The Manitoba First Nations School System hosted a Track and Field Meet with Ginew School in Roseau River Anishinaabe First Nation on May 30th and 31st. This year the event called for long jumps, high jumps, 100/400/800-meter races and lots of fun and laughter over the two-day event. Over 100 student-athletes came to participate from Roseau River, Bloodvein, Lake St. Martin, Lake Manitoba, Dakota Plains, Brokenhead, Keeseekoowenin, and Pinaymootang.
A big meet up such as this is a mix of diverse activity and rest; kids running, jumping, and throwing but also stretching, limbering, and even laying under tents to shade themselves from the plus 20 sunny weather.
The high jumpers had the whole gym in silent anticipation as the bar continued to get higher and higher, demanding some impressive skills to manoeuvre over without tipping the bar off the poles.
Everyone seemed happy to be at the event. The students were glad to compete, to be interviewed (even if there wasn’t much to say beyond “I had fun, and I ran as fast as I could”), and happy to be on the sidelines cheering on fellow students in their events.
We want to extend a big congratulations to all the student-athletes on their athleticism, sportsmanship, and school pride. Chief Craig Alexander of Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation came to give his closing remarks to the students gathered in the gymnasium on the importance of sports and skills development. “This is about a healthy lifestyle, and we hope you take these values and skills that come from learning sports home with you today.” Many benefits come from sport and physical activity for youth, a few being confidence, health, respect, and teamwork, which we have seen our students utilizing at this year’s Track and Field Meet. We are already looking forward to next year’s event!
Be sure to check out our photo gallery and video of the event below.
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