Heroes in our Midst
91 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 months ago -We find, celebrate and learn from the heroes that walk in our midst every day. We are honoured to hear the true stories our guests reveal so openly and authentically with us. It is a privilege to capture each hero’s journey and to share their experience and wisdom with our listeners.
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Episodes
HUMAN series: Episode 5 Building Your Brand
April 22, 2021 01:00 - 47 minutes - 24.3 MBRiley Harrison was recruited to play receiver for the Manitoba Bisons beginning in 2014. A self-described “humble and hard-working guy,” he played for his teammates and enjoyed every second of his journey. He had his breakout season in 2016, recording 535 yards – good for seventh in the conference – from the slotback position. Entering the 2020 season, Harrison had 1,199 career receiving yards, placing him just outside the top ten in program history. Had there been a season, he would’ve had...
HUMAN series: Episode 4 Making the most of your resources
April 15, 2021 01:00 - 47 minutes - 26.8 MBIn episode four, Michelle Sawatzky-Koop, host of the Heroes in our Midst podcast and 1996 Olympian, sits down with Sturgeon Heights teacher and coach Eric Vincent to discuss resources. Eric has dedicated his life to being a servant leader. For the past 15 years, he’s coached anywhere between one to eight sports teams a year, lending his tutelage as a former Winnipeg Rifle and Manitoba Bisons football player. He preaches communication, reminding his players that it’s okay to ask for help. E...
HUMAN series: Episode 3 Resiliency
April 08, 2021 01:00 - 52 minutes - 29.7 MBIn episode three, Michelle Sawatzky-Koop, host of the heroes in our midst podcast and 1996 Olympian, sits down the Bisons football players Des Catellier and AK Gassama to discuss resiliency. The fifth-year Catellier has been the team’s starting quarterback since midway through his second season. One of the hardest-working players in program history, he endured a partially torn MCL and a few losing seasons early on, but continued to get better every day. His work ethic and attitude motivate ...
HUMAN series: Episode 2 Making the most of NOW
April 01, 2021 01:00 - 45 minutes - 41.7 MBIn episode two, Michelle Sawatzky-Koop sits down with Jeffrey Bannon and Sean Oleksewycz, two pillars in the Manitoba football community. Sean has coached and played at all levels of amateur football in the province. Currently the assistant defensive backs coach for the Manitoba Bisons, he’s known as a player’s coach and strives to help his players get a little bit better every day. Currently the commissioner of the Winnipeg High School Football League, Jeffrey has been a coach, general ma...
Episode #36: Michelle Sawatzky-Koop
March 29, 2021 05:00 - 45 minutes - 33.8 MBMichelle is 5’6”, from Steinbach, a small city in rural Manitoba, and has a degree in Piano Performance from the University of Manitoba School of Music. Knowing only this one may assume that this musical “short girl” who was “not from Winnipeg” would never advance further than a volleyball provincial team (if she could even make the provincial team). Well, when you assume you make an ass out of u and me. When one is around Michelle, it is best not to make any assumptions. A 1996 Olympian...
Episode #35: Shannon Kehler
March 22, 2021 05:00 - 39 minutes - 54.4 MBLike many, Shannon does not think of herself as a hero. In her words, “If I can be a hero to you, I am happy, but do I think I am a hero? No.” Before Shannon walked through Steinbach Regional Secondary School's doors and changed the life of Michelle Sawatzky-Koop and many others, she was a volleyball player from Flin Flon, a small town in northern Manitoba. Following a successful high school career and acting on a friend's advice, she attended an open try out for the University of Manitob...
HUMAN series: Episode 1 Andrew Harris
March 18, 2021 01:00 - 46 minutes - 43.3 MBA two-time Grey Cup champ, Andrew is a man of integrity who’s battled through adversity his whole life. Despite growing up without a dad and having to switch schools in grade 12, he didn’t fold. Andrew also took advantage of the opportunities presented to him. His grades weren’t up to par for university football, so he made a name for himself in junior instead. He won three national championships with the Vancouver Island Raiders, but more importantly, became a father. The birth of his dau...
Episode #34: Nadya Crossman-Serb
March 15, 2021 05:00 - 35 minutes - 29 MB“Be proud of who you are, don’t feel like you have to assimilate into one way of being, just be yourself and learn as much as you can about your culture as you can.” Nadya is a 23-year-old Métis/Libyan sprint canoer who has been paddling for 18 years. She has eight World Cup and World Championships medals under her belt and 12 national titles. She started paddling at the age of six when her Mom took up the sport. Since Nadya was at the paddling club too, she paddled as well. She was 1...
Episode #33: Kylo Harris
March 08, 2021 06:00 - 58 minutes - 38.4 MBThere is a piece of Kylo’s soul that belongs to Canada’s North. He grew up in Goose Bay, then a fly-in/fly-out community in Labrador, and spent the early years of his sport career in Nunavut. He tells us that three types of people move North, those that go to save the world - they last about three months. Those who go for the paycheque - they last about a year, and finally, those who go for the adventure. The ones who head North for adventure are not there for a specific purpose, but the...
Episode #32: Leisha Strachan
March 01, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 48 MBLeisha Strachan knows a lot about excellence. A talented athlete, she competed at the World Championships in Baton for the first time at age 13. She finished her competitive career with consecutive bronze medals at worlds in the pairs event. She holds a Ph.D. and is a professor in the faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management at the University of Manitoba. When asked to share a piece of advice, she quotes this excerpt from “The Four Agreements”: “Be impeccable with your word. Do no...
Episode #31: Jocelyne Larocque
February 22, 2021 06:00 - 52 minutes - 35.7 MBIf we would simply list Jocelyne Larocque’s accomplishments, you’d probably agree that she’s a hero. But accomplishment alone is not what we’re looking for in our “heroes.” We want to know their story from the inside out, and Jocelyne’s got a great one. She grew up in a small town called Ste. Anne, Manitoba, and plain and simple, she just loved playing hockey and just knew that she wanted to play on the biggest stage possible. So, she dared to dream big, and it took her all the way to the Ol...
Episode #30: Jayme Menzies
February 15, 2021 06:00 - 56 minutes - 38.9 MBJayme Menzies is proud of her Metis heritage. She loves her family and enjoys speaking of her parents’ unconditional support throughout her entire life journey. She played 5 years of post-secondary volleyball at the University of Winnipeg; she is presently the head coach of the Canadian Mennonite University women’s volleyball team, has been the head coach of the 19U Female North American Indigenous Games provincial team since 2012, assistant coached Team ‘Toba to Canada Games gold in 2017, h...
Episode #29: Donna Harris
February 08, 2021 06:00 - 49 minutes - 47.2 MBDonna is a prairie girl who grew up in small towns in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. An RCMP kid, her family moved several times through elementary school and middle school. In addition to always feeling like the “new” kid, she was also one of the only students to blend a commitment to sport and music, a sometimes challenging combination that would prepare her for the balancing act that would become her life. After university, her journey involved working and coaching at the national level in...
Episode #28*: Dallas Ludwick
February 01, 2021 06:00 - 40 minutes - 34.2 MBDallas’ favorite quote is, “Be yourself. It's the only way to be excellent at anything and to be a value to anyone else.” Without question, Dallas knows who she is, and she leans into her values as she tackles tough decisions and creates a training environment where athletes can be empowered and challenged. As a coach, there are two experiences with results you can have - elation and devastation. Some days you get one or the other, some days you get both on the same day, and sometimes you...
Episode #27: Leah Kirchmann
January 25, 2021 06:00 - 48 minutes - 35.3 MBAfter over 15 years at the sport of cycling and ten years racing professionally, Leah is still very much in love with the sport saying, “I love that the freedom you get from riding a bicycle. I'm free to go explore anywhere in the world, anywhere there’s a road. I can go to the mountains. I can go find beautiful places. I can go fast and push myself. I really just love cycling for that.” For those of you not familiar with cycling training and racing, this is saying a lot. Success in ...
Episode #26: Hector Vergara
January 18, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 50.9 MBHector has been offered positions all over the world, Miami, Costa Rica, and Mexico to name a few. He remains in Winnipeg as his kids won’t even move to a bigger home in another part of Winnipeg, let alone leave home for another part of the world. Part of what makes Hector so successful is the way he blends his life as an international soccer official with his family and his career in sport administration. Hector Vergara’s journey speaks to the dedication one must have and the challenges on...
Episode #25: Dave Blatz
January 11, 2021 06:00 - 45 minutes - 51 MBEvery hero has a support crew behind them, an often-invisible team that enables them to be great. Dave Blatz is no exception. Dave is an athletic therapist. In 2018 he was working with Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes (Beach Volleyball) when they won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Australia. After winning they grabbed a cell phone and they called Dave’s family, saying, “Hi Bodie, hi, Campbell, hi Ellie Mae [Dave’s kids], this gold medal is for you. We want to say thank you f...
Episode #24: Derek Ingram
January 04, 2021 06:00 - 41 minutes - 40 MBDerek Ingram never dreamed he would be a coach, but when he found himself coaching the people he was competing against he realized that perhaps coaching people in golf was best done when he was not also playing against them. The Head Coach of Golf Canada’s Men’s Team, Derek believes that a trusting relationship between the player and the coach is key. Without that connection it is impossible to make the technical changes required to get better. He loves people and has a unique way of dealin...
Episode #23: Alex Gardiner
December 28, 2020 06:00 - 48 minutes - 37.9 MBAlex Gardiner never planned to coach. His career started in a Winnipeg middle school hallway when a group of students approached him and said, “Mr. Gardiner, can you coach our track and field team?” Alex’s response was, “What do I need to do?” He was told that they (the athletes) had it under control and that he just needed to be present as the required adult supervisor. So, Alex attended practice and, because he was an English teacher, he sat on the floor and read a book. That is until he s...
Episode #22: Adrienne Leslie-Toogood
December 21, 2020 06:00 - 40 minutes - 30.9 MBAdrienne knows that life is the one true sport that calls on all that we have and all that we are. When she works with someone, she sees it as her job to help them be whole and healthy and to love every step in their journey, both the good and the bad. Adrienne’s journey from high school athlete to university starter to Olympic/Paralympic advisor was turbulent at times. The circumstances she found herself in often required her to figure out how to make things work on her own. She did not ha...
Episode #21: Rhiannon Leier Blacher
December 14, 2020 06:00 - 38 minutes - 40.2 MBInspired by the 1984 Olympics, Rhiannon started swimming at a club in Saskatoon at age seven. Her career would go on to span 27 years and include two Olympic Games and several national team appearances. But it almost did not happen. There were two occasions when Rhiannon wanted to leave swimming, and both turned out to be huge turning points. The first, when she was 12, she stepped away and tried different sports and did different things, but she realized she missed swimming. This was a tur...
Episode #20: Elliot Gray
December 07, 2020 06:00 - 56 minutes - 51.7 MBMany of us are aware of what the term transgender means, but we really don’t understand it. Elliot Gray gets that, he notes, “I totally understand people who don't understand how being transgender could work or how your mind could think that way. But you’re never going to understand. Just like I will never understand the lived experience of a person of color. I will never live that life. But I accept it, I celebrate what it is. You have your own unique experience that makes you, you.” He goe...
Episode #19: Chris Voth
November 30, 2020 15:07 - 39 minutes - 32.3 MBWhen asked what advice he would provide to the world, Chris says, “Be yourself and be genuine. If you're pretending to be someone, you're not, it’s going to impact you. And it's going to make things not as enjoyable. Also, then when people start to appreciate you for those things, it won't feel as authentic because it's not your real self. So, if you can, just be your genuine self and let things happen organically.” Chris Voth is a talented athlete. Growing up he played lots of sports, but ...
Episode #18: Emily Potter
November 23, 2020 06:00 - 36 minutes - 30.3 MBEmily Potter has always been very competitive, some might say ultra-competitive. Whether we are talking about basketball, sack racing (an event at summer family fun days growing up) or ringette net minding (in her early years), Emily loves to compete and hates to lose. She is so competitive that, growing up, no one could talk to her after a loss, her parents had to just leave her alone. Fast forward a few years and Emily’s drive to succeed would land her spots on Canada’s national basketball...
Episode #17: Leanne Taylor
November 16, 2020 06:00 - 45 minutes - 40.7 MBEveryday activities sometimes change our lives. Leanne Taylor had a day like that in 2018. She and her boyfriend went for a mountain bike ride at trails they rode all the time. During the ride Leanne fell off her bike, going over the handlebars. Her injury was instant. She experienced a spinal cord injury, dislocating T10 on T11 and immediately had no sensation or function in her legs. She would not walk again. An everyday activity had changed her life forever. At first, disability felt lik...
Episode #16: Chantal Givens
November 09, 2020 06:00 - 49 minutes - 39.9 MBChantal Givens is a Paralympian. She has one hand. Throughout her childhood Chantal’s parents treated her like a regular kid. She was encouraged to, and she liked to try all kinds of things as she was growing up. Her first competitive experiences came in the sport of diving, a sport she was part of for ten years, eventually competing at nationals against able bodied athletes (there was no para sport division). It was diving that would lead her to Triathlon, but not in the way you might think...
Episode #15: Colin Mathieson
November 01, 2020 21:50 - 1 hour - 60.8 MBInspired by the athletes competing in the wheelchair racing section of the Manitoba Marathon when he was six years old, Colin got hooked on wheelchair racing at a young age. Born with Spina Bifida, a wheelchair was Colin’s primary mode of transportation and, it turned out he could move pretty fast! A sprinter, Colin competes in the 100m, 200m and 400m, he says, because after about 50 seconds he just gets bored. He likes events that are done in about a minute. In 2019 when Colin won national...
Episode #14: Bill Johnson
October 26, 2020 05:00 - 40 minutes - 43.3 MBYou may be surprised to learn that most elite coaches never plan on coaching. They get pulled into the profession by accident, through a serendipitous event or by happenstance. Bill Johnson was pulled into coaching wheelchair basketball because he played the sport with his brother. His brother had a disability, Bill did not. Able bodied people can play wheelchair basketball with teammates who have disability. When his brother moved away to play in the NCAA, Bill was approached by a women’s w...
Episode #13: Cal Botterill
October 19, 2020 05:00 - 1 hour - 56.6 MBWhen asked about what it is like to work with national teams, professional athletes and emergency room physicians, Cal will tell you that, “the stuff is the same, but the people are all different.” Adrienne will tell you one thing she has always admired about Cal is that he does what is right for the human being that sits in front of him. Cal is there for the people he works with, he speaks from the heart and he will tell you the truth, even when it may not be what you want to hear. Cal gre...
Episode #12: Tim McIsaac
October 13, 2020 14:14 - 48 minutes - 51.3 MBWhen he was little and attending preschool and kindergarten Tim figured he was just like the other kids that he played with on his street; he’d even pick up books and pretend to read them figuring he couldn’t read them because he didn’t yet know how to read. He didn’t know he couldn’t read them because he was blind. His mom had to explain to him that he was not able to see. While attending school at Ontario School for the Blind he was introduced to swimming and he took to it right away - he...
Episode #11: Joanne Vergara
October 05, 2020 05:00 - 40 minutes - 34.2 MB“Go hard or go home” was Joanne’s mantra when she competed. It is safe to say it worked. At 16 she won three medals at her first Paralympics (a gold, a silver, and a bronze). Four years later she upped her game and came home with five gold. The youngest of four children in her family she was naturally competitive and keen to keep up. She loved swimming and it was a good fit for her as she is a bilateral below the knee amputee so sports that involved running and jumping were a bit more challe...
Episode #10: Jared Funk
September 28, 2020 05:00 - 47 minutes - 37.3 MB“It doesn't matter where you are or who you are, you can make anything happen. It doesn't matter what the limitations, whether it be you’re living in a rural area, or you have disability. They're all just barriers that you can just shatter.” Jared’s words ring true. He is a person who makes things happen. In his graduating year from high school Jared was one of the top ten volleyball players in Manitoba. A trip to 7-11 changed everything for him when he was in a car accident where he was ...
Episode #9: Joey Johnson
September 20, 2020 16:19 - 38 minutes - 39.2 MBJoey Johnson has played wheelchair basketball for Canada at the Paralympic Games five times and has 3 gold medals and 1 silver from those competitions. For 20 years he competed at the highest level and was in love with the sport. Initially though, basketball and Joey were not friends. He hated basketball. He did not like the game and did not want to play. A diagnosis of Legg-Calve-Perthes Disease before the age of 10 changed his life and ultimately his relationship with basketball. Joey’s p...
Episode #8: Vlastic Cerny
September 14, 2020 05:00 - 41 minutes - 33.4 MBVlastimil (Vlastic) Cerny has represented two countries in international swimming. Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) and Canada. However, in grade three he was also identified as a talented hockey player through the extensive Czechoslovakia athlete search program, but he had already started swimming, so swimming was it. Now the head coach with Bison Swimming at the University of Manitoba, Vlastic’s road to international competition and coaching did not come without some bumps. He ma...
Episode #7: Kelsey Wog
September 07, 2020 05:00 - 29 minutes - 28.3 MB“She who has a large enough why can bear any how” is Kelsey’s favorite quote. The “how” that carries Kelsey into the future will likely look quite different than what she expected a few months ago, but given her commitment to process and her unwillingness to give up, we have no doubt she will get it done. Early in the month of March 2020 Kelsey Wog posted the fastest time in the world in the 200m breaststroke and was ready and excited for Swimming Canada’s Olympic trials. However, ten days...
Episode #6: Master Jae Park
August 31, 2020 05:00 - 54 minutes - 45.5 MBMaster Jae Park is the third generation of his family to be involved with Taekwondo. His father is a Grandmaster, he achieved his black belt at age 6, he coaches his daughter Skylar who has qualified for the Olympic Games in Taekwondo. But would you believe that a fall in his last speedskating race (a 400m short track event) changed the course of his life? If he had won, he would have stuck with speedskating, but he fell and finished last. He left that sport and, over time, returned to the s...
Episode #5: Skylar Park
August 24, 2020 05:00 - 47 minutes - 39.2 MBSkylar Park prefers to land hits to the head. A hit to the head gives you more points in a Taekwondo fight than a hit to other parts of the body. Funny thing though, she doesn’t see a hit to the head as violent. She explains, I'll be talking to my friends and if we're talking about, say UFC or sports like football or rugby, I'm like, Oh my god, I would never do that. It's so violent. And my friends are like Skylar, do you know what you do? And I'm like, right, but I guess it was, second natu...
Episode #4: Leah Ferguson
August 17, 2020 05:00 - 45 minutes - 41.2 MB“I had a very tough practice in 2017 getting ready for the senior nationals and I remember running the sprints and doing the overload . . . and then laying on the mat in complete stillness, in my mind and in my body. It was then that it hit me, “This is why I do it.” I think a lot, I’m very cerebral and wrestling gave me stillness in a way that I didn't know how to get without it. It was [during] one of my favorite training moments when I was laying on the mat and realizing, oh, this is why ...
Episode #3: Justin Duff
August 10, 2020 23:31 - 57 minutes - 34.8 MBJustin Duff played volleyball for Canada, but he did not get there without being cut and spending time on the bench. He was cut from his JV volleyball team (he had never played before), he was cut from the Team Manitoba Canada Games Basketball team (when he was 6’6” with a 40 inch vertical) and he was not a starter in his first year of university volleyball with the University of Winnipeg. His volleyball development started when a coach at his school said to him, “Hey Justin, you could be go...
Episode #2: Janine Stephens
July 20, 2020 15:31 - 48 minutes - 45.5 MBJanine planned on playing basketball at the University of Manitoba, but a chance meeting at a Karate class in the summer of 2000 changed all that when someone suggested she try rowing. After a rough few days that included a few bruises and some unplanned swimming when her boat flipped, Janine found her rhythm and made the 2001 Canada Games team for Manitoba on her way an 8th place finish at the Olympics in 2008 and an Olympic silver medal in 2012. In her interview Janine tells us that she ...
Episode #1: Chantal Van Landeghem
July 20, 2020 05:10 - 52 minutes - 38.7 MBChantal Van Landeghem was in the pool before she could walk. Her Dad would take her and her sister to the pool to play and just spend time in the water. That early introduction fostered Chantal’s love of the water and contributed to her feeling at ease and at peace there. She dreamed of making a national team and going to the Olympics as early as age 5 and at age 12 she attended her first international competition as a junior athlete on Team Canada. Fast forward several years and Chantal wo...