HAY RIVER
An unusual team of basketball players last week visited last week, using smaller statures to bring a big message.

Farmer Pete, left, helps Carson Borchuk do a free-throw as he would if he had the same proportions as one of the Lil' All Stars. - Sarah Ladik/NNSL photo

"It's all about anti-bullying," said Jenna Cassidy, member of the Lil' All Stars Group. "It's all about making the hurt stop."

The experiences she and her fellow teammates, Farmer Pete and Mourtouzali Mourtouzaliev, had growing up as little people motivated them to create the program that takes them to schools across the country to talk about the harmful effects of bullying.

"We talk about all aspects of teasing and bullying," she said. "A lot of kids now hide behind their computers, but they can do so much damage. We all have to stand together against all types of bullying."

The trio visited Ecole Boreale, the Chief Sunrise Education Centre, Harry Camsell School and Princess Alexandra Middle School during the course of their two-day visit, and played a basketball game open to the public against players from Diamond Jenness Secondary School on Thursday night. More than 250 showed up for the game, where regular play was interspersed with comedic interludes.

"We got a good response from the four schools," Farmer Pete told The Hub. "There was a lot of involvement and questions."

Bobbi Hamilton, who organizes the Hay River Community Justice Committee which brought the Lil' All Stars to town, said she was pleased with how the visits had gone, and hoped students had really heard the message.

"The reception has been fantastic," she said. "Just the way they've engaged the kids has been amazing."

The common discourse on bullying now has shifted from playgrounds to online media, like Facebook and YouTube, but Hamilton said all are equally problematic. The issue was thrown into the spotlight recently by the suicide of Christian Migwi following online bullying. The Behchoko teen had moved to Edmonton with his mother and was said to have received hurtful Facebook messages.

Cassidy was quick to point out that all young people are exposed to or affected by bullying in some way, but that it's up to everyone to come together as a community to stop it in its tracks, long before it gets to the point where a child takes their own life. Hamilton agreed.

"I think because all of them have, to some degree, lived with bullying all their lives, and to see that others have overcome it can really help."