Mark Thunderchild has been named the 2023 Warman Volunteer of the Year.
Thunderchild was presented with the award at the May 27 Warman City Council meeting.
This award recognizes individuals whose efforts have made a significant impact on the development and advancement of recreational sports, arts and culture, environmental leadership, or community and social services. The major focus of this award involves volunteer efforts made during the calendar year January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022.
Mark Thunderchild stepped up as head coach and brought with him his partner, Amanda, as well as his step-father as assistant coaches to develop the Warman Knoll Panthers Bantam football team in the Saskatoon Minor Football (SMF) league.
Mark, who was a new resident to Warman at the time, heard about the team needing a coach and, despite not having any children in this league, he stepped up to fill that role out of the goodness of his heart. Without his volunteering time and effort this football team would not have been established or possible.
As one youngster who was a member of Mark’s team put it: “I would not have been able to play football this year if it was not for Mark Thunderchild. He made it possible for Warman boys in my age group to develop a SMF team practising and playing in Warman. My friends and I had a great time playing football this year due to Mark’s time and coaching.”
Thunderchild said the aware means a lot to him because, as a man of First Nations ancestry, his goal is to be a role model. He credits his partner, Amanda, for his involvement with the minor football team.
“It all began on my couch with my partner Amanda, as she was scrolling through social media she came across a post on one of the Warman speakeasy pages,” said Thunderchild. “The post exclaimed that kids in Warman wouldn’t be able to play for their hometown if no coaches stepped up. So, Amanda suggested I reach out, because I’ve been saying after living here for a year, I fell in love with this community and wanted to give back.
“I’ve never played football, but I’ve watched a lot. Luckily, my partner and her father Fred Melnychuk, had volunteered with me. Allison Mooney also brought on Wayde Thoen as my partner head coach.
“Neither of us had any kids on this team, and a few weeks in, we sustained a few losses. But, our commitment strengthened and the team responded. The public became aware of our challenges, and by week three Luke and Kaylan volunteered as coaches and brought their playing age son onto the team. One week later we gained Amar Vasani and our coaching core was created. I told these parents that I didn’t care if we won or lost, but I wanted to build character into the growing Warmanites. But in the end, this team was family up and down, coaches and players. All of us coaches were very grateful for the experience and look forward to doing it again in the fall.”
Mark and Amanda are writing a series of children’s books on modern indigenous content. Two of these books, ‘Kohkum’s Kitchen’ and ‘Our Journey to the Dentist’ are already published, and others are in the works.