From my family to yours, a very Happy and Prosperous New Year and may God bless all your loved ones in 2007. A new year has come and gone in the sports department, we are very excited as to the positive results that we’ll have in Indian country with so many exceptional athletes, role models, etc., doing so well across Canada.

A few names come to mind that we are certainly very proud of in Indian country, Jordin Tootoo, Jonathan Cheechoo, Dallas Soonias, Carey Price, Notah Begay III, Ted Nolan, Chris Simon, Aaron Asham, Sheldon Souray, and the list goes on.

The athletes are an encouragement and motivation for our young athletes to succeed in sports but to also make a positive choice in life. Let’s encourage and be proud of athletes who are working hard and learning lessons along the way. Dreams do come true with hard work and perseverance.

If you want some mention of an athlete or sporting event that we may have missed, please let us know at Native Journal. We will do our best to follow-up on your item.

THE RUSH ARE READY FOR THE SECOND SEASON

Edmonton, AB - The Edmonton Rush enter their second National Lacrosse League season and the "Attitude is Everything Era" with hopes of finding much greater success than in their inaugural year.

To achieve that goal, the Rush's 2007 roster is bolstered by an offence featuring newly acquired veteran scoring talent, a defence anchored by Team Captain Andrew Turner, and solid goaltending from 2006 Team MVP Pat Campbell.

With the names in place and the lineup ready for the season opener January 6, 2007, against the Philadelphia Wings, there is good reason for optimism about a potential playoff berth in '07. But instead GM/Head Coach Paul Day has his troop focused on letting the Wings know that Rexall Place won't be any easy spot to stop for visiting teams like was in '06 when the Rush went 0-8 at home.

"I'm not worrying at all about where we're going to finish the year. I'm worrying about getting our first home win," said Day. "Before our first game last year, I think most of the questions in the city were focused on whether we could make the playoffs in our first year and a lot of people maybe got ahead of themselves."

Breaking down the roster, Day certainly expects his offence to rack up more than it did in '06 when a league-low 150 goals was all it generated. To fix that problem, the Rush made several off-season moves to acquire some help and those deals landed the club proven veteran scorers in Dan Stroup, Chris Gill, Ryan O'Connor, Jason Wulder and A.J. Shannon.

Combine their experience and ability to find the net with the skills of the Rush's three top scorers from last season – Jamey Bowen, Jimmy Quinlan and Kevin Howard – and the Rush will undoubtedly be better on the attack.

"We've made a huge improvement on the offensive end and this is a group that is going to create a lot of chances," noted Day. "They are also tough enough to fight tooth and nail for every goal we get in every game."

The Rush's defence, led by Captain Andrew Turner, is a year wiser and a year better having battled through many difficult nights in 2006. The group features 2006 NLL All-Star Game representative Cam Bergman, veteran Rob Williams and a tough twosome in Daryl Welsh and Buck Stobart.

"Last year there was so much pressure put on our defence and goaltending because we had to play so much defence but we're going to be able to take the pressure off them this year because we'll have better ball possession and we'll score more goals," offered Day.

"We got banged up back there last year because we had to play too much on defence but that group got a year under its belt and a good year of experience."

Between the pipes, the Rush return popular netminder Pat Campbell who totaled 456 saves in '06. He is joined by new backup Kurtis Wagar, the Rush's top pick in the 2006 NLL Entry Draft.

NATIVE AMERICAN RUNNERS WERE AWESOME AT
NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

SPOKANE, Wash. - Young cross country runners from 48 states recently gathered in Spokane to compete in the Dec. 9 National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships at Plantes Ferry Recreation Park. American Indian youngsters were well-represented, with a number of teams from the Southwest entered along with others running unattached. Preliminary competitions throughout the country eventually lead to 15 regional championships and then on to this national championship.

Early projections estimated about 3,000 young athletes would compete in Spokane, but actual numbers showed closer to 2,000.

The competition was divided into five age categories in two-year increments, beginning with 10 and under and reaching to 18. Younger runners competed at three kilometres, intermediate ages at 4k and the oldest runners ran a 5k race.

Native American teams included the Rez Runners from the Tuba City/Moenkopi area of Arizona, the Navajo Elite Team and the Fort Wingate team with 10 runners. Acoma Pueblo had a team, as did Jemez Pueblo's Walatowa Running Club, with 24 runners in total.

Rick Krause coaches the 16-member Navajo and Hopi Rez Runners. Its Bantam Boys members finished ninth in the nation with their top runner, Albert Fuller, finishing at 53rd. To be eligible for a team award, a team must have at least five runners in any division.

Other Native youth also did exceptionally well in that division. Naataanii Todea from the Navajo Elite Team finished sixth overall; his teammate, Milland Thomas, was 48th. Acoma runner Jacob Sanchez placed at 19th in the nation. Joshua Garcia from Acoma and Bryan Sam, with Navajo Elite, also finished in the top 100 at No. 71 and No. 81 respectively.

''The kids ran extremely well for their first time at nationals,'' Krause said. ''The competition is so much more aggressive, but now we know what we need to do next year. We also have a small population to draw from, and we're competing against teams from San Diego and the state of Idaho with many more people, but we had more support from parents than those larger teams.''

Josephine Bancroft was one of the adults accompanying the Rez Runners. ''We raised over $2,000 through donations, sponsors from town, help from parents and lots of bingo games and food sales. You name it, we've done it,'' she said.

Plans are already under way for next year's national finals in Kansas. ''We need more sponsors and we need to start raising money now,'' Bancroft said, adding that they are starting their runners at the kindergarten level. A new program, this is only the second year they've competed as a team and most of the runners are in day school.

Sherwin Sando coaches the Walatowa Running Club. It's his first year of coaching. ''This was one of our most impressive teams. We had three girls in the top 100 in the Bantam Division (Kalei Yepa, Meredith Yepa and Valene Madalena) and also had three boys in the top 100 in the Youth Division (Troy Madalena, Steven Mora and Jesse Madalena).'' That girls' team finished No. 11 and the boys finished No. 14. The girls' team also finished No. 17 in the Youth Division with the highest individual being Kiana Gachupin at No. 106.

Sando compared the Walatowa team to last year by saying that this year they began with 44 runners and that 36 qualified for regional championship competition. That was further pared down to 24 that qualified for this national championship compared to just seven last year. ''I told them we'll take baby steps and see what the competition is like and we'll go on from there.'' He challenged them to try to make it into the top 50, ''but I was happy with the results.''

Other runners in the Bantam Girls category finishing in the top 100 nationally included Muriel Sage Waukaz, from Cuba, N.M., who finished second. Felicia Patricio from Sky City was No. 51, and Rez Runner teammates Brianna Loughran and Mateja Yazzie finished 45th and 78th respectively.

Few Native runners competed in the older divisions, although Robert Lovato from Sky City finished at 91st place in the oldest division for young men.

To reach nationals, runners first must qualify through both preliminary and regional championships, so reaching nationals is an honor in itself. Native runners competed very well and, with interest rising, even better finishes can be expected in the future.

CAREY PRICE REPRESENTING FIRST NATIONS AT WORLD JUNIORS

Leksand, Sweden – The dream has reached a major part of it’s journey… but it was a long road for Carey Price and no doubt a lot of sacrifice. Presently, Price is playing at the 2007 World Junior Championships in Sweden.

Of Canada's 22 players on the roster, none hail from a smaller town than Price, who has emerged as Canada's No. 1 goaltender. Price calls Anahim Lake, B.C., population 319, home.

"Carey is running down a dream that he has had since he was a child," Lynda Price, one of many parents of Canadian players who have made the trip here, said. "The first thing I do is I thank the Lord that he is realizing his dream."

Price became a goalie as a young boy because, as his mother puts it, the net is where the older boys in primary school put him.

When he became old enough to play organized hockey, his dad and mom would load up the car for the drive to Williams Lake, B.C. - 320 km one way - on weekends so he could play.

"My parents gave up a lot so I could play," the 6-foot-2, 217-pound Price said. "It's something I never forget and I will always be thankful for."

Price takes as much pride in his heritage as his mother does in him. Lynda Price is the Chief of the Ulkatcho First Nation in British Columbia. His father, Jerry, who was often behind the wheel for those long drives, also was a goalie and was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1978, but he did not play an NHL game.

And one of Carey Price's cousins is Phoenix Coyotes captain Shane Doan.

Price was the fifth pick overall in 2005 by the Montreal Canadiens.

"I'm proud of who I am and where I came from, and being from such a small community," Carey Price said.

Price has become a positive example for First Nations people in his province of British Columbia but also for aspiring hockey players across Canada.

"All of the First Nations are very proud of Carey," Lynda Price said.

"We have 203 First Nations communities and when the Chiefs assemble, they always come to tell me what a great role model he is."

BEAVER BITS

The NEAJBHL (North Eastern Alberta Junior B Hockey League) All-star game will be hosted by the Saddle Lake Warriors on Saturday, January 13, 2007. Game time is at 8:00pm and guaranteed the place will be rocking.

We’ll keep you updated in the next issue on Carey Price and Team Canada at the 2007 World Juniors. Bring GOLD home to Canada! 

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