Basketball offers bright future for First Nations youth in B.C.
Basketball tournament brings hundreds of First Nations players together in Vancouver
For most people basketball is just a sport, but for many of the First Nations youth at the Native Basketball Festival last weekend, in Burnaby, B,C., basketball is a brighter option than some of the choices they might face in their home communities.
"There's only like two choices. There's either drugs or alcohol, which is like that for a lot of people," said Jayson Wing.
"But I chose basketball. And it brought me here and it's keeping me clean."
"I was taken away from my parents at a young age ... just because.. of their drinking," said Anna Atilo, a basketball player from Ahousaht First Nation.
"Basketball is such a big part of communities ... and if I didn't have it ... I'd probably be doing a lot of the same things. Drinking and drugging."
Simon Fraser University, in Vancouver, hosted the Native Basketball Festival. Only in its second year, it brought in teams from Washington State, Alberta, and B.C. — 32 teams and as many as 300 players, from oldtimers to a whole new generation.
"Where we live, it's our all sport. We play all the time [in] Ahousaht!" said nine-year-old Maikeli Kalocoukovale.
With files from CBC reporter Kamil Karamali.