Two Nuu-chah-nulth basketball players with Tseshaht Pride are in Halifax this week competing with Team BC in the North American Indigenous Games.
Kura Lua Rorick (Hesquiaht and Haida First Nations) and Jaidin Knighton (Tseshaht, Ahousaht and Ditidaht First Nation) of Port Alberni earned their spot on Team BC’s U16 female basketball team during a final round of tryouts in Maple Ridge at the end of May. Another Tseshaht Pride teammate, Genevieve Pierre (Lilw’at First Nation) also made the Team BC roster. Although she lives in Vancouver, Pierre played with the Pride team at the Junior All Native tournament earlier this spring.
The North American Indigenous Games are taking place in Kjipuktuk (Halifax), Nova Scotia within the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq.
READ: Nuu-chah-nulth softball players headed to North American Indigenous Games
Other Nuu-chah-nulth athletes from the Alberni Valley also competing at NAIG 2023 include Hayleigh Watts and Jamie-Leigh Lucas with the U16 Team BC softball team, Karen Williams of Nitinaht Lake (U14 female canoe/kayak) and Kate Edgar (U16 Female Badminton).
There are 535 Indigenous athletes, coaches and mission staff representing 14 sports from across B.C. attending NAIG 23. The 2023 North American Indigenous Games will be the largest multi-sport and cultural event to ever be held in Atlantic Canada, with a total of 5,000 athletes, coaches and team staff from 756 Indigenous nations participating. There are 21 venues and 3,000 volunteers.
Halifax was originally chosen as the site for the 2020 NAIG but those games were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Team BC has taken part in every NAIG since its inception in 1990.
Team BC athletes arrived in Halifax on Saturday, July 15. The U16 female basketball team’s first game was scheduled for 4 p.m. Atlantic Daylight Saving Time (ADT) Monday, July 17 against Wisconsin (Halifax is four hours ahead of Pacific Daylight Time or PDT) in Preliminary Pool C. They play again on Tuesday (opponent TBD) and Wednesday, July 19 against Manitoba.
Knighton, interviewed on national television, said adjusting to jet lag and their accommodations were her first priorities on arriving in Halifax on the weekend. “I’m excited to play basketball,” she said.
Edgar’s first badminton match is scheduled for 9 a.m. ADT Tuesday, July 18 against Hayden Cardinal from Alberta.
Williams’ first canoe/kayak heat ran early Monday morning, where she placed 12th in the U14 female 3000-metre event. She also has matches on Wednesday and Thursday in various U14 race distances.
The U16 female softball team won their first match 10-1 over Nova Scotia on Monday morning. Lucas and Watts each scored for Team BC. They will play two games on Tuesday and Wednesday and one on Thursday.
The NAIG games will take place until July 23.
susie.quinn@albernivalleynews.com
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