God’s Lake basketball team fundraising to compete in Toronto

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This article was published 02/12/2016 (3217 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Northern Manitoba girls’ basketball team is hoping to raise enough money to travel next year to a tournament in Toronto in honour of a 14-year-old teammate who killed herself last month.

The God’s Lake Narrows First Nation School girls’ basketball team has started a gofundme crowdfunding initiative to gather donations to assist the team of girls aged 11-16.

The northern school from the remote, fly-in community has extremely limited resources for its girls’ team as the team needs $17,000 to outfit the 10 players with proper shoes and uniforms in addition to airline tickets to take part in the Gladiators Cup Tournament in Toronto next April. 

A press release from the community stated that the team is “reeling from the recent suicide of a teammate” as Harmony Okemow, who took her life last month at age of 14.

“Just going on that trip would probably bring us much closer than we are now,” Paige Okemow, a cousin of Harmony Okemow and a player on the team, said in the release. “When we get there we will play hard for Harmony. We will try our best to win for her.”

The team is coached by the math teacher Kishma Davidson, who in the press release described his team as “enthusiastic players who would love to develop their skills this year.” She said her team faces many economic barriers including the lack of basic items such as basketball shoes and uniforms.

“As most of our students come from low-income families, they have been deprived of opportunities that many other teenagers their ages are fortunate to enjoy,” Davidson stated.

Kiera Hill, a God’s Lake student and player on the team, said it would mean a lot to her and her teammates if people join them in their fundraising efforts and help them honour Harmony’s memory.

“Even though she is not here physically, I still want to make her proud,” Hill said. “She was the star on the team and she always had a smile on her face. We want to make her smile even bigger now that she is in heaven. So please sponsor us if you can. It will make our day if you do!”

If their campaign is successful and the team can travel to the Toronto tournament, Davidson said it would be the first time most of the players have ever flown outside Manitoba.

It would be a chance for the young players to build their basketball skills while being exposed to another part of Canada.

“This is an opportunity to transform a lot of the pain these girls are suffering into a program that will not only build skills and self-esteem, but create hope too,” Davidson said in the statement.

Davidson said she hopes other schools will team up with her school’s team to hold raffles or a bake sale fundraiser to help her students.

The release noted that past “pairings of northern and southern schools have resulted in important educational opportunities and connections that have been mutually beneficial as young people learn the history behind today’s headlines about Truth and Reconciliation.”