To reach the Gold Standard in the Agility Challenge is no easy feat and only 5% of our population will manage to achieve it. Every now and then we get to meet these talented children and our job is to let them know that they have talent and to encourage them to use it in a positive way. This week Scott Haines found two such youngsters in two of the smaller communities.
Buffalo Point is a Treaty 3 community west of the Manitoba border and has a registered population of just above 100 and no school so they send their children to the nearby community of Sprague but at least one of their students is among the best we have seen in Canada. Ernest who is a 13 year old boy managed 571 points in the Decathlon gaining the Gold Award and the other top performance came from the community of Keewatin where a 12 year old boy named Spencer achieved a Standing Long Jump 2.52 of and a Vertical Jump of 61cm these are exceptional performances and he also gained a gold award with a Decathlon score of 591 points.
Both these students are keen on sports but this was the first time either student has seen these particular events and Scott is keen to see how they improve with practice. It is a long term goal of this project to see some of these children progress to the highest levels in their chosen activities and it is worth noting that all Olympic Athletes had to start somewhere. So Earnest and Spencer keep on enjoying what you do and maybe one day we will get to enjoy watching you compete on TV!
As always IFTA aims to give all the kids a fun experience and Scott told of a nice story in the Keewatin school where one first grade girl just couldn’t get the hang of the Hi-Stepper. This test requires a good degree of agility and co-ordination and she was completely puzzled and laughing which caused the other students and parents to laugh too. Scott chuckled “I must admit it was funny as the girl was laughing at herself too. I quickly went over and reminded her she was fast but we need to work on the mistakes (faults). Within a minute, she had mastered the skill and was moving through the Hi-Stepper like an advanced athlete.”
Scott commented that many communities in the north have a number of their students bused to Public Schools. While they have opportunities to join athletic teams, it can be very problematic for transportation issues and as a result, many of these young people are unable to join the athletic teams. This is one of the reasons IFTA is organizing the new remote communities program which allows schools to compete without actually leaving own premises. The first one of these competitions will be taking place over the next couple of months and as the process is fine tuned we expect more and more communities to take part.
More news from the North of the province soon!