Healing Through Sport – By Peetah Bastien

Healing Through Sport

March 1, 2023

Written by Peetah Bastien

Photos by Peetah Bastien

In each Indigenous community of Canada there is a person who is an ambassador for sport, on the Bloods we have Chad Chief Moon (Bare Shin Bone). He is now the Recreation and Parks Kainai Minor Hockey Coordinator.

In this role he wishes to create “a fun and safe” environment to enjoy the game. Additionally, Chad is also a Community Program Leader for Spirit North, a National Charitable Organization that promotes Indigenous participation in sport for communities and schools.

On this day he is coaching a grade 3 class in Levern Alberta, beneath the Rocky Mountains, he is carrying Lacrosse equipment into a side door of the school, awaiting him is a parade of kids eager to learn. Entering the gym, you can hear him giving the kids a pep talk before the drills begin, “Don’t push the ball, scoop it” he shouted over the constant shuffle of busy feet.

This is not his first rodeo, Chad has been a hockey parent for over 15 years, and a Lacrosse parent for 12. With the ability to translate his own experience in sport he encourages kids to learn the fundamentals and progress to their full potential. However, it hasn’t been all rainbows and waterfalls.

Through personal struggles with alcohol addiction, he experienced a personal transformation through the healing power of sport. Chad accredits his success in beating addiction to coaching, now you can see him coaching side by side with his son Zane Chief Moon who is currently deciding Lacrosse College Scholarships in the U.S. and Canada.

This year he will also be an assistant coach for the 2023 NAIG U16 Men’s Team in Halifax this July. Envisioning the future, he continues to promote sport for the purpose of healing the mind and body from the trauma due to the cultural impacts of settler colonialism and genocide.

Chad is also a Lethbridge Sport Council Board Director; his Blackfoot name is Circle Rider (EEE-TAH-KOI-TAPII) in closing he said “My dream is to have our own Lacrosse Association on the Blood Tribe and give Indigenous youth a pathway to sobriety through sport.”