Family turns tragedy into hope for future

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Daniel Beardy was a son, a hockey hero, a mentor and a friend to many. He was only 19 years old when he died on Aug. 1, 2004 after being brutally beaten at a party on the Fort William First Nation. Police have charged Corey Wesley, a 23-year-old resident of Greenstone, Ont., with manslaughter in connection with Daniel's death. Wesley will go to trial sometime in the fall.

On March 11, what would have been Daniel's 20th birthday, his father Stan Beardy, grand chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, announced the creation of the Daniel Beardy Memorial Hockey Fund to celebrate Daniel's life and what he stood for. Muskrat Dam First Nation Chief Frank Beardy and Gerald Bannon, president of Daniel's former team, the Fort William First Nation North Stars, launched the fund with Daniel's father.

"He always focused and paid attention to the less fortunate," Stan said of Daniel, adding that his son was always quick to come to the aid of the person who was being picked on; to befriend those who had no friends.

"And after he passed away we thought to honour him and his spirit ... the best way [was] to set up a fund in his memory to continue that concept, the value of giving and caring and being compassionate," Stan told Birchbark.

Daniel's caring nature and interest in people made him a very popular person. The Beardy family is from Muskrat Dam First Nation, a small community of only 300 people. The crowd that gathered for Daniel's funeral was three times that size, as more than 1,000 people came to say goodbye to this beloved young man and hockey prodigy.

Growing up, the only ice rink that was available to young Daniel was a frozen lake that had snow banks for boards. But that didn't stop him from being the second best goaltender in the Canadian Junior 'A' Hockey League and the top goaltender in the Superior International Junior Hockey League (SIJHL) with a 2.06 goals against average in the 2003-2004 season. He lost only one of the 21 games that he played, which helped lead his team to the SIJHL championship. The North Stars will retire Daniel's number, 20, in his memory.

Stan said his son, who played at the advanced AAA level for most of his young hockey career, would ask why there were no other Aboriginal players playing with him at that level, so he explained to Daniel that most young Native hockey players don't get the support they need.

"The reason why there are no Native kids is that it costs a lot of money for kids to play hockey.

The kids' hockey potentials need a lot of parental support as well as kids need to be promoted so that somebody can catch their potential and give them those opportunities. And a lot of those Native kids don't have the means of those three things," said Stan.

Daniel was an exception, said his father, partly because both parents worked and were financially secure enough to support his passion. The fund created in Daniel's name will help give disadvantaged kids the opportunities that Daniel had.

"It was on that basis that through this hockey fund, even if we can't financially assist all of them, we need to raise the profile that there is support needed for potential Aboriginal hockey players that are disadvantaged," Stan said, adding that the fund will be available to help disadvantaged non-Aboriginal hockey players too.

Stan also said he appreciates the support his family has received from Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine. Fontaine owns a Junior 'A' team in Manitoba and at one point had tried to convince Daniel to play for his team. After a recent meeting with Fontaine, Stan was happy about the support the national chief has offered for the fund.

"I think it's a way to promote our own people by having a memorial hockey fund. You see, in my territory, Nishnawbe Aski, we don't have a forum where we can showcase our talent in young people," he said. "We do have business awards and [the Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund], but nothing for sports So we're hoping through this awareness process that eventually we can set up a sports forum where we would honour both young men and women in their fields of expertise."

Since the fund was launched, Stan Beardy said the response from the community has been overwhelming-they raised $10,000 in one day alone, even before the fund was publicized. The goal is to raise $100,000 within the year.

There has been one unofficial recipient of the fund so far. Desiree Girardin plays in goal for the girl's Thunder Bay Lightening Bantam 'AA' rep team. Daniel had been Girardin's mentor and was teaching her how to be a goalie. Daniel was very receptive to young people who tended to look up to him, said Stan.

After his death, Daniel's parents decided to donate some of his organs. While organ donation isn't commonly practiced among First Nation people, Daniel would have wanted it, Stan said.

"It's just in line with who he was, that he was a very caring, giving person."

Anyone wanting to donate money to the hockey fund can contact fund organizers by e-mail at hockeyfund@nationbase.ca.

Donations can also be mailed to: Daniel Beardy Memorial Hockey Fund, P.O. Box 27134, 500 E. Victoria Avenue, Thunder Bay, ON P7C 5Y7.