LINKLATER LIT’S SPECIAL GUEST
Role model for Aboriginal youth
Michael Linklater’s two-point plan extended far beyond scoring baskets.
1. No drinking.
2. No drugs.
At the time, he was a Grade 6 student in Saskatoon. Now 35, he has adhered to the vow he made more than 20 years ago.
Linklater — one of the world’s elite three-on-three basketball players — has never used drugs and has yet to touch a drop of alcohol.
But he has touched so many lives, positively affecting the young Indigenous people to whom he routinely speaks during his role as the Coaches Association of Saskatchewan’s coaching and officials development co-ordinator.
The special guest at the 66th annual Luther Invitational Tournament, Linklater — whose family is from Thunderchild First Nation, near Turtleford — talks about various matters, such as making positive lifestyle choices and establishing goals.
“Sometimes we go into professions that we really don’t want to be in, and you’re just going through the motions in life,” Linklater says. “Life is too short to really go through it at a mediocre pace if you’re doing something that you’re not passionate about.
“It’s important for youth to find something that you’re passionate about and stick to it. That might be something that’s outside the box. For example, who knew that I could make a living off of doing basketball clinics and training, as well as doing speaking engagements and still continue to play well into my 30s at a very high level?
“So as long as they stay true to their inner voice and their inner beliefs, that’s something that I strongly encourage them to do.”
Linklater is also familiar with the outer voices — those of people who have made racist comments.
“At times, it could hurt, but there’s this old saying. It’s about a gift. If somebody offers you a gift and you choose not to accept it, who does the gift belong to? The person offering it,” he says. “So when people want to give you crap and you don’t accept it, it’s their crap to deal with.”
When Linklater has dealt with adversity, he has turned the situation into a positive due to his determination and, of course, his passion.
For example, he was born with knock-knees, which did not prevent him from eventually starring for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s basketball team when it won the 2010 national title.
“In my early years of life, I couldn’t actually walk properly because my knees were so knocked,” Linklater recalls. “I was actually in casts for the first part of my early walking days. What ended up happening was they found me sitting in a bathtub soaking my casts, so they came off early.”
In the years ahead, Linklater participated in and excelled at various sports. An avid runner, he also played soccer, football and, to this day, basketball.
Linklater recalls that he “stumbled into basketball” when he was 12 years old.
“I picked up the ball and I still haven’t put it down,” he says with a smile.
His on-court repertoire eventually extended to throwing down some dunks, despite being 5-foot10.
“I had a goal to dunk,” he says. “I think it was my Grade 11-12 summer, I went through a training program and finally was able to dunk.
“Right now, I can’t do it anymore. I’m a little too heavy and too old.”
But he is still a magician on the court, excelling at three-on-three hoops — at which he has represented Canada internationally — while using his story, his passion, to inspire others.
As a motivational speaker, Linklater often addresses large crowds — only to discover down the road that he influenced people who were once in the audience to improve their lives and make better choices.
Out of the blue, people approach and thank him while relating their own stories of success and, in some cases, perseverance.
“A lot of teens — and even us as adults — make decisions based on fear … being fearful of what people are going to be thinking about us,” he says.
“For me growing up, it was really just being true to who I was, and being proud of my culture as well, because I dealt with a lot of racism growing up.
“One of the most important issues is re-finding our identity. Residential schools stripped our grandparents and our ancestors of their identity, and their children weren’t able to find that. With our generations now, we’re kind of losing some of those ways.
“For a lot of our people who are doing well, they understand where they ’ve come from. For a lot of our people who struggle, they’re still lost and not understanding where they come from. That’s something that has helped me along my life.
“It starts with being proud of who you are, because once you’re proud of something, it’s very difficult for people to tear that down or take that away from you.
“The message to youth is to know who they are, to be proud of who they are, and to not let anyone deter them from what they’re passionate about.”
Linklater, for example, is passionate about his heritage.
“We have a very beautiful culture. We’re a very beautiful people,” he says. “But all we see is the cover, where it’s our ancestors who have been struggling with addictions because of the trauma that they’ve suffered.
“So we see a lot of homeless Indigenous people. We see a lot of Indigenous people struggling with addictions. That’s what the mainstream society sees, and they want to paint everybody with that same brush.”
That influenced his decision to abstain from drinking and drug use.
“Growing up, I was told that all Indians are drunks and that I wasn’t going to amount to anything,” Linklater says. “This is as an elementary school kid.
“Hearing that, I couldn’t pinpoint one person who I knew — not only of Indigenous descent, but any descent — who had never experimented with any drugs or who had never tasted alcohol. So in Grade 6 I made that decision.” One that has stuck.
“That’s to lead by example,” he continues. “I don’t want to preach to youth and say ‘don’t drink’ and then go down to the bar and have a drink.
“It was leading by example, because I didn’t want my kids or any kids to grow up hearing those same things.
“In my journeys, I’ve been bumping into a lot more people who have been abstaining from drugs and alcohol their entire life. I’m not the only one. So it’s really fascinating to see.”