Combining Indigenous culture and sport Former U of W basketball player creates program integrating traditional teachings with athletics By: Mike Sawatzky Posted: 4:43 PM CDT Friday, Sep. 15, 2023

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This article was published 15/09/2023 (1100 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Robyn Boulanger’s hard-nosed style was impossible to ignore during her five years as a member of the University of Winnipeg women’s basketball team.

Everything she did seemed to be with total commitment and seemingly little regard for her personal safety.

She lunged for loose balls and scraped and battled for rebounds with reckless abandon despite being slightly undersized at 5-5. She also hit three-pointers with supreme confidence while helping the Wesmen to an appearance in the 2022 U Sports final.

Now, the 23-year-old Winnipegger is applying the same approach to her life after university basketball. In partnership with close friend Adam Thompson, Boulanger has launched Zaagi’idiwin Sport Performance, an athletic platform that strives to combine Indigenous teachings with athletic training and coaching.

The new company is introducing its brand by hosting a female-only basketball training camp for athletes between the ages of 13 and 18 on Sunday at the U of W’s Duckworth Centre.

“My whole career being an Indigenous basketball player I’ve always had these ideas in my head,” says Boulanger. “I just couldn’t really act on it because of my busy life as a student, but now that I’m done basketball and I’m done my education degree, I’m just trying to find ways to kind of fulfill these dreams that I’ve been wanting to pursue, specifically in this area of sport. And now I decided to start this platform.”

The camp, though focused on Indigenous teachings, is not limited to First Nations athletes.

Boulanger, whose family originates from Berens River First Nation, has enlisted the aid of fellow Wesmen alum Kaelei Knutson (Opaskwayak Cree Nation and Long Plain First Nation), current University of Manitoba player Emily Mandamin (Iskatewizaagegan Shoal Lake 39) and ex-U of M player Nikki Gebken (Ojibway, Long Plains First Nation).

“I wanted to start this platform because I strongly believe I wouldn’t have been as successful as I am today without integrating my culture in my sport, the seven sacred teachings, the medicine wheel, and the sacred medicines, all those are components of why and how I got far with basketball, specifically at the University of Winnipeg,” says Boulanger.

“I decided to do this camp because I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to promote it for young athletes.”

“I decided to do this camp because I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to promote it for young athletes.”–Robyn Boulanger

The camp will also have sessions to teach on-court skills as well as training in movement and fitness.

The origins of Boulanger’s interest in mentoring young people may have been sparked in 2008 when she joined with her parents, Jackie Anderson and Marty Boulanger, and her older sisters, Skylar and Raven, to found the Anishinabe Pride basketball program. The club, which ended in 2020, gave inner-city youth a more affordable entree in the sport.

In the summer of 2022, Boulanger participated in several basketball camps on First Nations communities and the response from young people there solidified her resolve to start her own outreach in 2023.

“When we were there we saw the need and the motivation from these young athletes to come out and move,” says Boulanger. “But there’s nobody on those communities that are able to adequately teach these young people the basics of sports, the basics of movement,” said Boulanger.

“When they go on this platform, they’re able to see people that are similar to them and have similar experiences and stories, right? (We’d like to show) Indigenous kids from these communities and portray the message that you can integrate for a movement into Indigenous culture and you can bring your game to the next level by doing so.”

Boulanger is still accepting late registrations for Sunday’s camp. For more details, check out the Zaagi’idiwin Sport Performance on Instagram and Facebook.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca