Alberta Sports News - Year in Review 2012

First time hosts, medal-winners among sporting highlights

Aboriginal athletes experienced a successful 2012. In the highlights, are two boxers on the extreme ends of their careers. Fifteen-year-old Dakota Belcourt began his career with a silver medal in his first-ever provincial competition, while Wayne Bourque, who experienced boxing success in the 1970s and ’80s, was recently inducted into the Wood Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame.

Boxer wins silver
Taking part in his first ever provincial competition, Métis boxer Dakota Belcourt, 15, won a silver medal at the Alberta Winter Games this past February. Belcourt competed in the Junior C 60-kilogram category. Athletes in this grouping were aged 15-17 and had to have had less than 10 amateur fights in their career. Belcourt’s coach Rick Hoeppner was pleased his fighter was able to take part in the provincial event. “It was a great opportunity for him, especially for his age,” he said. Hoeppner feels Belcourt has several qualities that will make him successful in the ring. “He’s tall, he’s got long arms and great movement. He’s light on his feet and he can get up on his toes and dance around. That’s what you want in a boxer.” The Games featured more than 2,500 athletes participating in 20 sports.

Eagles host Provincials
The Hobbema-based Eagles, from Ermineskin Junior Senior High School, made history in March as the first First Nations school to host an Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association provincial tournament. The Eagles, who were seeded 12th, received an automatic berth as host for the provincial boys high school A basketball championships, held March 15-17, However, the Eagles were soundly beaten in all three of its matches, its closest loss was a 21-point game. The team, though, were content simply in competing in the tournament. “It’s always nice to win games but it was an experience for us,” said Ermineskin coach Mike Sonnenberg. The school received plenty of media coverage by hosting the tournament. “I think it meant a lot and it really boosted our athletic program,” Sonnenberg said.

Medal winners at AWG
Numerous athletes from Northern Alberta returned home with hardware from an international competition this past March. Northern Alberta was one of the nine regions that participated in the Arctic Winter Games held in Whitehorse from March 4-10. Northern Alberta’s contingent, which included just over 230 entrants, many of whom were Aboriginal, captured a total of 104 medals and placed fourth over-all in the team standings, behind Alaska (190 medals), Yukon (122 medals) and Northwest Territories (116 medals). Skye Quintal-Janiver, a three-time former AWG participant who won three gold medals as a participant, served as Northern Alberta’s head coach for the Dene Games participants this time. She coached teams to four bronze medals. The other competing regions from the circumpolar north were Nunavut, Nunavik (Northern Quebec), and Greenland, as well as a Russian-based team called Yamal and a club called Sapmi, featuring athletes from Finland, Norway and Sweden. About 2,000 athletes competed in 20 events. The Arctic Winter Games are held every two years.

Silver at Nationals
They were unable to prevent a Drive for Five yet members of the Alberta boys’ squad were pleased with their efforts at the 2012 National Aboriginal Hockey Championships. The Alberta squad captured the silver medal at the tournament, which was held May 7-12 in Saskatoon. The Saskatchewan boys’ team won its fifth consecutive national title by beating Alberta 5-1 in the gold-medal contest. “I knew that with the talent pool we had and with the guys that we had brought with us that we would contend and be in the top three,” said Greg Desjarlais, the manager of the Alberta club.  The Alberta girls side also came close to capturing more hardware at the 2012 event, but was edged 4-3 by Ontario in the bronze-medal match.

Boxer enters hall
A Metis boxer nicknamed The Flurry from Fort McMurray became a hall of famer in 2012. Wayne Bourque, who had a stellar amateur career in the 1970s and ’80s, was inducted into the Wood Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame this past June. “It’s nice to be remembered and I am very honoured,” he said. During his career Bourque fought an estimated 130 times, winning about 110 of those bouts. Bourque had hoped to represent Canada at the ’84 Los Angeles Olympics but a knee injury suffered prior to the Canadian Olympic trials derailed those hopes. Though he retired in 1985, Bourque did have one more fight. At the age of 50 he became a world champion. In 2009 he competed in the Ringside Masters World Championships in  Kansas City. He was crowned a world champion in the 45-55 age grouping after winning his one and only fight in the light heavyweight category.