NAIG alumni comes full circle
- Submitted | February 03, 2014
When Tyrell Jake Sinclair entered INESCO Field in Denver, Colorado on July 2, 2006, kicking off the North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) Sports Warrior Games, he remembers in vivid detail the tremendous sense of pride, enthusiasm and "surreal" emotions he felt.
More than 45,000 spectators, athletes, volunteers and support staff were in attendance that day. The thunderous applause and fervour was not dampened by the downpour of rain at the Opening Ceremony. For Sinclair the gold and bronze medal wins in his running competitions put him on the plateau he dreamt, sacrificed and strove for.
"I would've been one of those statistics that we hear about, if not for sports," Sinclair says. "Playing hockey and running were my way of making friends and belonging; breaking down barriers and helping to find things in common with each other."
Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Sinclair spent the first seven years of his life living in Regina, including a short stint in the infamous North Central neighborhood, before moving to the George Gordon First Nation, a Cree Saulteaux community near the village of Punnichy, Saskatchewan in Treaty Four territory.
While most of Tyrell's friends went to high school in Punnichy, he chose to go to school in Raymore instead.
"My uncles and some of my family had a really rough time graduating from the Punnichy high school and being successful in university classes. I wanted to play sports."
He says sports helped him deal with racism.
"Once people could see I was good at sports, it helped with interacting with them it gave me confidence with non-Indigenous people."
Sinclair's first confidence boost from sports came from hockey and later competitive running events. At the age of 15, he "cleaned up" at the Kawacatoose Summer Games winning gold in every event he competed in. By 16, he was in a Denver Colorado stadium realizing his dream of professional athletics and the pride of performing in front of his parents, family and members of the George Gordon First Nation who were bussed to Colorado to watch him and other athletes compete.
"Saskatchewan does not have a high caliber, high impact track and field program so for those of us who dreamed the dream of competing at a professional level, these Games were it. When I got to NAIG, it really was something I began to see as a way of gaining scholarships for university."
Sinclair shares Games founder Willie Littlechild's vision of an Indigenous specific games and to conceive and realize a dream. He says it isn't just about the participation of athletes or of cultural supports and program, but an inner feeling, the pride that he himself experienced.
"Littlechild called it a winning spirit, something we have in all of us, to be able to feel that and to share it, whether it's with family, community or nations. That winning spirit, it's a feeling of how good it is to be an Indigenous person and I know for sure that's one of the deepest experiences that I came away with. It has kept me going in life, knowing I can achieve anything I set my mind to."
Today, Sinclair is on the team of staff at the Host Society of 2014 NAIG. He still competes in marathons including the Regina Police Service half marathon and the Queen City Marathon. He is a fourth year Economics student at the University of Regina with dreams of one day owning a home, having a career and raising a family.
His advice for athletes coming to compete in the Regina NAIG 2014: "Go all in. Dont hold back."