Bridges of Belonging

Nate Riech and Tara Llanes exemplify resilience. Their journeys of belonging are inextricably linked to their injuries and their quest for excellence in sport. Discovering their paths to belonging has been connected deeply with their journeys that their injuries created in learning about their own strength, resilience, and finding themselves and what they each need to support owning their story. Both Nate and Tara are incredibly driven people, and sport has been a place where they thrive because they can drive themselves in an environment that requires a singular focus on that singular goal and measure of success. The world of sport has also provided them a rich opportunity to be part of a team, to connect with coaches and other athletes – and to support their places of belonging.   The Paralympic system has held tensions for both of them, for Nate becoming a Paralympic athlete meant that he had to accept himself as someone with a disability – which has allowed him to dominate his classification and led to a gold medal in Tokyo. For Tara, wheelchair sports has been a place where she found belonging from the time of her injury, and now as the sport of wheelchair basketball evolves, it has gone from a place of inclusion to a sport that is excluding participants because of changes in classification and that is creating a complex relationship for her in how she navigates her place of belonging within that going forward.

Amrit Gill and Randip Janda may have forged different paths to get to their roles at Hockey Night in Canada: Punjabi, but their participation in the show has given them a space to be themselves, and re-connect with their communities, and have greater pride in their heritage.  Now, their work transcends outside of the Punjabi community. By staying true to themselves and being their authentic selves, Randip and Amrit have created more spaces for the South Asian community to connect to sport and build greater opportunities to inspire and lead future generations while celebrating the Punjabi communities. Hockey Night in Canada: Punjabi has been a platform for sharing their culture within the Punjabi community and now in their other media roles also bringing that to the English speaking community, they are building understanding of our commonalities while celebrating our differences. They know representation matters, and they are role models for the next generation. Their work is about telling the stories that haven’t been told and in doing so creating spaces for diversity in sports media and throughout hockey. Each of them believe that hockey has been a conduit for them to belong,  and to create belonging.

Actions speak louder than words

Chief Lara Mussell Savage and Darrell Fox have each experienced belonging and not belonging in different ways, but their connection comes from a shared focus on action over words. Lara’s connection to the Sqwa Nation and her role now as elected Chief has provided her a unique perspective in growing up in a world where she continually faced racism. Darrell is exploring his Metis background as his family learns more about their grandmother’s background and the influence that learning their history is having on his journey. We shared about the opportunity of connection and in how we show up to learn through the co-creation of experiences, programs and services. They both strongly identified around the opportunity to create “with” rather than “for” and the power that has to bring people together.  Their experiences have taught them courage, determination and how to lead others to create change in their communities. While Darrell and Lara both identify as introverts, their quiet strength provides space to others to feel empowered and use their voice for good. 

Joy over anything else.  Trans athletes and activists Chris Mosier and Harrison Browne share their experiences of coming out as transgender in their sport and how positive support from their teammates gave them the courage to be their authentic selves. Now as leaders in sport and the arts, Chris and Harrison continue to work to celebrate the joy, magic, and power that comes with being your true selves while working to build better, more inclusive spaces for others to belong.

Belonging: It’s more than a feeling.   We all have a responsibility to show up and create space for each other. Not only is it important to understand how we can elevate others to succeed, but also understand and reflect on the values that are important to us and how those values can support what we need and how we do it. Coming from a place of authenticity and vulnerability, our guests Aly Virji and Yukon Regional Chief Kluane Adamek share the strategies they've used at different points to discover what belonging truly means to them, and how that feeling gives them strength and power.

 I see you, I hear you, and you matter.  Senator Chantal Petitclerc and Angie Abdou discussed how important it is to continually learn, grow, and develop yourself and your capacities to support those around you if we want to build a better world together. Through their public facing roles, they are each working to create spaces and places that support others to be the best they can be. In this episode, both guests talked about the people who made a difference for them - teachers and coaches, who brought them in, who showed them how to be a positive and supportive leader, and what a tremendous impact that had on their journeys of belonging, and the role model that provided for how they now lead forward.