Sporting opportunities for First Nations youth

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This article was published 23/07/2019 (2261 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Matt Nobess has found a way to fuse his passion for sports and providing opportunities for youth.

The St. Vital resident is the founder of Indigenous Vitality, a non-profit organization that specializes in organizing sports camps for First Nations communities.

According to Indigenous Vitality’s website, its goal is to provide a safe and positive environment created for youth to “learn fundamentals such as skills and dry land training applied in drills and game scrimmages.”

The organization recently held its 2nd Annual Manitoba Indigenous Youth Ball Hockey Tournament, which took place on July 6 and 7 at Norberry-Glenlee Community Centre’s Glenlee site at 176 Worthington Ave., and featured more than 20 teams and 160 players.

The event, Nobess said, consisted of players aged between eight and 16 that travelled from First Nations communities across the province, including Berens River, Birdtail Sioux, Black River, Bloodvein, Chemawawin, Fisher River, Nelson House, Norway House, and Roseau River — to name a few. The tournament also included a team from Fort Frances, Ont.

After visiting a number of First Nations communities, Nobess was inspired to create a sporting outlet for youth.

“Talking to lots of kids and adults in these communities made me realize how important sport is to them,” Nobess, 33, said.

“This gives them the chance to travel to the city and take part in a tournament in a safe and positive environment where kids are encouraged to be active and have fun while enjoying sports, friendly competition and physical activity, which is so important.”

“It’s also something they can feel is theirs and it’s something they can look forward to,” he added.

In the future, the Glenlawn Collegiate alumnus — who spent the first part of his childhood in East Kildonan — hopes to continue to grow the Manitoba tournament, which could include potentially stretching it over multiple days and locations. Ultimately, this could eventually include several provinces.

“I feel like it’s important to give back in any way possible, and it feels good to offer help in any way,” said Nobess, who took part in a number of sports in his youth, including basketball, hockey, lacrosse and boxing.

“I have two kids myself and I know how important it is to keep them active. Sports should be a big part of a kid’s childhood. I hope this tournament provides a gateway to physical activity, not least because they may have been exposed to a lack of resources in their communities. It’s so important to be able to bring these kids together and hold a tournament for them and organize something they can be proud of.”

Moving forward with future tournaments, Nobess said he’d gratefully appreciate volunteer help, especially from individuals willing to referee games.

Go online at indigenousvitality.com for more information or email mattnobess@gmail.com to connect with Nobess.