NAIG canoe team doubles in size
Canoe club preps athletes for summer tournament
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Thursday, June 8, 2017
INUVIK
The territory's top young canoeists were down at Boot Lake this week practising for the North American Indigenous Games in July.
Kyra McDonald and Shenise Vittrekwa are part of the 12-person canoe team attending the North American Indigenous Games this summer. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photos
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Twelve athletes will be going to the competition this year, in comparison to six in 2014.
"Lots of athletes noticed that canoeing was in the games and I think it was something that they wanted to do," said coach Shona Barbour. "Canoeing is such a popular sport in this region. There are lots of kids who paddle in the community races and they realized they can do it for NAIG too."
Darby Robert, 14, from Fort McPherson, is one of those youth.
She's been canoeing for three years and this will be her first time at NAIG.
"My parents introduced it to me when I was young and we would go to canoe races," she said.
She's excited for the event and said the hardest thing to master is keeping the canoe straight.
"It's a family tradition, and it's fun," said Robert about canoeing.
Competitors at NAIG will race in doubles and singles events. All of the races are straight lines at varying lengths.
"Canoe racing is a lot different from recreational canoeing," said Barbour. "What we're doing is making sure their strokes are good and making sure the boats are going straight."
One of the major challenges is the lack of steering. Racers have to learn to keep the boat moving straight while paddling as hard as they can.
Young veterans Mackenzie McDonald and Darius Andre return to the team this year, after collecting four gold medals between them at the 2014 games.
McDonald also completed the Yukon River Quest last year, becoming the youngest person to finish it.
"You need to be such a good athlete," said Barbour. "It really shows strength, endurance and stamina, even a lot of mental strength for the solo races."
At the same time, it's a lot of fun to be able to practise outside in the Inuvik summer on Boot Lake instead of being cooped up in a gym, she said.
The canoe club also brought in coaches from Winnipeg and held sessions with youth and adults during its five-day clinic in Inuvik.
