Athletes takes a shot at Games

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At age 18, Horace Ratt is already an experienced athlete. The young man from the Peter Ballantyne Band in Pelican Narrows, 275 kilometres northeast of this city, has been competing in shot put, discus and javelin since he was in Grade 4. He has completed annually in city-wide track meets as well as at the Prince Albert Indian Student Education Centre, where he resides during the school term.

Ratt has chosen to concentrate on shot and discus for the North American Indigenous Games which will be held here July 18-25.

"I guess you could call the Saskatchewan Summer Games (in August of 1992) and the Saskatchewan Indian Summer Games (in June of the same year) as warm ups," says Ratt. "I came first in both shot and discus and second in javelin at the Indian Games but I strained my back during practice at the Summer Games so I didn't do as well. It was lots of fun though and I still came sixth out of 18."

Ratt has maintained a 75 per cent average in Grade 12 at St. Mary High School as well as playing Triple A hockey and training since December for the upcoming games.

"I am competing in the Men's Division and most of my competitors will be more experienced and older. I'm just a rookie," he laughs.

The rookie is not guaranteed a spot on the Saskatchewan team quite yet. The province has been divided into three zones: Northern, Central and Southern. In mid-June athletes in the three zones will converge on Prince Albert for a mini-meet and the winners will go on to represent Saskatchewan in July. However, Ratt is pretty confident he will take part in the Games.

And he should be. Sports are his life. The defenceman has been listed by the North Battleford North Stars of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and he plans to go on to post-secondary school and take recreational technology after which he hopes to go to university and take a two-year physical education course.

Also, Ratt is one of 10 co-runners chosen to take part in the symbolic run. Just prior to the Games, the runners will begin their trek from Edmonton to the North Saskatchewan River by Blaine Lake and then on to Prince Albert by canoe. The runners will carry a sacred bundle and will rest at reserves along the route.

Elwin Cameron, Games public relations assistant, says although he can't estimate the number of athletes, who will compete against Ratt, he knows athletes will be representing all the provinces and the two territories, plus athletes from the following states: North and South Dakota, northern and southern California, Minnesota, New York, Washington and Oregon.