The Grind Now Shine Later (GNSL) Nunavik Basketball Program was founded in the village of Aupaluk, by and for Inuit youth, in 2020. GNSL Nunavik wants to foster the concept of “student-athletes” in a region where the drop-out rate is nearly 80%. We also want to create positive relationships and supportive, community-based environments, through sport, to help combat Nunavik’s suicide rate, which is a national disgrace and among the very highest in the world:
Extracurricular activities like sports and basketball are a fundamental tool in increasing graduation rates and decreasing suicide rates in the far north. In the GNSL Nunavik program we are watching as today’s basketball players are growing as athletes and as leaders, and will soon become tomorrow’s coaches and lead organizers... Our athletes are building GNSL Nunavik from the ground up, for themselves...and it is a beautiful thing to watch the program grow from a few, to a dozen, to 50 and now close to 100...and growing with each event. In the last two years we have held spring and summer basketball camps, basketball trips, and clinics in a variety of villages.
In the remaining months of 2023, we will be hosting our second annual Basketball Jamboree in Aupaluk for student-athletes from around Nunavik (October), and the very first annual GNSL Nunavik Holiday Classic (December), a Village VS Village basketball tournament for Inuit youth, ages 25 and under.
All proceeds from selling these shirts will go directly to funding these projects, in terms of food and flight costs for the program.
Thanks/Merci/Nakurmiik!
