Pamela Carifelle: a chip off the old block

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Although Raymond Carifelle is thinking about retiring from community baseball, his 17-year-old daughter Pamela lives for sports -- any sports.

A "chip off the old block" Pamela won five gold, three silver and two bronze medals at the Canadian Native Friendship Center's track and field competitions in 1989.

She plays baseball for the Peavine Young Guns and her enthusiasm for sports does not stop there.

"When she was younger her love for hockey drove her to join a boys' hockey team. "I was a hockey mite," she says with pride.

"I wanted to join a hockey team this year but my dad won't let me. He thinks I'll get hurt. Heck, whenever I run into hockey players in the school yards, I give them a check," laughs the young athlete.

Born and raised at Peavine Metis Settlement, Pamela attends St. Andrews Junior High School in High Prairie.

She laughs when she says her sports idol is not her father but Peavine Stingers hockey player Darryl (Gauither).

"I really admire the way he plays hockey. I always wanted to play like him," she said.

But she makes it clear she and her "Dad" do share something; they're loyal fans of the Calgary Flames.

"Dad and Mom always back me in sports and everything I do. It's just sad Dad will have to shave his mustache off, now the Flames lost," Pamela quipped.

While tryouts for the Snowbirds womens baseball team were being held at Enoch, Pamela was sick and in the hospital.

She said she desperately wanted to make the tryouts and travel to Hawaii with the team.

"I hope they hold another tryout soon," she said. "I'll be there."

Her father Raymond admits Pamela has the drive to become a great athlete, especially in track and field. That's one reason his is making sure his daughter tries out for a spot on Team Albert for the North American Indigenous Games competitions.

"She is a great athlete. In ringette she scored 17 goals in a game, so her coach moved her to a defiance line," he said.

It's been Pamela's dream to someday compete in the Olympics. It's a dream she believes she can accomplish with hard work and her desire to be good in every sport she enters in.

"When I was young I used to get beat quite often in sports but I kept at it. I learned from losing and from my mistakes."

Today, Pamela is a winner at many of the sports she plays in. Her philosophy is to get involved with everything that leads towards an individual's growth, including her school work.

"I wrote story once for the orientation speeches. I called it 'a terrible morning' and when I was reading it, my cue cards were not in proper order. I was so embarrassed. But luckily I remembered my lines from memory," Pamela noted.

Pamela has other dreams she'd like to fulfill" being a body builder and someday, a lawyer.

"I don't like how Native people get treated in court. One day I will be the perfect lawyer. When I set my mind on something I make it happen," she says.

that's strong words coming from a young lady just starting out in life.

But then, Pamela is a track and field gold medalist, a hockey player, a tremendous ball player, has good grades in school, a family that backs her and she has the desire to be the best at what she does.

For Pamela, the world is her oyster just waiting for her to claim it. And Pamela says she will claim it, even if her hockey career is over.

Or is it?

"Don't count on it," she smiles.