To a person, the athletes that we talked to before leaving for the 2023 North American Indigenous Games in Nova Scotia were looking forward to visiting the "Cultural Village" almost as much as they were looking forward to competing.
Team Ontario soccer coach Ghislaine Goudreau, however, takes that to a whole other level entirely.
Coordinator and professor of Indigenous Studies at Cambrian College, Goudreau introduced more than a fair share of the ancestral history of her community into her role as the head coach of the provincial girls team that is part of the nine team U19 field participating in Halifax.
"I created a program where we (coach and players) would meet weekly, and the program I created is an indigenous program based on the Seven Grandfather Teachings," said Goudreau, a 50 year-old who was still playing summer soccer in Sudbury until just a few years ago.
"We look at everything based on the medicine wheel; the physical aspect is just one aspect," she continued. "There is the mental, emotional and spiritual. A combination of that makes the best kind of athletes."
A naturally athletic youth in her younger New Sudbury days, the current resident of Lively recalled a somewhat different environment as she first dipped her toes into the sporting forum.
"My brother played hockey - but my parents tried to put me in ballet. That didn't go over so well," she laughed. Goudreau would go on to compete in ringette and eventually soccer as all-girls' teams were welcomed to the Sudbury high-school scene as she finished her time at Lasalle Secondary School.
Ironically, it was a neighbourhood connection to NAIG that first put the bug in her ear about the possibility of becoming involved in a coaching capacity.
"I bumped into some players out here (Walden)," said Goudreau. "There were some boys who were always practicing at Hillcrest. They had played in NAIG and the dad was telling me about it. My husband and I met through soccer, so the sport is a big part of my life."
Turns out that siblings Kiel and Jacxsen Cress and their father Jim lived just down the street.
"I registered to be a coach because I wanted my boys exposed to the game - and I always thought I would be a good role model for the girls," stated Goudreau. Though the initial commitment to the Games would come pre-Covid, the Sudbury woman was not about to let her passion wane.
Despite the challenges that come with trying to recruit soccer talent that qualify, Goudreau was adamant the larger goals were simply too important to let this opportunity slip by.
"A lot of our people have lost some of the knowledge and sport, sometimes, is a way to bring back some knowledge." In fact, the power of sport extends well beyond that for the ultra-friendly long-time Sudbury native.
"One of the goals that I have is to create a course entitled Sport and Reconciliation," suggested Goudreau. "This kind of hands on experience, being at an indigenous international event, is almost like research for this course."
Apparently, she is not alone in this thinking.
Bradie Granger, chair of Justice and General Studies at Cambrian and the woman to whom Goudreau directly reports also signed on as the team chaperone for her co-worker's squad, with the college itself fully on board, aligned with the efforts of the 2023 recipients of the CiCan Indigenous Education Excellence Silver Medal.
"What is really cool is that Cambrian is supporting our time to go there, which is amazing," said Goudreau.
The 2023 North American Indigenous Games opened on July 15th, running through to the 23rd, with some 756 Indigenous Nations expected to gather and celebrate on the atlantic coast.
Beyond those who were already identified in an earlier article, locals making the trip to NAIG include golfer McKinley Sobush as well as track participants Kane and Mackenzie Gideon, and Blaire Rickard.
