Aupaluk basketball camp ‘a huge gift’ to young Nunavimmiut – Nunatsiaq News

Mar 20, 2023

Grind Now Shine Later program leader hopes to develop coaches, regional league

Twenty-seven young people from Nunavik converged last week on Aupaluk, the region’s smallest community, for a week of basketball.

And these young ballers want to see the game grow across Nunavik.

Russ Johnson, a teacher and basketball coach in Aupaluk, runs the Grind Now Shine Later program, which aims to develop young leaders to become coaches in their communities while spreading the popularity of basketball.

Johnson hosts regular community basketball events at the school gym. During the camp, students from Quaqtaq, Kangirsuk and Kuujjuaq travelled there to join in the fun, and for lessons about mental health and staying in school.

“We talked very openly about well, basically, pretty much every issue you can imagine in the North,” Johnson said in an interview.

Read More: https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/aupaluk-basketball-camp-a-huge-gift-to-young-nunavimmiut/