Coach Scott Haines is not always the easiest person to contact but fortunately he does check in regularly to let us know exactly where he is and generally that helps us understand just why he is not always easy to contact!
This week Scott called from the small and remote community of North West Angle 37 which is on Shoal Lake very close to the Manitoba border. He explained that getting there was quite an adventure requiring crossing into Manitoba, heading south and then coming back east into the USA. Before heading north again into Ontario visitors must cross the border control which consists of a Tele Video station at Jim's corner (pictured), this is a part of Homeland Security and failing to call in can lead to being fined $1000 per occupant of the vehicle and possibly more. Locals told him that Homeland Security is seen patrolling in planes, boats and they believe there are drones flying over the region. “That’s one phone call I had to make for sure” he joked.
After clearing the border they headed north and took a small boat to Windigo Island which is a small Ontario community consisting of 10 houses with just six families sending their children to the local school. The schoolhouse is a one room design with no gym and until recently the teacher was housed in an apartment attached to the school. Generously the band has now built a separate “Teacherage” which is still very close but at least allows the teacher to walk home in the evening even if it is only 30m! With only 15 students Windigo Island will most likely be the smallest school the team will visit this year, but as Scott explains it is worth the effort.
Michelle who is the school principal & teacher decided not to tell the children in case he didn’t show up, she explained that because they are so remote it is very common for visitors not to complete the journey and this can really disappoint the children. Those of us who know Scott know that he’s a hard man to stop and because he is aiming to take the Fun in Athletics program to every single First Nations community in Ontario, to him every one carries the same importance. So when he and Elise arrived with a full compliment of equipment the delight of the children was very much evident and perhaps even more so because it was a surprise.
Scott reported “Overall the event was great, we had all the students complete the Decathlon and most of them had great balance and agility as demonstrated with the Speed Bounce results where had a number of boys into the high 40's and one at 52. This is a very talented community of students, from the 14 students we tested, we had 3 bronze and 1 silver! Not bad eh? Jon Powassin who is the Recreation & Phys Ed teacher can be proud of this group. The weather was still fairly good so we did some of the events outside and then moved indoors for the agility and shuttle run. It was interesting to see two brothers pushing each other hard in the shuttle run because we have learned that children get better results when they are taking part together and friends and siblings definitely tend to push each other to run faster.
One of the things that make this job so enjoyable is how much we learn from the communities while traveling. Michelle (School Principal) told me that the students who graduate from Grade 8 go to either Warroad, MN or to Kenora but when students go to Warroad they have a 100 % graduation rate! This is very rare in Ontario but it seems the US schools have a 0% tolerance for skipping and go to many efforts to accommodate the students into the student body. They have a great special needs program that helps bring students who require help up to the standards necessary to have success. The High School football team provides a school-wide event at their home games that gives every student a sense of belonging. Also the students leave at 6 AM and return by 5 PM which allows them to live at home and provide the necessary environment for success.”
So while the IFTA team here in Toronto are saying goodbye to the last of the fall colours Scott and his team were contending with a snow storm while trying get home! They saw at least one truck in a ditch and he called us very happy to be back in Sioux Lookout but this hasn’t put him off returning and he has arranged to be back in Windigo Island in the spring and we look forward to hearing news of his second visit.
IFTA are supported by The Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion Sport for More grant “Keeping First Nations First” which is delivered in partnership with Athletics Ontario