Local athletes honoured with Tom Longboat Award

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This article was published 11/10/2022 (1471 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Connor Church’s world brims with a palpable intensity as he approaches his next opponent, but is hushed once he steps on the mat.

Church, 19, has wrestled for just six years. Yet, the Winnipeg product has already made a name for himself as one of the premier young grapplers in the country.

What started as a means of self-defence has blossomed into a career aspiration.

“It’s an unexplainable feeling,” said Church, who now lives in Montréal where he trains. “It’s the adrenaline, the pressure, the expectations, the crowd, your coaches in the corner, the ref, and then you’re looking dead in the eyes of another wrestler, someone who’s been training for just as long, just as hard as you, and you’ve got to go out there and dominate him for the next six minutes.”

“It’s a lot of pressure. It’s hard to deal with, but it’s also exhilarating.”

Church’s inspiring run continued Thursday at the 66th annual Canada Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony, where he was announced as the winner of the Tom Longboat Award.

The Tom Longboat Award is a prestigious one, as it’s the longest-standing honour for Indigenous athletes in Canada. Created in 1951, the award, held by many who now bask in Canadian sports lore, has recently been claimed by the likes of Manitoban Olympic curler Kerri Einarson (Métis) and NHL draft pick Conner Roulette (Cree).

“It was a big deal,” said Church, who is of Métis descent. “I didn’t understand fully how much of a big deal it was until the (Canada) Sports Hall of Fame gala… and when I saw that I understood how prestigious it was.

“But it was a big deal just to be nominated. And I was just excited. It meant a whole lot.”

The award came in recognition of what’s been a breakout year for Church.

Entering this season, his most notable appearance came at the Western Canada Games. This year, he competed with some of the best in Canada at the Canada Summer Games in Niagara, Ont., where he dominated en route to a national title, earned a bronze medal at the Canadian National Wrestling Trials and went toe-to-toe with the premier U20 wrestlers of the world at the Pan American Championship.

Church has been in combat sports his whole life. While jiu-jitsu, boxing, kickboxing and karate took up most of his childhood, it wasn’t until Grade 9 that he decided to take his raw talent and delve into life on the mat.

“My dad had always wanted me to be in combat sports, self-defence was a really important thing for him. From there, it just kind of really took off from something I did to keep in shape to a passion. I love them all (combat sports),” he said.

It wasn’t until Church met renowned wrestler Leah Ferguson, who represented Canada at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, at the 2019 Western Canada Games in Swift Current, Sask., that he became hooked on the sport. The wrestling icon offered the young grappler some words of encouragement that he still adheres to today.

“She told me, ‘you move well… maybe you should come train with me,’ and I just fell in love with wrestling and the practices. I continued with it and it’s been the best thing ever,” Church said.

Church said his eyes are set on the Olympics, in what appears to be a feat not too far away for someone who has competed on some of the world’s grandest stages for his age group.

“I want to take wrestling as far as I can,” he said. “I’m just going to keep doing it until I hit a wall, I hit a plateau that I can’t overcome.”

“The highest possible award, I want to get it.”

Winnipegger Leah Miller joined Church on stage at Thursday’s gala.

Miller, 18, also claimed the Tom Longboat Award for her accomplishments in rowing.

“I was really amazed and surprised about it,” said Miller, who is of Cree descent. “But I was really happy to know that I’ve won the Tom Longboat Award because it’s a huge honour. I was just very happy and excited to go to the awards dinner with all the huge star athletes.”

Volleyball occupied most of Miller’s time growing up, but the then 12-year-old found herself looking for another sport to take up.

Through some of her mom’s friends who rowed, Miller’s parents enrolled the tenacious pre-teen in learn-to-row courses to learn the basics of rowing. The rest has been an easy sell for Miller.

“From the moment I sat in the boat, I just loved it so much, so much more than any other sport I was doing,” she said.

“When you get the boat moving really well, and it’s just smooth on the water, that’s really awesome. And when you’re in a crew boat and you’re all pushing together as a team to get the boat moving, that’s an awesome feeling.”

In 2019, Miller became a solo athlete, focused on getting stronger and faster, and taking rowing as far as she could. She’s now at the University of Michigan, where she competes on the varsity rowing team while majoring in biology with hopes of attending medical school.

Miller said she has two goals remaining: win a BIG10 Championship with the University of Michigan and appear in the Olympics.

jfreysam@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jfreysam