KAEDEN MANDES

AGE: 19

RESERVE: MUSKEG LAKE FIRST NATION

SPORT: U-19 FASTBALL

Kaeden has been playing fastball since he could walk. He says his mom, Jen Arcand, was his biggest inspiration to play the sport. 

He was surprised when he received the call that he made it for Team Saskatchewan in the North American Indigenous Games (NAIG).

"I was proud and I was kind of amazed that I actually did make it because I haven't played ball in about seven years."

Kaeden gets his motivation from his mom; she was the one who encouraged and pushed him to try out for NAIG. 

He said he's looking forward to competing against other teams at the games. He trains when he can almost every two weeks doing drills and basic practices in Hague and Saskatoon.  

He recently graduated high school and owes it all to his mom for her continuous encouragement.

"I dropped out of school for a year. I just couldn't do it anymore so I moved away from my mom and I lived with my grandma with a couple of months. The house rules were if I wanted to move back home, I had to go back to school."

Which he did and he doesn't plan on stopping there. He'll be continuing his education at a higher level starting in the fall. 

"I'm going to go into aircraft maintenance. I'll be taking a two month course at SIIT just so I could get my work experience for aircraft maintenance and I would be registered to go in airports and work on airplanes."

From sports to education, his advice to the younger generation is simple but straight to the point.