A pair of St. Albert brothers are preparing to represent the province on big stages in the coming months.
Kyan Gray will strap on the pads for Team Alberta at the upcoming National Aboriginal Hockey Championships (NAHC) in Winnipeg, while younger brother Kaiden will travel to Halifax to represent the province on the volleyball court during the North American Indigenous Games (NAIG).
Kyan, 16, has been selected to represent Alberta at the 2023 National Aboriginal Hockey Championships in Winnipeg May 7-13. The annual tournament, put on by the Aboriginal Sport Circle, is expected to involve over 500 Bantam and Midget-aged participants from all 13 provinces and territories.
Kyan, who played in Alberta’s independent Hockey Super League for a stretch of his career before returning to minor hockey last year, is a goaltender for the Edmonton Junior Oilers Blue Team.
“I’ve loved hockey my whole life,” Kyan told The Gazette. “Being able to do something I love at an event like NAHC and being part of Team Alberta is pretty cool."
Ethan Makokis, another St. Albertan, will be joining Kyan in Winnipeg. Makokis was selected by the Everett Silvertips in the fifth round of the 2022 Western Hockey League Draft and will guard Alberta’s blue line.
In affiliation with the province’s Indigenous Sport Council, Hockey Alberta oversees the selection process for coaches and athletes travelling to the championship, along with player selection camps, team training exercises, and uniform design.
Kyan’s younger brother Kaiden, 15, will also represent Alberta, but on the volleyball court rather than on the ice. The NAIG, a triennial competition first held in Edmonton in 1990, will include Indigenous athletes from across Canada and the United States. The younger Gray has played school and club volleyball in St . Albert for the last few years, making the senior team at Paul Kane this year, and also making St. Albert’s U17 SAS team for the upcoming club season.
“I’m really looking forward to going to Halifax for the games and playing on Team Alberta,” Kaiden said.
The Gray family, which has lived in St. Albert since 2019, includes parents Dave and Krystal, both massive supporters of the boys’ achievements.
“I’m ridiculously proud of our boys,” said Krystal Gray. “They have put so much time into their sports and love what they do. Being able to represent their culture and play on Team Alberta is an amazing feat and we couldn’t be prouder of this accomplishment, and the people they are becoming.”
Promoting sport in Indigenous communities
Both the NAHC and the NAIG were founded to promote the role of athletics in Indigenous communities, a focus the Grays appreciate and proudly reflect through their own Métis heritage.
“Having events that celebrate and call attention to Indigenous sports is important and impactful in so many ways. At the tryouts, we saw Indigenous athletes of all abilities and it was awe-inspiring,” Krystal said. “Indigenous-focused sporting events provide space for athletes to celebrate who they are while doing something they love, which creates a better world for both our children and us. Sport plays a huge role in physical, mental, and spiritual growth, and cultural-centred events like NAIG and NAHC add an element of pride by fostering cultural health for Indigenous youth.”
The NAIG, which will congregate over 750 distinct Indigenous Nations, has a stated goal of reconnecting through sport and culture in Halifax (Kjipuktuk) and the surrounding First Nations, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) communities.
“It’s very important,” Kyan said, “These events allow us to celebrate what we can do in sport, and with our heritage.”
