b'ROLE MODELSPASSING THE TORCHIntegrity, perseverance, and commit-ment are common traits of most athletes, Indigenousathletesamongthem. For many, its these same traits that they turn to when trying to build and encourage Indigenous youth through mentorship roles. For John Chabot, this includes joining partner Shawn Rivers and other NHL alumni to organize hockey clinics andA young Clayton Norrisgames in northern Ontario communitieswas motivated to play and conduct hockey skills developmenthockey by his parentsin remote Nunavut communities. It also includes launching First Assist, an orga-nization that engages Indigenous youth in the sport. For me, its about giving those kids the understanding that there are always going to be obstacles to overcome no matter their race, religion or creed, but you need to move forward, says Chabot. Its giving them the message that its not always the most talented people who become successful, but the ones who stay at it the longest, take those extra Concentrated steps, and do it because they want to.Many Indigenous athletes have also leveraged their time in sports to moti-Long-term vate Indigenous youth in other ways, for instance to raise their voices on the national stage. For Linklater, this work Value Investors includes running Boys With Braids, an organization dedicated to bringing aware-ness to the cultural significance of braids and why Indigenous men have them. For Horn-Miller, named one of Canadas most influential women in sport by the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity (in 2015), outreach has included serving as a motivational speaker for Indigenous youth and advocate for Indigenous womens rights. She was also an on-air host and assistant chef de mission for Team Canada at the 2015 Pan American Games. Without question, Indigenous athletes serve a meaningful role in their communi-tiesnot merely as heroes to revere, but as examples of how community, persistence and passion can result in success in any field. In the words of CCAB president and CEO JP Gladu, As Indigenous people, we look up to our athletes because we know how hard they worked to get there. We know they broke bloombergsen.com through the barriers to become the best of the best. And that is a beacon for us to know that we can get there too.22A CCAB PUBLICATION2020'