Keir Johnston knows how important an outlet sports can be.
The champion kayaker, he’s won national championships and competed at the Pan Am Games as part of Team Canada, said kayaking and canoe kept him focussed.
“For me, it’s a pathway, something to do,” he said. “Instead of going out and partying, it’s an easy out — it’s ‘I can’t, I got practice.”
These days, when he’s not on the water, Johnston works for the Aboriginal Sports and Wellness Council of Ontario. This weekend, he was in Thunder Bay to try and inspire some kids to get into canoeing and kayaking.
“We have a big event called the North American Indigenous Games coming up in 2017 in Toronto,” he said. “Fifty-six medals, I believe, can be won at that event in canoe/kayak, so we’re trying to get more kids involved in canoe/kayak and have a big showing at the those games, and this is a great way to get the kids introduced to the sport.”
Johnston gave a keynote address at the event, speaking about how to get involved in canoe/kayak and training, and he spent Friday morning out on the Boulevard Lake water showing the youth some paddling techniques.
Nishnawbe Aski Nation Deputy Grand Chief Derek Fox said part of the Summer Sports Festival’s purpose is introducing NAN youth to different sports (weekend events included canoeing, kayaking, track and field and basketball).
Fox speaks from experience. He played high-level hockey — Thunder Bay Kings on to major junior — and called sports his “lifeline.”
“For our young people, it’s the same thing,” he said. “My belief is sports and education are two avenues that they could utilize to battle the suicide issues, the boredom, the bullying, whatever it is, to make a life for themselves.”
And sports, Fox said, builds bridges.
“I’ve had a lot of non-native hockey teammates,” he said. “In playing hockey together, we learned who we were, as friends.”
The two-day NAN Summer Sports Festival wrapped up Saturday.