Wrestler Angel Besskkaystare of Wollaston Lake was selected as Team Saskatchewan’s Opening Ceremony Flag Bearer for the 2022 Canada Summer Games, to be held August 6-21 throughout the Niagara Region of Ontario.
In all, Team Sask will send a contingent of 377 athletes and 86 coaches, managers, and support staff to the Games. Following is the news release from Team Sask…..
Team Sask Flag Bearer Announced for the 2022 Canada Summer Games
Opening Ceremony
EMBARGOED UNTIL: July 26, 2022 at 11:30am
REGINA, SK (July 26, 2022): Team Sask is pleased to announce that wrestling athlete, Angel Besskkaystare
of Wollaston Lake was selected as Team Saskatchewan’s Opening Ceremony Flag Bearer for the 2022
Canada Summer Games.
Team Sask will send a contingent of 377 athletes and 86 coaches, managers, and support staff to the
Games. Besskkaystare will lead Team Sask into the Opening Ceremony which will be held at the Meridian
Centre in St. Catharines on Saturday, August 6, 2022. The Canada Summer Games are scheduled from
August 6-21, 2022, throughout the Niagara Region in Ontario.
Besskkaystare, 18, comes from the small northern community of Wollaston Lake (700km north of Prince
Albert). She wrestles with the Prince Albert Wrestling Club and trains under coach Roxanne Richards. In
four short years Besskkaystare’s hard work and passion for the sport of wrestling has led her to a high
school, provincial, and national championship.
At the age of 14, Besskkaystare moved to Prince Albert for an improved education and new opportunities.
Attending St. Mary High School in Prince Albert, Besskkaystare fell in love with wrestling and progressed
rapidly, becoming captain of the high school team. In addition to being captain, Besskkaystare won the
Aboriginal Cultural Award, the Inspirational Award, the Most Progressive Student Award, the Wrestling
MVP award, and was placed on the Honour Roll at St. Mary. In her spare time, she gives back and leads
camps at elementary schools, encouraging young kids to try wrestling.
Besskkaystare’s high school success kick-started her progress to win a high school championship,
provincial championship, and a gold medal in Greco-Roman style wrestling at the 2022 Canadian Wrestling
Championship in Calgary earlier this year and now compete for Team Sask at the Canada Summer Games!
Athletes who compete at the Canada Games represent the country’s next generation of national,
international, and Olympic and Paralympic champions. Team Sask alumni Mark McMorris, Emily Clark,
Rylan Wiens, Shelby Newkirk, Kenzie Priddell, Catriona LeMay Doan, and Jessica Frotten to name a few,
can all count their previous Canada Games experiences as a steppingstone to the Olympic or Paralympic
Games.
QUOTES:
“We are proud to have an athlete of Angel’s calibre lead Team Sask into the Opening Ceremony. Angel
truly represents the characteristics of what a provincial team flag bearer is all about. The dedication,
passion, and leadership she has demonstrated for her sport, teammates, and community, sets a
fantastic example for her Saskatchewan teammates, as well as those who aspire to be a part of Team
Sask. On behalf of all of us with Team Sask, congratulations, Angel!”
– Mark Bracken, Team Sask Chef de Mission
“When I told my family I will be the Team Sask Opening Ceremonies Flag Bearer, they were very excited
for me and very proud. They told me that not only has no one from Wollaston Lake ever been a flag
bearer, but also, no one from Wollaston lake has ever been part of Canada Summer Games. It is a true
honour to be chosen to carry the flag and I will do my best to represent Team Sask to the best of my
ability.”
– Angel Besskkaystare, 2022 Canada Summer Games Opening Ceremonies Team Sask Flag Bearer.
