Health & Wellness
Making Wellness A By Peter James, Citizen staff
Finding ways to stay active and healthy has never been a problem for the Ghostkeeper family.
like to keep myself busy with something and be committed to something.”
From father Chad’s successful international fastball career to son Tristan’s budding career in dance, family members have long seen the value of keeping fit and credit their activity in part for their health.
Tristan, 18, is preparing to attend the Goh Ballet Academy in Vancouver this fall where he’ll continue to pursue his dream of a dance career with an international company.
“I grew up doing all sorts of sports, I started with baseball, then went to swimming then I ended up at dance, which I’ve been doing for a good 10 years now,” Tristan said. “I
Initially sparked by an interest in music videos and dancers at live concerts, Tristan is now hoping his well-rounded dance skills will take him to Europe and beyond. Chad’s sports career has allowed him to travel around North America for tournaments, meeting new people and making friends along his way. He’s preparing for one more season at the elite level and expects to play in seven or eight competitive tournaments across the continent this spring and summer. “I’m 42 years old and I’m going to go one more year,” he said. “The body is holding up, but last year I had a couple of injuries.” Tristan’s siblings Tanner, Tyson, Shayla, Sierra and Laina have also been active in sports like hockey, baseball and swimming. Chad said it was always important to make sure his children had active living options, especially in the electronic age where it’s so easy to get distracted by online games and social media. “We try to keep our kids busy because we don’t want them coming home and sitting on the couch playing games for four or five hours,” he said. Chad got his own start in sport at a young age, first with hockey and then with baseball. His uncle Charlie Ghostkeeper helped put him on the path to fastball success when he assembled a team of young players and had them compete in the men’s league in Prince George. “We got better and better and better,” he said. “We were the type of kids that if we weren’t doing anything on a Saturday or a Sunday, we’d go to the park and hit balls.” All that practice paid off as Chad got noticed by a team in California and has had success on the international stage winning the top catcher award at major tournaments. At one point he cracked Team Canada’s 40-man roster. While fastball and dance have been the activities of choice for the Ghostkeepers, Chad said sports has long been an important part of Aboriginal culture. He pointed to the many high-level hockey tournaments hosted across the country as evidence the importance of sport continues to thrive.
Chad and his son Tristan Ghostkeeper take living an active lifestyle seriously. Citizen photo by David Mah
A Healthier You | 16 | May 2014
In addition to the physical benefits of his dance career, Tristan said it has also taught him the value of eating well. In recent years he had noticed that he was becoming more