U of Sask graduate urges youth to follow their hearts

Page 15

Sports have always been an important part of Jacqueline Lavallee's life. In high school, the young Metis woman from Saskatoon was involved in basketball, soccer, track and volleyball. And when she attended the University of Saskatchewan, where she completed combined Education and Kinesiology degrees with a minor in Native Studies, she was on both the university's soccer team, and its basketball team.

How did she manage to balance both her academic workload, and participating in two sports?

"Well, the sport part of it works out pretty good, because a lot of time, basketball, we'd practice in the evening, and soccer was always right at the end of the day, late afternoon. So some days I would do two practices in a day," she explained.

"And academics wise, it was just a lot of organization, I guess, and discipline, and when we're on the road, making sure you're working hard on the road and getting things done in the evenings. High school was kind of the same, being really involved, so that prepared me for what university was going to be like too."

Lavallee graduated from university this past fall and, of the six years she was at U of Sask, she spent five years as a member of the soccer and basketball teams, having had to sit out the first year because of injuries she'd sustained in a car accident.

Although she's been recognized often for her skills as an athlete, last year Lavallee was also recognized for her accomplishments in the classroom. In 2002, she was named as a Royal Bank of Canada Academic All-Canadian, an honor that goes to only 10 students from across the country each year. Through the program, certificates of recognition are given to exceptional student athletes who manage to maintain an academic average of 80 per cent or better while competing on one of their university's varsity teams. Then, the top two athletes-one male, one female-from each Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) region are selected to be recognized nationally. Lavallee was selected as the female recipient for the Canada West conference.

Although Lavallee is no longer a student at the University of Saskatchewan, she is still active in the school's sports program, though this time from the sidelines. This school year, she has returned to the university as assistant coach of the basketball team.

While coaching is something Lavallee has always been interested in, her current coaching duties are just a temporary diversion from playing the game herself. A couple of game related injuries, compounded by years of playing, finally took their toll, and she had to have surgery on her shoulder in the fall.

"Coaching's always been something I'd like to pursue. I've always had a passion for wanting to learn more about the game and the coaching aspect. But it was more the injury that kind of sidelined me and forced me to take on that kind of role as opposed to being an active player," she said. "Otherwise, I was planning to try and go play in Europe for the year, overseas, in some of the professional leagues. But because of the surgery, I had to stay back for the year. So now, I'm actually just in the process of getting out some player resumes to try and play in Europe this fall."

As for her plans for the summer, she's gearing up for national basketball team tryouts, which will take place in June. If she makes the team, then she can look forward to the Pan Am Games, which will be held in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic in August, and for qualifications for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

Lavallee will go into the tryouts with experience competing at the national level. "I played in two world university games on the student national team, and last summer I played with the senior national team, and we were competing in Spain," said Lavallee.

While right now and for the foreseeable future, Jacqueline Lavallee will be focusing on the game, in the long term, she sees herself coaching and teaching.

"I'd love to coach. I haen't decided at what level, and that's something I'll just work towards later on. But yes, I'll definitely be teaching phys. ed. And then also I really enjoy the Native studies, so I guess one of my biggest aspirations is to get into the schools and teach people more about Native studies, and have them understand what it's all about and history. And working with Aboriginal youth, too, and trying to be a role model."

While Lavallee said that when she was growing up, she wasn't aware of any Aboriginal role models that were involved in sports, she has seen that change over the last few years. When she first started competing at the university level, she didn't see any Aboriginal players, or many players from any visible minorities, on opposing teams. "But now, I definitely see way more Aboriginal athletes out there on the court, which is great to see. And even in high schools too, you see more kids getting involved, I think, than in the past."

From her own experience, Lavallee knows that one of the barriers young Aboriginal people can face in trying to get involved in sports is the expense involved.

"I think a big thing for me was a lot of times when I was younger, growing up, a lot of the opportunities I was given I had to find other resources in order to do them. It was a lot of money trying to grow up playing in the club systems and playing on provincial teams and things like that. I think there are a lot of resources available to Metis youth in sport, and a lot of people who are willing to help out. You see a lot of kids drop out because of financial reasons, and, you know, that was probably a big factor for me. Getting that help is what allowed me to succeed," she said.

Lavallee found the resources she needed to keep her in sport through her Metis local, and through the university itself, she said.

"And nowadays, I'm sitting on a committee at Sask Sport, and there's a whole new core sport strategy, and there's a lot more funding being pushed toward getting Aoriginal youth more involved in sport, because statistics obviously show what a positive impact sports have on your life. So there's definitely a lot more opportunity for funding in that sense, applying for funding for teams and then also for individuals. So I would say your provincial sports organizations for sure, you'd have to go check that out.

"There are scholarships too, that are available just to Aboriginal students, and there's a whole guide of them. And a lot of those go unclaimed each year, or people who aren't necessarily as qualified will get them because nobody else applied. So it's a matter of seeking out all those resources."

While tracking down financial support is one obstacle Aboriginal athletes must overcome, another is being able to believe in yourself and your capabilities enough to continue to work toward realizing your dreams.

"It sounds so cheesy, everyone says it, but just not giving up. Trying to achieve your goals and dreams. Because I was playing two sports, a lot of people always told me I wasn't going to go anywhere if I didn't chose, and you get a lot of pressure from a lot of areas about focusing on academics or quitting one or the other sport. Just follow your heart, really, is what I ended up doing. You have to maybe ignore a lot of people who are going to tell you you're not going to succeed. You've got to always believe in yourself," she said.