A young athlete from Savona was recognized earlier this year, when he was named as one of the regional recipients of the Premier’s Awards for Indigenous Youth Excellence in Sport.
Akira Susanj was one of six recipients in the Interior region, and one of 36 recipients province-wide, of the award for 2023. The awards are a collaboration between I·SPARC (Indigenous Sport, Physical Activity, and Recreation Council) and the province, and the nomination process was launched in late 2023.
Applications were open to Indigenous youth athletes aged 25 and younger who are competing in performance sport and demonstrating a commitment to their education and culture, and to promoting healthy and active lifestyles.
Susanj, a member of the Métis Nation, is going into Grade 12 at South Kamloops Secondary School. He says he was encouraged to apply for the award by teachers and his badminton coach at South Kam, who knew about his years of participation in karate as a member of the Savona Karate Club.
“I’ve been doing karate all my life,” he says. “I started when I was seven years old, so I’ve been doing it almost as long as I can remember. My mom teaches me, and my grandfather did too, so it’s always been a thing.”
Susanj is currently at the third brown belt level, and says his next test will be for black belt, which is the highest level and has 12 levels within it. When he is not working on his own skills, he acts as a coach and mentor for those in the club with lower belts.
“There are around 15 members of the club right now, aged seven years old and up, and if anyone in class needs help I’ll be there to teach the younger students.”
He loves being able to travel to different places to take part in karate tournaments, where he has won an impressive number of medals in different classes.
“I always get nervous, but try my best and see how it goes. Tournament season is coming around the corner in September, so I’ll see how high I can go.”
He adds that the karate community is a great one, and urges others to give the sport a try.
“Anywhere you go you’re meeting people and seeing folks you know. It’s a big community. Give it a try and see what it’s like, because it might be something you really want to pursue. There are always avenues to explore, and it’s up to you to see how it goes.”
While karate is his main focus, Susanj also plays badminton and does a lot of fishing. “I also love hunting, and have done a lot of that with my dad.”
He has been doing volunteer work with the Savona Fire Department, where his father is a volunteer firefighter. He initially wanted to be a junior firefighter, and the fire department said they wanted to have him, but only if he could find three or four friends who also wanted to join a junior firefighter program.
“I thought being a junior firefighter would be cool to do, and it interests me; it’s an opportunity to see people in my community.” Instead, Susanj has been volunteering with the department at community events, such as open houses, during Fire Safety Week, and when the CPKC Holiday Train comes to town in December.
“I was in charge of the kids’ activity table and the raffle table, and I served seniors who had mobility issues. I also helped with the set-up and clean-up.”
When it came time to apply for the award, Susanj had to provide three supporting letters, which were written by his badminton coach and teachers, and also write an essay on the sports and cultural activities he took part in. He says that he received an email in April this year telling him that he was a recipient, but that he had to keep it “hush hush” until the announcement was made in June.
While Susanj was not ultimately a provincial award winner, he says that being one of the six regional finalists was “pretty cool,” and that keeping the news a secret was not too hard.
“I told my parents but kept it down-low, and didn’t give it away. My classmates were pretty excited for me, when they heard, and thought it was cool. And my teacher loved it, and shared it with my other teachers and the principal. I thought that was pretty nice.”
As a way of honouring the 2023 regional recipients, I·SPARC has produced a series of commemorative videos highlighting each of the region’s athletes and celebrating their outstanding achievements. These videos — which include one about Susanj — can be found on I·SPARC’s YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/isparc) and website (https://isparc.ca).
