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NAN Press Release

NAN welcomes arrival of new athletics program to its communities

THUNDER BAY, ON, May 4 /CNW/ - Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Deputy Grand Chief Terry Waboose welcomes the arrival to Nishnawbe Aski Nation schools a program called Fun in Athletics.

Administered by International Fun and Team Athletics (IFTA), the program is designed to educate youth of the achievements of great First Nations sporting heroes, and through modern physical fitness programming and goal setting, to inspire them to take up sports.

"The arrival of this program could not have been more perfectly timed as it comes on the heels of a 140-page indigenous children's health report stating that the obesity rate for First Nations children living on reserve is 36 per cent compared to eight per cent for Canadian children overall," said Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Deputy Grand Chief Terry Waboose.

"Not only will this program promote positive First Nation role models from the sporting community to our youth, it will also result in positive impacts to their health and self-esteem as growing individuals."

Canadian Athletics has a history steeped with elite First Nation athletes including World Marathon record-holder Tom Longboat, Olympic track stars Joe Keeper, Alex Couteau and many others successfully competing at the world level, added Waboose.

"At the moment, there are fewer First Nations athletes competing at elite levels than there were even a couple of decades ago," Waboose said. "Introducing programs such as Fun in Athletics to our communities opens doors for young hopefuls who might have their sights set on participating in events such as the North American Indigenous Games but don't yet have an outlet for training. It is with great appreciation that I congratulate the staff at IFTA for bringing such positive and beneficial programming to our youth."

The program will be offered to all NAN communities in the province over the course of the next two years.

"The program is initially being delivered by IFTA development officers who will travel to the communities," said Ivan Bunner, IFTA General Manager. "However, the goal is to create a sustainable program that will be run by each First Nation community and establish a competition structure that will last for many years to come. IFTA will work directly with all the communities who wish to participate using exciting programs as a focus for children to have fun and get fit."

This project was made possible by Athletics Ontario, the governing body for track and field in the province. By using this connection to the established club structure, it is hoped that talented First Nation children can be given the opportunity to become tomorrow's successful athletes.

Nishnawbe Aski Nation is a political territorial organization representing 49 First Nation communities located in the James Bay Treaty 9 and Ontario portions of Treaty 5 territories - an area covering two thirds of the province of Ontario.