***Girls in Red***

Just a few more pictures (taken by uncle Frank) of the ANT. This is a picture of my sister Jude, our mom, and me - our mom is wearing red in support of our team. We had a whole section of fans wearing red this year! This is the first year that our mom stayed for the whole game. She is usually too stressed to watch so she either peeks in at the door or goes home to clean and phones someone for updates.








This is our whole team for 2008. Well. . . not our whole team, Lori (our cousin) practiced most of the year with us and due to her heavy Masters Program, she was unable to commit to the tournament. We are expecting her to play next year for sure. Kerri and Cindy were unable to play due to ethnicity, but are very much apart of this team. Thanks to our coach uncle Wayne (left) for a good season of dedication, experience, pride in our team, and for being cool and collected when needed. Thanks to Glenn (right) for his commitment, dedication, and crucial game equipment like ball bag, oranges and water.


Here is a picture of me taking a foul shot. All our foul shots were very crucial in winning the game. I only shot 50% on the line, good enough to keep us in the game, but not good enough as a personal goal. (check out those pipes)

All Native Basketbal Tournament Fans Win 2008!!!

2008 ANT Metlakatla Crest

Here we are coming back from a time-out, re-freshed and re-grouped. This was one of the toughest games I have ever played in . . . in terms of energy and perseverance. The Kispiox girls are very tough competitors. We used our experience and skill and came out winners in the end.

Metlakatla is located on the north coast of BC, just across from Prince Rupert. We have the smallest community to draw athletes and fans from, but we sure have a lot of Heart! Playing for your own village and representing in the ANT is very meaningful to us. The final game was great entertainment for our fans and they kept us going with their chanting and cheering. Thank you Fans!!

WAI WAH METLAKATLA!!!

Here we go again!

I love the feeling I get when I walk into the Civic Center during this time of the year. I go to the Civic Center many, many times throughout the year for my son's hockey, basketball, badminton, and women's ball hockey, but during the All Native Tournament the cultural feelings are strong. I can feel the power of our people when we come together to join in this historical event every year. People hold their heads up high and take pride in being First Nations through the sharing of food, meeting new friends and re-uniting with old friends, listening and watching cultural celebrations, and just being Together. My family spends all day and sometimes well into the evenings at the ANT and we sit in our favourite spots and keep track of who is winning and who is out while eating fried bread, fried oolichans, smoked fish, clam fritters, and my favourite cockle chow mein.

The fans are amazing, especially the Metlakatla Fans - for such a small community we sure have a lot of support. I look forward to playing hard, playing fair, and playing together!