Basketball star named to Cando’s national youth panel

Macyn Morning Bull has given her share of motivational speeches over the years.

And now the 24-year-old, a member of Piikani Nation in Alberta, will be able to share her story on a national scale.

Morning Bull, an elite basketball player and recent university graduate, is one of six individuals that have been named to the National Youth Panel for this year’s Cando Conference.

The conference, which will be held in Membertou, N.S., begins on June 26 and continues until June 29.

Morning Bull and the other panelists were selected based on their strengths, initiatives, accomplishments, entrepreneurial spirit and participation within their communities.

Morning Bull has been a guest speaker at numerous youth events in her First Nation.

“I grew up playing basketball,” she said. “And I tell them I want you to be better than I am.”

Morning Bull actually was not introduced to the sport until she was 11. Prior to that she was a figure skater and played hockey. Her other interests were playing the piano and being a band member.

But she quickly fell in love with basketball.

“I just think it was something I had more opportunities with,” she said. “Doors were opening up for me and I stuck with it.”

Morning Bull ended up playing basketball with three different postsecondary teams in her home province.

For starters, she toiled for the women’s team at the Southern Alberta

Institute of Technology, where she was enrolled in travel and tourism courses.

Morning Bull then attended Olds College for its business program. While at Olds she helped her school win the national women’s college championship in 2019.

And then Morning Bull capped off her post-secondary studies by at St. Mary’s University in Calgary by earning her Bachelor of General Arts degree. She graduated in April of this year.

Morning Bull used up her final year of post-secondary athletic eligibility after the first of her two years at St. Mary’s.

Though she wasn’t representing the school in basketball, she was keen to continue attending the university this past year.

“I kind of learned everything more than just business,” she said of her general arts program.

Morning Bull, who gave birth to a daughter this past December, is now back at work.

She is working in the human resources department, focusing on disability management, at ATCO, a Canadian engineering, logistics and energy holding company based in Calgary.

“I’m hoping to stay there for a while,” Morning Bull said. “It’s such a large company. You can move to different departments.”

Morning Bull continues to play basketball, suiting up for a squad named Creefoots, which competes in various Indigenous tournaments.

By Sam Laskaris Cando Contributor