AUNDECK OMNI KANING––Right to Play, Jumpstart and MLSE Foundation teamed up to provide Island youth with an exciting week of soccer and fun during the week of March 19. Sarah Williams, a Right to Play community mentor in Sheguiandah First Nation who coordinated the week-long clinic explained, “This is the ‘sports for development’ part of Right to Play. There’s an application process and we were lucky enough to be accepted. MLSE only goes to one or two clinics per year. They’ve been awesome, very kind and open. The youth took to them right away.”
Over 100 youth from Sheguiandah First Nation, Birch Island, Aundeck Omni Kaning (AOK) and other Island communities participated. “Everyone was welcome,” said Ms. Williams. “The youngest was five and the oldest was 22-years-old. There was a good mixture with all different levels of ability.”
Right to Play was the connector between Ms. Williams’ youth group in Sheguiandah First Nation for the clinic and the other participants. MLSE provided coaching and Jumpstart provided equipment and giveaways. “This has been great for confidence building,” she said. “Kids are learning skills, gaining confidence and building relationships.”
Dennis Thompson is an ex-soccer player and a Toronto Football Club (TFC) community coach who works with camps and clinics for youth, generally ages five to 14 years. He enjoys the satisfaction that comes with everybody having fun. “I like to share my knowledge,” he said. “I teach soccer movements on and off the ball, some agility stuff. It can lead into any sport.” Mr. Thompson was one of several TFC community coaches at the clinic. “It’s good to give back,” he said, “to see the dynamics of what the kids can and can’t do, and to watch them learn the mechanics of it.”
The clinic team arrived on Monday, March 19 with Sheguiandah First Nation hosting a meet-and-greet with community youth. Soccer clinics were held Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons at the Four Directions Complex in AOK. The group visited Grades 2 through 6 at Little Current Public School on Wednesday, Manitoulin Secondary School on Thursday morning and Shawanosowe School in Birch Island on Thursday afternoon.
Sessions began with icebreaker activities and were followed by skill development and team building activities. A soccer game concluded the session. The final clinic on Thursday was followed by a celebration that included cake.
“Right to Play is an amazing organization,” said Ms. Williams. “The partnership between Right to Play and the community ensures that all of the community mentors from Ontario to British Columbia have a solid support system. From program officers who visit twice a year and do weekly check-ins, to supportive supervisors within our communities to connecting the community mentors with one another one to three times per year. They even bring two youth from each community out once a year for them to connect with other youth and build their leadership skills.”
The Promoting Life-skills in Aboriginal Youth (PLAY) program partners with more than 85 First Nation communities and urban Indigenous organizations across Canada to deliver safe, fun and educational programming for Indigenous children and youth. Play-based programs are uniquely tailored to each community. Right to Play offers support to locally hired youth workers, helping them to design, launch, facilitate and measure the impacts of outcome-based after school programming, youth leadership, diabetes prevention, or sport-for-development programs.
Regular weekly activities for children and youth are provided in each community from September through August. Activities will vary by community but generally include leadership workshops, sport and recreational activities, volunteer opportunities, community events, sport clinics and youth-led initiatives. Right to Play believes that communities themselves have a strong vision for how to address the significant social and economic barriers they face and how to overcome these issues. The PLAY program acts as a bridge and a partner so that communities can lead the way in transforming the lives of Indigenous children and youth across the country.
“My community program is a day-to-day program focused on building self-esteem and creating a safe space for children and youth,” Ms. Williams said. “Our first pillar is education and we have a homework club. We’re lucky to have Maggie Ziegler. She works at the school and comes into Sheguiandah First Nation on Thursday nights to help with homework. We’re getting more high schoolers coming out. It’s so nice to see them coming out to do their homework.”
“Our second pillar is healthy relationships,” she continued. “With self, with family, with friends and peers, with community members and staff. Our program embodies so many things like coping skills and leadership skills. Our youth take the lead in fundraising for trips. Last year we went to Winnipeg for a national youth conference. This year we went to Canada’s Wonderland with 13 youth for the annual Halloween haunt. For some of them it was their first time going to Canada’s Wonderland.”
Sarah has been working with Right to Play in Sheguiandah First Nation for two-and-a-half years but this is the fourth year the program has operated in the community. “My mother was from Sheguiandah First Nation,” she explained, “and I’ve worked within the community at prior positions. I earned my Child and Youth Worker diploma at Loyalist College and returned to the Island, knowing that I needed to be back in my community. When I saw this position was available I had been searching for almost two years for a job that utilized ∆my skills and education. Right away I knew this was the job I was waiting for.”
It has been a very rewarding experience for Ms. Williams. “For small communities like ours it is sometimes difficult to access funds for positions such as a full-time youth worker,” she said. “Right to Play makes it easier for smaller communities to hire an individual to focus on children and youth programming, and provides greater opportunities for community growth. It’s about creating positive change for current and future generations.”
