It was a little over a year ago when a Cote First Nation youth won his first medal in a competition with a bow and arrow and now he’s headed to Toronto next month to compete as a champion archer in the North American Indigenous Games.
Randall-Dre Friday, 13, of Kylemore, who is a Grade 7 student at Wadena Composite High School, will be a participant in what is being called the “largest sporting and cultural gathering of Indigenous Peoples in North America.”
The Games are being played in Toronto July 16 to 23.
People have said that Randall-Dre will develop into a high performance shooter, said his mother Sheryl Kayseas of Kylemore, who is a band councillor for Fishing Lake First Nation.
It was in April 2016 that Randall-Dre had competed in a 3-D archery competition at the Parkland Outdoor Show and Expo in Yorkton and won a silver medal in the 10 to 12 years category.
Encouraged by his success, he entered more competitions and ended the year with four gold medals to place alongside his silver medal. Along the way, he attracted the attending of Mel Taypotat, an archery scout and coach.
He was recently selected for Team Saskatchewan to participate in the Games in Toronto and he will be the youngest ever archer selected for his age group of 13 to 16 years.
More than 5,000 participants and 2,000 volunteers will be involved in the Games that will include: 3-D archery, athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, canoe/kayak, golf, lacrosse, rifle shooting, soccer, softball, swimming, volleyball and wrestling.
Randall-Dre, who comes to visit family at Cote often, most recently about two weeks ago, will be attending a development camp in Moosomin this weekend, his mother said last week. Each weekend until he leaves for Toronto he will be involved in development camps.
“He’s very involved and is a high achiever,” his mother said. “He’s high in academics and is very involved in sports. He’s a pitcher on his ball team and will be involved in a 30-hour famine project at his school this weekend.
“They want him to compete in the Indigenous Summer Games in Regina in August,” she said.
Kayseas said that both, she and his father, Randy Friday of Cote First Nation, plan to attend the Games in Toronto in July.
Explaining that she is conducting several fundraisers, including yard sales and 50/50 lottery draws, to help her son make the trip to Toronto, Kayseas encourages people wishing to lend a hand to contact her at randall1945@hotmail.com.
