Running Wild opens doors for indigenous athletes, coaches

By Darren Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex

Two runners lap the track at a Running Wild practice.

Kendra Farmer is still discovering how much of a positive impact the combination of her indigenous and athletics background can have on indigenous youngsters.

The 21-year-old has been a star for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Track and Field Team since taking overall female rookie of the year honours for Huskie Athletics back in 2017-18. The graduate of Saskatoon’s Centennial Collegiate is a member of the Central Urban Metis Federation Incorporated and has been a coach with the Running Wild Athletics Club pretty much since it started in 2018.

The Running Wild Athletics Club is an indigenous focused track and field club that operates provincially.

Farmer, who specializes in sprints with the Huskies, isn’t one of those that draws attention to her lengthy list of accomplishments in track and field. When she is coaching Running Wild, Farmer is zoned in on helping athletes improve and making sure that they are feeling upbeat.

During a Running Wild practice this past May, Farmer was casually talking to her athletes during a rest period about her nutrition program and some of the extra things she does in her own track and field training. One of the young athletes figured out Farmer was a member of the Huskies.

The young athlete said being a member of the Huskies was a big thing and that Farmer had to focus on her nutrition and the extra things she does in training.

Farmer asked the young athlete if joining the Huskies was something the youngster wanted to do in the future. The youngster responded with a yes.

Farmer was happy to hear that upbeat response and proceeded to offer encouragement to the rest of the athletes who were at practice that night at the Track and Field Track at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex.

“Huskies are something that you guys should be looking to, because it is not impossible,” said Farmer, who stands 5-foot-5. “It is me and Brett (Lachance) and all of the other awesome indigenous athletes on the team.

“We’re all thriving on the team, and there is quite a few of us.”

Farmer is one of the 25 current or former Huskies who are mentor coaches with Running Wild and also athletes on the club’s performance side in Saskatoon. Running Wild has 40 athletes in Saskatoon that are part of the club’s developmental program.

Kendra Farmer is one of the mentor coaches for Running Wild.

From that talk she had with that young athlete at a Running Wild practice, Farmer realized a little more how much of an impact it is for the young athletes with the club to see people being both indigenous and a high-level athlete.

“I think they do look up to us,” said Farmer, who is an engineering student at the U of S. “It humbles me, and I appreciate being able to be a role model for some of the athletes.

“It is kind of never something I would have expected to be able to be. It is exciting to be able to coach and then see them kind of look into their futures and become part of their goals.”

That type of connection is one of the intangibles long time track and field administrator Derek Rope wanted to see. Rope, who is a member of the Board of Directors for Friends of the Bowl, has always sought out ways to get more indigenous athletes to take part in track and field.

An alum of the Huskies Men’s Track and Field Team, Rope remembers a time where only about four per cent of participants at a mainstream track and field meet in the province identified as indigenous. Rope wanted to grow that four per cent number.

He helped found the Saskatchewan Aboriginal Track and Field Meet 13 years ago.

The Running Wild Athletics Club provides another avenue to get indigenous youth into track and field.

Rope, who is a member of the Pasqua First Nation, said it is important to have those avenues for indigenous youth to get into sport. The 46-year-old said one of those reminders personally came from seeing the 2018 child advocate’s report on youth incarceration rates in Saskatchewan, which said 92 per cent of male incarcerated youth and 98 per cent of female incarcerated youth were indigenous.

“We use sport not only as a way to encourage healthy lifestyles, competition and school, but obviously, as an access to participation or alternatives,” said Rope. “For us, yes, it was important, and yes, there are other clubs.

“We definitely know that when we are doing something that we are doing it also for how we build and support not only indigenous athletes but how we make those connections and bridge communities.”

Rope said Saskatchewan Athletics, which governs track and field in the province, has been a great supporter in helping indigenous sport track and field bodies.

A long jumper takes to the air at a Running Wild practice.

He added it is important for young indigenous athletes to see veteran athletes like Farmer and Lachance, who is a top performer in throwing events from the Big River First Nation, doing well at elite levels.

“It makes it real,” said Rope. “It makes it relevant.

“It makes it attainable. They connect as people for sure and definitely show that there is life in sport after your done high school. You can become a student athlete and continue doing what you love.

“I think it is huge when kids are able to see their fellow indigenous people doing well competing and achieving.”

On top of creating avenues for indigenous athletes, the Running Wild Athletics Club created avenues for indigenous athletes to become coaches.

After finishing her rookie season with the Huskies in the spring of 2018, Farmer hadn’t thought about becoming a coach in the sport. Lachance learned about Farmer’s Metis background and introduced her to helping out with Saskatchewan Aboriginal Track and Field activities.

She proceeded to meet Rope, who suggested Farmer should try coaching and that the Running Wild Athletics Club was looking for coaches. That marked Farmer’s introduction to coaching in the sport.

“It was very exciting honestly the first time getting to coach,” said Farmer. “It was definitely a learning curve off the bat.

“I started off coaching with long jump, because that was one of my main events at the time. I felt pretty confident there. Then, I sort of expanded into some of the other events.”

When Farmer began to coach sprinters, she learned it is important to try not to overload young athletes with information.

“Sprinting is a weird event to coach,” said Farmer. “You think from the outside perspective you are just running.

“When you get down to the nitty-gritty of it, it is actually like a lot of little details, especially coaching younger kids. You don’t want to be giving too much detail, because it could get confusing. You want to make sure they are still running with proper form and everything.

A trio of runners jet to the finish at a Running Wild practice.

“It is different, but it has been getting better I would say. Now, I’m pretty confident in my coaching abilities.”

Farmer has enjoyed seeing the athletes she coaches improve. While she still plans to be a high level track and field athlete for a while yet, Farmer wants to continue being a coach in the sport especially with Running Wild.

“I’m definitely hoping to keep coaching for as long as possible,” said Farmer. “I have one year of school left to go, and then we’ll see where I go from there.

“I might stick around for a couple of more years just to finish out my (U Sports) eligibility. As long as I can, I for sure will be coaching for Running Wild definitely outside. Even if I move provinces or move elsewhere, I’m going to try and keep in touch with this club as much as possible just because I love what they are doing.”

Rope makes big impact on provincial track and field scene

Brings indigenous athlete needs to Friends of the Bowl Board

By Darren Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex

Derek Rope is a regular at the Track and Field Track.

Sometimes all it takes is the little things to make Derek Rope smile.

The 46-year-old member of the Pasqua First Nation and Saskatoon resident is one of the newest additions to the Board of Directors for the Friends of the Bowl having taken his board position last year. Rope is a business owner and has extensive experience being a coach and administrator in track and field with a focus on indigenous athletes.

He is the Chairperson for Saskatchewan Aboriginal Track and Field, a coach and administrator for the Running Wild Athletics Club, the Coordinator for track and field for the North American Indigenous Games and runs numerous clinics for sports too.

While he wears a lot of different hats, one of Rope’s biggest smiles came from seeing pictures of all the speed skating tiles cleared off the Track and Field Track at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex for the first time since October of 2019.

The new Track and Field Track facility was used for one season in 2019, but it wasn’t utilized in 2020 as user groups adjusted to the changing aspects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

In 2020, a lot of the speed skating tiles were left in place to allow for the Clarence Downey Speed Skating Oval to be flooded and created a touch faster this past winter.

The Track and Field Track has started to be used for initial practices, and Rope said it was a great site to see the facility opened up again.

“We are so excited to get back on the track for sure,” said Rope. “Like everybody, we had to be kind of creative in how we supported our athletes and working out.”

For the Running Wild Athletics Club that operates provincially, Rope said that program has 25 performance athletes with the majority being current or former members of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams and 40 developmental athletes inside of Saskatoon who use the Track and Field Track.

Rope said the club members enjoyed using the facility in 2019 and were excited to get back there in 2020. Due to the factors when it came to dealing with the pandemic, the 2020 season didn’t happen, but Rope said getting back to the Track and Field Track this year is that much more special.

“We had one summer utilizing it, and you look forward to it,” said Rope. “It is such an amazing facility.

“To only have one summer, you look forward to going back, and then it wasn’t ideal. It was pretty disappointing. Now, we’re all booked in and ready to go.”

Derek Rope helps position Running Wild coaches for a photo.

With having been a longtime track and field administrator which included helping found the Saskatchewan Aboriginal Track and Field Meet 13 years ago, things naturally progressed to where Rope joined the Board of Directors for the Friends of the Bowl. With the creation of the Track and Field Track facility, track and field groups have had more of a presence than ever before at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex.

Rope been impressed with the passion of the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Bowl and how motivated they are to finish all the construction projects on the Gordie Howe Sports Complex grounds and promote the facility. Rope said he has spent a lot of time learning about the Complex and believes one of the biggest initial things that needs to be done is to get the word out about all the different sports facilities at the Complex.

“Being the second biggest (multi-sport complex) in Canada, that is huge thing, and it brings a lot of pride to be instilled in our city that we have world class facilities,” said Rope. “I think a lot of people haven’t actually experienced it and seen all the amenities.”

Rope has enjoyed working with the other members of the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Bowl. He said the board members have all been involved in their respective sport scenes for a long time and sport provides the common ground that makes everyone come together.

“It has been really good,” said Rope. “They’ve been really responsive.

“I think they recognize that the inclusion and recognition of indigenous people not only just as clients and patrons of facilities but as partners and those kinds of things is definitely looking at how they change their perspectives as well too. They’ve been open to those suggestions. It has been really good.”

Rope said his role has been to bring forward the needs of indigenous athletes to the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Bowl. He said the board members have been receptive to what he has said.

Rope wanted to stress that he is on the board due to his extensive experience as a coach and administrator in track and field.

“They (the board members) recognized the other talents as well too,” said Rope, who was a SaskSport Volunteer of the Year award winner in 2018. “The fact that I am indigenous I guess is just a bonus in that regard too.”

Derek Rope and some Running Wild coaches share a laugh.

Before becoming a coach and administrator, Rope was an elite level middle distance runner in track and field, which included being a member of the Huskies men’s track and field team, and he also played hockey and volleyball growing up.

With the Huskies, Rope ran the 400-metre and 800-metre races at outdoor events and the 600-metre race at indoor events. He was the rookie of the year for the Huskies men’s track and field team in 1993 and remained with the Huskies in 1994 and a partial season in 1996, when injury cut short his career.

Rope has fond memories of working with Huskies assistant coach John Fitzgerald, who was named to the Athletic Canada Hall of Fame in 2018 due to his coaching career.

One memory that stuck out for Rope came from a time when Fitzgerald had the middle distance runners out at his place in Rosthern, Sask., for a practice session where they didn’t run. The Athletes were all sitting in the living room of Fitzgerald’s home, and the coach began talking to the athletes about how things were going with their friends, families, school and their personal lives.

The visit had gone for about an hour until veteran Huskies team member Jason Warick asked when the athletes were going to workout.

“He (Fitzgerald) said, ‘That was your workout,’” said Rope. “He (Fitzgerald) said, ‘Look at you guys.’

“This was my rookie year. He (Fitzgerald) said, ‘If you got injured tomorrow, you would be lost. You wouldn’t know what to do with yourselves. Too much track impacts and affects all other parts of your life, and too much of your other life will impact track.

“‘You have to try focus on that balance.’”

From that point, Rope remembered that life balance was important.

Rope also believes that mentorship is important too, especially for indigenous athletes. With the Running Wild Athletics Club, Rope is happy to see standout Huskies athletes Kendra Farmer and Brett Lachance have been working with the developmental athletes as mentor coaches. Farmer is a member of the Central Urban Metis Federation Inc., and Lachance is from the Big River First Nation.

Rope said it is important for young indigenous athletes to athletes like Farmer and Lachance doing well at elite levels.

“It is huge,” said Rope. “It makes it real.

The mentor coaches with the Running Wild Athletics Club.

“It makes it relevant. It makes it attainable. They connect as people for sure and definitely show that there is life in sport after your done high school.

“You can become a student athlete and continue doing what you love. I think it is huge when kids are able to see their fellow indigenous people doing well competing and achieving.”

While he might be modest to admit it, Rope has and continues to provide a role model example for indigenous and all athletes on how to give back to sport on the coaching and administrative side too. Rope’s example shows athletes how you can have a full circle experience in the world of sports.