Daisy Eyegetok

Daisy Eyegotok started coaching youth girls basketball 10 years ago in the remote community of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. While initially coaching the junior girls team, she has since developed a community program for both girls and boys from ages 10-19 years. The community deals with many challenges and issues, including youth suicide and drug and alcohol abuse. However, because of Daisy’s commitment to the basketball program, an outlet is provided for the youth to build leadership, develop skills, set goals, challenge themselves and more importantly have fun…all through sport. Her determination and commitment to youth basketball program comes from a strong belief that youth are the leaders of tomorrow and must have the skills to meet that challenge. Daisy believes sport provides many skills to meet not only sport challenges, but the challenges of everyday issues. Daisy’s my main focus is setting achievable individual and team goals. She believes this is fundamental in the success of a team or in a broader sense the strength of a community. Building relationships and recognizing each of our personal strengths, has led her team to be successful on and off the court. On the court, her team strives to win, however the real success is in how well they play as a team. Daisy believes learning to recognize the importance of respect and appreciation for others is fundamental in team success. Daisy also believes the importance of recognizing strengths and not weaknesses, and that everyone has the right to play. Community pride falls quietly into place with the confidence of the individual, as an active member of the team. When you have a leader and when the community sees the success of the program, the result is community pride. In a community of 1400 people, over 500 cheer in the stands, wearing “wolverine” pride jerseys…it is deafening, but it is amazing!! Daisy believes this confidence allows players to appreciate others and that sport allows the opportunity to broaden personal and team experiences. Daisy currently is certified level II for Basketball. She has been the head coach for Team Nunavut at the 2006 and 2008 Arctic Winter Games, and will once again be the coach in 2010. She continuously provides opportunity for her players to grow by hosting regional development camps, ensuring players attend summer camps in southern Canada, and even took two teams to a tournament in Jamaica, of which CBC documented the tremendous efforts taken to raise enough money to travel and learning opportunity each player received as a result of participating. Daisy has a “no tolerance” policy…if you don’t go to school, you don’t play on the team…and if you participate in inappropriate activity, you don’t play on the team. She also requires older players to get involved in coaching the younger kids in the community. Daisy is a great role model in the community. Both she and her basketball program are most deserving of the recognition that the Chunky MVC program provides.

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