While our Community Sports Program has long helped inner city youth in the city of Prince Albert, a recently developed on-campus Outdoor Hockey League (OHL) program, initiated by Klassen House, is building bridges between Ranch youth and their peers on Wahpeton First Nation.

Starting last month, Wahpeton youth aged 10 to 14 were invited to come out to the Ranch’s Buckland campus on Wednesday nights to play hockey on the outdoor arena on campus. The turnout has been steadily increasing over the weeks, with over 30 youth coming out for the latest game.

“We thank you for the opportunity. We’re a small First Nation, we hardly have any extra money to do things like that. Our youth are always stuck on the reserve, so even a little bit of time away is a big deal,” said Wahpeton Chief Leo Omani. He added that not many of their youth have hockey equipment, so the opportunity to use OHL gear was more than appreciated.

For Ranch Ehrlo Society, it’s an opportunity to build lasting relationships with the communities that surround our northern campus. For our youth, it’s an opportunity to interact with their peers in a fun way while burning off some energy.

“It’s important for our youth to get out into the community to begin building relationships that will help them once they’ve left treatment, but sometimes that’s not always possible,” explained Kevin Mugford, director of residential treatment. “Another way for us to help get a jump start on those relationships is to invite others onto the campus to see what we’re all about.”

“It was heartwarming to see the youth interacting,” added Shantelle Peterson, office assistant at Buckland. “They just came out to play.”

Chief Leo explained that Wahpeton has long wanted to be involved with Ranch Ehrlo, so the offer to have their youth come out to campus was welcomed. He added that he anticipates the relationship will continue to expand, with hopes of Wahpeton youth eventually being involved with equine therapy or getting a few lessons in canoeing.

“Wahpeton means “camp up on the leaves”, so we’re a woodland people – we’ve also been canoe people, but we’ve never had the chance for the younger ones to learn,” Chief Leo explained. “And of course, horses – horses are so expensive, we couldn’t afford to keep them.”

But he certainly doesn’t expect the relationship to be one-sided. Each year, Wahpeton puts on a ceremonial sun dance, and he hopes to invite Ranch Ehrlo youth, many of whom have First Nations backgrounds, to experience it.

“We’re really happy with the opportunity for our youth to experience good, solid programming,” Chief Leo concluded.