NAIG 2017 Profiles: Videlle Laliberte
- EFN Staff | January 29, 2017
Videlle Laliberte is a 14-year-old girl from Cumberland House in Northern Saskatchewan but currently lives in Lloydminster. The Grade 9 student will be competing in this year’s North American Indigenous Games (NAIG), which will be held in Toronto, Ontario on July 16th-23rd.
Read the athlete profiles from 2014 NAIG.
Videlle will be competing in the canoeing event – a sport that she only played for a year. She was trained from an older canoer, Stanley Custer, from her home community.
“My mom wanted me to start canoeing and so I started canoeing because it’s fun,” she says. “I like that you get to go into the water when it’s nice and warm.”
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During the winter months, it’s hard for Videlle to canoe outdoors so instead she trains from Mondays to Thursdays at the Cujo Conditioning training centre with the help from her mother, Vikki.
When Videlle is not canoeing, she keeps active by playing broomball, soccer and volleyball.
This will be her first NAIG experience – an experience that she is looking forward to.
“I am looking forward going to Toronto to meet new people, having the opportunity to canoe and compete against other people.”
Videlle’s biggest role model is her mother because she pushes her to reach her full potential at playing a variety of sports.
“When I started canoeing at first, I was really slow. But my mom started working out with me,” she says. “When we moved to Lloydminster, she got us a trainer and a place to work out.”
Read this profile from a 2014 NAIG canoeist.
After she completes high school, Videlle hopes to become a child oncologist because she wants to help sick children who are battling cancer – an issue that she can relate to.
“My 9-year-old brother had cancer before and I always went to some of his appointments,” she says.
Videlle’s advice to any youth who want the same chance to compete in NAIG is to fight through all your challenges, no matter how tough they are.
“Never give up, try hard for what you want.”