Basketball camp all about community Pride

North End girls teach younger kids to play the game they love

The Anishinabe Pride wanted to give back to their community.

After all, the 13- and 14-year-old girls from the North End would have never played a game in the Winnipeg Minor Basketball Association without the generous support of several community groups.

So Raven Boulanger, one of the team’s nine players, came up with the idea to run a free basketball camp for younger kids — seven to 10 years old — who wouldn’t otherwise have a chance to play.

“We wanted to give back to the community because the community sponsored us to play in our league when we needed help,” said Boulanger, a 14-year-old Sisler High School student.

“We’re hoping to get these kids to play for the Pride. Eventually we hope to have a boys’ team, too.”

Once Boulanger and her teammates decided to go ahead with the camp, they quickly realized they were going to need money. While doing some research, Boulanger discovered the United Way’s Youth Connections grants, a program designed to assist community projects conceived and driven by young people.

After Boulanger applied for the grant, five of the girls appeared before a United Way committee for an interview and were awarded the $1,000 they requrested.

Thanks to those funds, the camp’s 15 participants each received their own basketball, jersey and shorts. The money was also used to provide a healthy snack to the kids at each of the 10 weekly sessions. All participants were students at Shaughnessy Park School chosen by their gym teacher because of their passion for basketball.

As parents watched their children participate in the final session last Thursday, they lamented that the program was over.

“It should be more weeks,” said Carol, who asked that her last name not be used, as she watched her son and daughter doing drills. “The kids wish it was longer. My son’s always loved sports, and my daughter loves it, too.”

Boulanger and the other Pride players tried to keep the practices fun for the kids by always saving time for scrimmages, but they’re also serious about developing strong basketball fundamentals through shooting, passing, ball handling and footwork drills. The kids also learned offensive and defensive basics, as well as the rules of the game.

“Everyone has improved at something,” said Boulanger. “They’re a really good bunch of kids, committed to building their skills.”

Jackie Anderson, who manages the Pride, said the goal is to make the camp an annual event, and to do one in the fall as well.

“We’re not getting enough kids involved in basketball,” she said. “Hopefully this will open some doors for them.”

The Anishinabe Pride (anishinabe is an Ojibway word for aboriginal people) were formed two years ago, when the WMBA changed admission rules for its teams.

Five girls from the Shaughnessy Park area had no team to play for until Anderson was able to find funding from the Manitoba Metis Federation, Ma Mawa Wi Chi Itata Centre, the Boys and Girls Club and the Manitoba Aboriginal Sports and Recreation Council.

Since the team was formed, seven of its players have made Team Manitoba for the North American Indigenous Games, Boulanger has been chosen to pay for Manitoba’s high-performance team, and all the players have made their high-school teams.