By Shaun Penner

Indigenous basketball star touring PWPSD

Mar 13, 2019 | 12:51 PM

The Peace Wapiti Public School Division is hosting basketball star Michael Linklater, as he tours seven different schools this week, teaching both basketball skills and life skills.

He is touring as part of the PWPSD Indigenous Guest Speaker Series. Linklater’s tour started on Monday and will go until Thursday afternoon.

“The main message is just for kids to follow their dreams and their passions,” said Linklater. “I use my story and give examples throughout my life where I followed my dreams and passions and where that has taken me. It’s literally taken me around the world a couple of times.”

Linklater is of Nehiyaw (Cree) decent and is from the Thunderbird First Nation in Saskatchewan. He has had a very accomplished playing career, winning a CIS National Championship with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies in 2010. Following that, he played professionally in the International Basketball League from 2010-2011. Linklater is now competing with Team Saskatoon in the FIBA 3×3 World Tour. His team is currently looking to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Linklater is also the founder of his own basketball camp, known as Prime Basketball Development, which will be included in several of his stops along the tour.

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“With the years and years of experience playing and some of the coaches I’ve had the opportunity to be coached by, I’ve taken all this information and compiled it together and created my own basketball training clinics camp,” said Linklater. “(Our goal) is to make sure that kids are understanding how the skills that they learn on the court will be able to apply to their life in the everyday world.”

Included in his circuit is a campaign he started, known as Boys with Braids; an initiative to address a lack of awareness about Indigenous boys and men growing their hair long. Having had long hair for most of his life, Linklater was taught at an early age to be proud of his cultural and spiritual identity. Having been in the spotlight, Linklater wants to use his platform to encourage Indigenous youth to keep growing their hair long.

“It’s a bit of an issue that bullying is going on that is causing these young boys to cut their hair,” explained Linklater. “The boys come home and tell their families they want to cut their hair. Not because they’re not proud of their hair, but they just want the bullying to stop. So, they think that if they cut their hair, that the bullying will stop.”

Linklater has appeared at Hythe Regional School, Teepee Creek School, Sexsmith Secondary and Clairmont Community School. He is hosting Phys. Ed. Classes this afternoon at Spirit Regional Academy, while tomorrow he will be hosting school wide assemblies, Phys. Ed Classes and basketball practices at Helen E. Taylor School and Harry Balfour.

For more information on Prime Basketball Development, the Boy with Braids campaign and a full biography of Linklater, head over to his website.