Momentum Volleyball coach Cory Gratton (top left) was all smiles as he and the U19 Team Saskatchewan women’s volleyball team won gold at the North American Indigenous Games in Halifax, N.S. after beating out the squad from Wisconsin. Supplied Photo
It’s been four years in the making, but Team Saskatchewan’s U19 women’s volleyball team is officially golden after beating Wisconsin in the final at the 2023 North American Indigenous Games (NAIG).
Held in Kjipuktuk (Halifax, N.S.) from July 15-23, the NAIG saw roughly 5,000 Indigenous athletes representing each province and territory, as well as a number of the southern states.
Athletes competed in 16 different sports including box lacrosse, 3D archery, canoe/kayak and track and field, to name a few, but for a couple local athletes and their coach, it was all about the volleyball.
Team Sask’s U19 squad of 10 girls, coached by Momentum Volleyball’s Cory Gratton, included Summer Watson of Onion Lake Cree Nation and Addysen Noble of Lloydminster. Gratton noted both local athletes played a vital role in the tournament.
“We had a girl named Rosetta Cyr from Southeast Saskatchewan who plays for the U of S Huskies. She definitely brought the age and experience to the group along with our local girls Addysen Noble and Summer Watson,” said Gratton.
“Of all the teams in the semi-final, and even in the quarter-final, we were the youngest group. Half of our roster was going into Grade 12, and for a U19 squad, that made us fairly young … especially compared to Team Alberta whose athletes already had a year of college volleyball.”
Gratton was originally supposed to bring a team to the NAIG in 2020, but the pandemic forced organizers to cancel the event.
“All of those players from 2020 aged out so we started over again last fall with team selection for this past summer’s games,” said Gratton, adding the fact the NAIG can be a real eye-opening experience for many athletes.
“A lot of the athletes from U16 and U19 that we bring to these games, they’ve never been on a plane before and have certainly never seen the east coast, so it’s an eye-opening experience for them; I think everybody enjoyed it.”
Team Sask went undefeated in the tournament and only lost one set to Wisconsin during round-robin play. The girls would go on to face Wisconsin in the final on July 22, beating them in three straight sets (25-14, 25-23, 25-14).
For Watson and Noble, the opportunity to compete at the NAIGs has been a waiting process as both girls made the team in 2020 before aging out of U16.
Almost four years later, and with a few more years of experience under their belts, the two made the U19 squad for the recent games and came home victorious.
“It was my first time on a plane, so I was a bit nervous, but the coaches and everyone made the whole process super easy,” said Watson. “The whole experience was 10 out of 10; I loved it.”
This wasn’t Watson’s first time at the NAIGs as she attended in 2017 to watch her brother play, but it was her first time playing.
“Going to the games and winning a medal, a medal I didn’t think we’d win, was amazing. I’m so proud of my team and it was a nice way to end my youth volleyball career.”
Noble echoed Watson’s woes regarding the four-year wait to compete … but in the end, it was all worth it.
“It was unreal to be able to redeem myself after my U16 year because we were supposed to go to Halifax that year,” said Noble, who was the team’s libero.
“The people were probably the best thing I got to experience. I didn’t realize people would be so welcoming and I got to meet people from Yukon all the way down to Wisconsin … it was pretty unreal.”
As far as the gold medal goes, Noble is still soaking it in.
“I don’t think I’ve actually processed it yet, it’s still surreal,” she said. “I look at my medal and still think it’s not real.”
