make the foray into triathlon in 2009. She won four out of the five races she entered in Alberta that year. She also placed second at an event in Kelowna in her only out-of-province competition. For her efforts in ’09, Lilly, a student at Edson’s Parklands High School, received a Tom Longboat regional award this past spring. She was recognized as Alberta’s top Aboriginal female amateur athlete.
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