N.W.T. wrestler in AWG credits pannorthern program for building confidence

Because of wrestling, Han‐ nah Bekale says she's learned discipline, confi‐ dence and met lots of new people.

Bekale, 15, from Gamèt ı ,̀ N.W.T. is competing in the Arctic Winter Games. No matter how she does, she says she's proud of herself for overcoming her shyness, meeting the challenge of travelling to a new place and giving her all on the mat.

"I did what I need to do, I came here for what I need to do and I'm very proud of my‐ self for that," she said.

Bekale is a participant in a pan-northern program using wrestling as a vehicle for mental and physical health.

Monique Smith, a school counsellor in Gamèt ı̀ and Wekweètì and a former var‐ sity wrestler, is building the program and calling it Team North.

Her goal is to create a mentorship network where athletes feel connected to each other and see them‐ selves represented by more experienced competitors.

Loryn Evans-Muswagon has been that mentor for Bekale.

Last year, Bekale attended a wrestling camp in Calgary that Smith was helping facili‐ tate.

Bekale said she felt scared and out of place.

"I felt like I was the only res kid there," she said.

Evans-Muswagon, Cree from northern Manitoba, was also coaching at the camp and Smith suggested she do some training with Bekale.

"Afterwards I asked Han‐ nah, I said 'how was that for you and Loryn?' " Smith said, "and Hannah said something to the effect of, 'good, she looks like me.' "

Evans-Muswagon now lives in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut and is an AWG coach for Nunavut's wrestling team.

As an Indigenous woman in wrestling, she said she wants to be the representa‐ tion she was missing as a young athlete.

"You don't know that In‐ digenous people can be in these roles and be in these positions and when you do see it and you can picture yourself in that position … It's a very empowering feeling," Evans-Muswagon said.

"That's kind of the role that I'd like to play when I'm in these spaces, working with other Indigenous youth to let them know that they belong here, that even just showing up is enough."

With Evans-Muswagon, Ulukhaktok coach Jacob Klen‐ genberg along with other northern coaches, Smith is hoping to create more camps and workshops for wrestlers across the territories. She says she hopes to engage ex‐ perienced athletes too, like Nunavut's Eekeeluak Avalak who won gold at this sum‐ mer's North American Indige‐ nous Games.

Smith says she's applied to the Arctic Inspiration Prize to fund the program and up to this point has been finding funds through various onetime grants.

She says money is a real obstacle, especially since she can often only get the grant once the athletes travel. That means that for camps like the one in Calgary last year she had to charge Bekale's trip to her personal credit card.

But Smith says she's de‐ termined to grow Team North and help share some of the lessons she's learned through sport.

"One of the big important things is that we need to cre‐ ate opportunities to chal‐ lenge ourselves. If we don't challenge ourselves, we don't grow," she said.

"The goal is building up mental health resiliency, wrestling just a vehicle."