Hair's no problem for recreation director

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Hair today, gone tomorrow for A.K. Kootenay, the recreation director at Alexander First Nation, shaving his head is worth it if that will help young Aboriginal hockey players get to the Native Hockey Provincials in Calgary April 6 to 10.

At Alexander First Nation, Kootenay and his assistant, Gary Bruce, played a part in fundraising for Alexander's six hockey teams by shaving their heads during a luncheon at the community hall on Mar. 17.

"It was really difficult for my parents to get me involved in sports. I realized that it's hard, but kids are important. The money we raise goes to the kids, it's about them. So we decided to shave our heads for sponsors," said Kootenay.

Kootenay raised more than $400 by shearing his locks and Bruce made about $350. The fundraising activity gave people, some who are the parents of the young hockey players in the community, a chance to donate to the worthy cause.

The fundraising event had an added element of entertainment as Kootenay and Bruce braved a dull clipper with fierce grimaces.

"The biggest key here is I can't do it alone, it's the parents, it's the kids...there's been so much involvement," said Kootenay.

Two of the parents at the community hall who are involved in the fundraising for the hockey teams from Alexander pointed to Kootenay as being the driving force behind organizing recreational activities for the young people in the community.

Growing up in Edmonton didn't give Kootenay a connection to his home community of Alexander, he said. So at 23 years of age, he decided to make his way back home and make some contributions to his community. He remembers telling a friend at the time,that he thought it was time for him to get to know himself better.

"I needed to find out who I was...it made a difference coming back here to me, I got to spend a lot of time with my Kookum," said Kootenay.

In July, Kootenay will be getting married to a woman he describes as a beautiful and loving person. They commute to their respective jobs from Leduc. His 11-year-old son plays hockey and is one of the young Aboriginal players selected from western Canada to play in a hockey tournament in Germany this year. He adopted his son recently and believes playing hockey has made a very positive difference in his life.

"An Elder taught me something I will always remember. In the word unity there is you and I, and if we don't have unity, we don't have community," said Kootenay.

The recreation director feels the Alexander First Nation education system makes all the difference for the young people on his reserve because of its holistic base.

"We don't have a lot of crime being done here by our youth; that's because we keep them too busy," he said. Kootenay is also keeping busy working on getting a drama program together for next year.

A lot of credit needs to go to chief and council, because usually they get just the criticism. They supported the hockey teams all the way, said Kootenay.

Hundreds of hours have been donated from people in the community including a soapstone sculpture, and a breakfast held on every Friday put on by women in Alexander.

For Kootenay and Bruce, shaving their head for money was the least they could do.