Showcasing Northern Athletes

NSCRD showcases some of the top Northern athletes who are pursuing sport as a career. Some of these athletes have attended the Sask Provincial Games for Team North; others have travelled south to join club teams; and some are even making it big on the national stage. If you know any athletes that you would like to see showcased on our website that grew up in the Northern District, please give Ryan a call at (306) 688-2122 or email: rkarakochuk@nscrd.com.

Angel Besskkaystare

Wrestling

Angel was born in Wollaston Saskatchewan and made her way to Prince Albert SK to attend high school and more importantly give her opportunities that aren't present in Wollaston and one of those opportunities was becoming able to join a wrestling club.

In 2018, Angel was walking the halls of St.Mary's High School in PA when the wrestling coach approached her and mentioned that she had the perfect body type to join the wrestling team and see if she would like the sport. Angel attended the first practice and really wanted to give up at that point as her body was really sore and the amount of exercise really shocked her on how hard it was. But she decided to hang in there and give it a try and attend an up coming tournament to just see how she could really do. Angel expressed just how scared she was going into that first tournament in Saskatoon but her talent took over and she won 1st in her weight class and knew she needed to pursue this more and she became hooked ever since.

Angel is currently in grade 11 at St.Mary's High School but considers Wollaston a big part of her life and continues to fly home to visit family very frequently. She has contributed her family, her grandfather that loved to watch wrestling, her current coaches, Cody Souler and Roxanne Richards and her Grandmother Jenny has a huge support financially. All these individuals have played a huge role in coaching, mentoring and providing the support to Angel up to this point. She considers all them role models in her life.

Some of the achievements that Angel has accomplished so far are: Bronze in Provincials in 2020 80kg weight class and regionals 2020 Gold medal in Prince Albert. Angel has expressed it all hasn't been easy, and their has been many barriers, from being a single mother, having cultural shock from leaving her home community to a big city were the food is different, way of living, and the language all have been a big transition.

Angel will continue to train in the sport of wrestling as she plans to participate in Nationals in 2022, hopefully NAIG in 2022 and possibly attend a University and compete in wrestling. Her ultimate goal would make it to the WWE but if that doesn't happen she would settle for being a teacher.
Josiah Hallet

Judo

Josiah Hallet was born in Hudson Bay SK and found his way to the community of La Ronge at a young age with his family. Josiah got into Judo when he was 10 years old as his parents thought it would be a good idea that their boys join a sport or activity that taught them life lessons and have some fun along the way meeting new friends.

Josiah instantly enjoyed the sport and he credits a lot of his success to his coach Jeff Irvine as one of his role models and helped him be the athlete and person he is now. Josiah currently uses the motivation of other athletes he sees when he travels to competitions and tries to learn as much as possible from others to teach him helpful hints but most importantly life lessons he can learn along the way.

Josiah at the age of 16 has already accomplished so many things. I met Josiah at the 2018 Saskatchewan Winter Games in North Battleford where he helped Team North win 3 bronze medals. Josiah was also Youth U16 Male Athlete of the Year in SK (2020) and most improved athlete of 2020 in Judo in SK. He won 2 silver medals in Edmonton internationals (2019), Bronze at the Ontario Open (2019), Gold at Silver SK Open (2019), and Gold at the inter city Winnipeg Open (2019).

Josiah even though he is still so young in his craft, plans to continue to compete and train and see where the sport of Judo can take him. He wants to travel around competing and seeing new places, see if he can make a run for Team Canada someday but most importantly he wants to take all his experiences and have life lessons that will help him moving forward whatever comes his way.

Josiah first goal will to finish high school in La Ronge and train to be able to compete at Nationals and the Montreal Open both in 2022.

One thing is for sure from talking to Josiah is that he has the world ahead of him and the North is very proud of his accomplishments but also impressed of the kind of person he is and will inspire others to be.
Lauren Fox

Amateur Nationals Golf Player

Lauren Fox was born in Flin Flon Manitoba and currently lives in Creighton Saskatchewan where she goes to School at Creighton Community School and will be attending grade 12 this year (2019).

Lauren started playing golf at the young age 4 where she was introduced to putting at various mini golf courses where she played with her older brother and parents. From there she played her first full round of golf at the age of 7 where her Dad took her out along with her brother. Lauren credits her Dad for taking her out and showing her the game of golf at such a young age which she loved mostly because of the outdoor fun, snacks and driving the golf cart.

Lauren has had many role models so far as she continues her golf journey but she added her Dad has been the most influential. She would also like to thank her brother for all the rounds that they have done together providing a sibling rivalry on the coarse that only made her better when competing against other competitors. Finally Lauren also would like to thank her swing coach Curt Lawrence that has put many hours in getting her ready to compete but also teaching her so many things when it comes to golf.

Lauren has many achievements up to date and hopes she can continue her journey this year and beyond. So far she has won the Club Championship in Flin Flon, 1st 2018 High School Provincials in Estevan, 2nd place in 2017 at High School Provincials, 2019 2nd in Golf Saskatchewan Junior Championships, and finally 105th in Nationals in 2019 in Lethbridge.

Lauren plans to get ready for all her 2019 events coming up, then to gain a scholarship in golf for a University in 2020. She also wants to continue to play in Golf Saskatchewan Woman's and Seniors Championships.

Lauren plans to go to University in 2020 and to continue to play Golf for the rest of her life.
Rylee Bell

Amateur Volleyball Player- Team Sask U15

Rylee Bell lives in La Ronge Sask and currently goes to school at Churchill High School in La Ronge. Rylee got into the sport of volleyball when she was in grade 5 and she suddenly had a big passion to play the sport, especially after the countless hours she watched her parents play at local tournaments and competitions.

Rylee thanks both her Mom and Dad for supporting her early career in the sport of volleyball, and for that believes her parents will always be her role models as she continues to play the sport she loves.

Rylee has had many achievements in her young career so far. She made the under 15 Team Sask, making the A Team for the Toppers in Prince Albert, Team Woodland 2017-18 gold and heading to BC this summer for U15 Team Sask.

Rylee has many future goals and she hopes volleyball is part of that future. She would love to play for the U of S Huskies volleyball team and some day play in the Olympics.

Currently she will be enrolled in grad 10 at Churchill High School and plans to play seniors girls volleyball, continue to play with her club team for the Prince Albert Toppers and continue her studies.

We will be keeping our eye on Rylee as she continues her journey in sport and volleyball and becoming a role model for future northern athletes.
LeKeisha Halkett

University of Saskatchewan Cheerleader

LeKeisha Halkett was born and raised in La Ronge SK and went to school at Churchill Community High School. She started cheering in grade 6 at Pre Cam Community School at a non-competitive event. Then she decided to join the cheer team at Churchill Community High School because of the positive experiences she had.

LeKeisha has had many different coaches and role models throughout her cheerleading career, however Jianna Haugen inspired her to push herself to the limit and saw the potential that she needed to put her heart and soul into the cheer team.

Over the years of competing LeKeisha struggled like many other teenage girls with insecurities. It was through cheerleading she was able to grow confidence within herself and fell in love with the concept and team atmosphere of cheerleading. It all came full circle and was a huge achievement when she found out she made the University of Saskatchewan cheer team.

LeKeisha's future goals includes to be on the cheer team at U of S throughout her whole University career then hopefully become a coach to teach others of this great sport. Currently LeKeisha is finishing her summer job at Gordon Denny then plans to move to Saskatoon to attend the U of S in September 2017 and start cheerleading again!
Regan Yew

Junior Hockey Player- London Lakers

Regan Yew born and raised in Ile a la Crosse Saskatchewan and currently is playing in London Lakers in the Junior Canadian Hockey League.

Regan started skating at the age of 5 years old, he instantly loved the game and then played organized hockey in Meadow Lake at the age of 9. Regan described his father having the biggest influence in his hockey path as he coached Regan all the way up to Bantam age. Both Regan's mom and dad supported and dedicated years and years to see the success happen for their son from minor hockey to junior.

Regan has had many achievements on his path to where he is today. He played Triple A North Battleford from 2010-2012, then 2013-2015 played in the SJHL, AJHL, MJHL. In 2015-2016, was the North Eastern Alberta Junior B Hockey League MVP and scoring leader and now currently playing with London Lakers of the EMHL and leads the league in scoring. Regan was also drafted by the PA Raiders but injuries stopped any further success of playing the WHL.

Regan admitted it all hasn't been easy and he had to overcome several barriers and obstacles. The costs were not easy throughout his minor hockey for his family, the 5 hour round trip to Meadow Lake for games, tournaments and practices. A 14-hour round trip to Saskatoon to train in the off-season. Lack of training facilities, and not being able to play other sports because was told to just concentrate on hockey. Regan thanks everyone in his family and community for the support.

Regan has many future goals, he plans to continue his dream to make Pro but if that does not happen he hopes to attend University while still playing hockey.
Dillan McCombie

University of Regina Cougars hockey player

Dillan McCombie from Creighton Saskatchewan got into hockey when he was 2 years old when his dad built an outdoor rink in his backyard for his family. Dillan's older brother and friends would be out there everyday. So when Dillan was 2 he tried skating and he instantly loved it. Dillan's parents made it possible for him to play because they always drove him to the rink and volunteered a lot of their time to make it possible for Dillan to play.

Dillan's role models growing up was his siblings. He looked up to his older brothers and would always try to tag along and do whatever they tried to do.

Dillan had many achievements in his hockey career, but a few that he will always remember his playing Jr for the hometown Flin Flon Bombers and having his friends and family be able to watch him all year and sharing a lot of memories with his family. Secondly after he was traded to Daulphin from Flin Flon he was able to play for the National RBC Cup. They ended up losing in the semi-finals but it was an amazing experience they he would cherish forever. Lastly when Dillan played for Bonnyville Pontiac's and they were in game 6 in the 2nd round playoffs. They were playing at home with a chance to win the series and go on to the north division final. The game ended up going into overtime and his linemate gave him a perfect pass in the slot resulting in the winning goal. He just remembers the place going crazy and being surrounded by teammates knocking him to the ice in excitement.

Dillan's future goals are to finish his university degree. Once he is done playing university hockey he would love to play some professional hockey if the opportunity is there.

Dillan's message to younger kids would be to make sure they have fun playing hockey. He knows there is a lot of pressure at times but you cant forget that hockey is a 'game' so u need to enjoy it. Also make sure you put as much effort into school as you do hockey, because highschool grades are important to scouts. If you can keep your marks up, it will only help you to have a career in hockey.
Don Campbell

Team Sask Volleyball Player-Beauval

Don Campbell born and raised in Beauval Saskatchewan, got into sport at a early age. He started volleyball when he was in grade 9 and his coaches saw great potential and encouraged Don to continue to play and get better. Don thanks his two coaches who played a huge role to develop his volleyball career into the player he is today. Don thanks Paul Raycroft and Sam Dawson who were his role models in his community.

Don has many achievements in his short volleyball career and continues to make new memories and achievements. Don played in high school in Beauval on the volleyball team, he also plays on a club team out of La Loche, where he traveled to Edmonton to play in a big club tournament. He also played in regionals in Saskatoon this past summer, his team finished 10th in Nationals and he participated on trying to make Team Canada. Don is currently playing with Team Sask at Western's in Fort McMurray Alberta and is the only Northern Saskatchewan athlete taking part at the games. Campbell could only remember three other Beauval residents who have also participated in the Western Canada games and said it was an honour to be recognized as one of the best volleyball players in the province.

Don hopes to get a scholarship and play with the University of Huskies in 2016-2017 and take a field of fitness as a major. Don thanks all those who have helped him play sport and stick with volleyball. He hopes that volleyball will open up many doors for him.

In the picture (Don is top row, 3rd from the left)
Nick Martin

Member of the Creighton/Flin Flon Ski Club

Nick Martin born and raised in Flin Flon and is an active member of the Creighton/Flin Flon ski Club for the past 10 years. Nick got into skiing after his best friend pushed him to join the club. They both played hockey but never really got into the sport so they decided to ski and right away Nick knew that was the sport for him. Nick fell in love with skiing mostly because it was a sport outdoors and living in the North its custom to be outside and enjoying the outdoor life.

Nick really never had any role models growing up in skiing. His goal each time was to get better and beat anyone he raced up against. Nick has realized over the past 2 years that he is now a role model for many Northern kids and he embraces to the role. Many kids come up to him and ask him of all his achievements and the places he has gone to ski. Nick feels he has a responsibility to teach kids not only how to ski but to conduct themselves if they want to be successful. When Nick interacts with the kids it reminds him of why he fell in love with the sport of skiing and sees many kids trying to follow in his footsteps.

Nick just came home from representing Saskatchewan at the Canada Winter games in Prince George and enjoyed the experience and the venue. Nick has won many medals in his road to stardom and looks to continue to train to go to higher levels. Its his goal to train at a better facility with higher level coaches.

Nick is currently attending School and is training all summer to be in the best shape possible for next ski season. Nick really wants to thank his mom and his coaches for all the support and help along the way that has made his goals and dreams come true. Nick look to represent Sask/Manitoba at the highest level one day.
Craig McCallum

University of Saskatchewan Hockey Team

Craig McCallum born and in the Canoe Lake area and now living in Saskatoon playing with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies hockey team. Growing up Craig always loved the game of hockey whether it was watching it on TV, or playing in the back yard. Some of the role models Craig had growing was his mother Laura McCallum and his uncle Dennis Iron. Craig has also had some great coaches throughout his minor hockey career.

Craig has had many achievements growing up and has played at a high level being a member of the Beardy's Blackhawks, Edmonton Oil Kings, Prince Albert Raiders and now with the University Huskies. Craig looks to also finish his degree in Bachelor of Education.

In Northern Saskatchewan elite hockey players usually find there way South but one thing is for sure you can go to almost any community North of Prince Albert and people are aware of Craig's accomplishments and continue to follow him on his quest to win the CIS championship with the Huskies.

People from Canoe Lake are very prod of him and his active role in being a role model for hockey players in Northern Saskatchewan, and they wish him the best in his quest and journey to make it someday to the NHL.