Sport Council wants to celebrate Indigenous contributions

Lethbridge Sport Council is looking for submissions recognizing and celebrating, past and current, Indigenous sport coaches, volunteers, athletes, and mentors.

Lethbridge Reconciliation Week has come and gone but our journey continues year-round. The Truth and Reconciliation Report has five calls to action related to sport. One of the five is to tell the story of Indigenous athletes in history in collaboration with the Indigenous community and sports halls of fame.

Many have been impacted by the benefits of sport, physical activity, and active recreation and we want to celebrate and recognize the people who help make it happen.

Reconciliation Lethbridge and the Lethbridge Sport Council launched the #ChangingLives Through Sport campaign during Reconciliation Week. It continues to Nov. 30 with monthly prizes of $100 to be used for a sport-related purpose such as sport registration fees.

No other domain of community life has demonstrated sport’s capacity to connect so many young people to positive adult role models and mentors, opportunities for positive development, and help to acquire critical life skills.

Shawn Daye-Finley, program and event coordinator at Lethbridge Sport Council would like to hear from you.

“Tell us about someone who used sport to impact your life or the lives of others in a positive way by tagging the Lethbridge Sport Council in a post and by making sure to use the hashtags #LethbridgeSport and #ChangingLives to be entered in the random draw contest”.

September’s contest winner, Colton Wells, wrote about a father who is giving back to youth through sport as a lacrosse and hockey coach. In his submission Wells wrote that he is also a proud hockey coach and would use the $100 prize money to purchase his team equipment to support the new COVID-19 sport protocols — pylons to ensure safe spacing and individual water bottles for each player to take home.

The Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame considers athlete, team, builder and special nominations.

Susan Eymann, executive director at the Lethbridge Sport Council said, “Contact our office to help submit a nomination if you know of an Indigenous individual that has had a major impact on sport or is an accomplished athlete or team.”

Lethbridge Sport Council wants to encourage anyone who knows of a potential sports hall of fame inductee from the Indigenous community or simply someone who is doing their part to keep the youth active to make a post and scream it from the rooftops — these individuals should be celebrated.

You have until Nov. 30 to post a #ChangingLives story or make a submission to shawn@lethbridgesportcouncil.ca

Visit Lethbridge Sport Council’s website for a full list of details on the contest:

https://lethbridgesportcouncil.ca/progra ms/pathway