Ashley Callingbull-Rabbit goes from Sports Illustrated to Sask. sports

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Ashley Callingbull-Rabbit is rising from the two-year pandemic more healthy, match and able to tackle a brand new Indigenous outreach position with two sports activities groups in Saskatchewan.

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By no means one to only take a break, on the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic Callingbull-Rabbit discovered herself at a loss at what to do.

Two years later, she is now married to hockey coach Wacey Rabbit, a former Saskatoon Blades captain who’s now returning to the Blades group as assistant coach. Callingbull-Rabbit can be becoming a member of the Blades and the Saskatchewan Rush as an envoy. They may each be engaged in Indigenous outreach.

Within the spring of 2020, the previous Mrs. Universe determined to concentrate on her health — a journey that led to touchdown a coveted picture shoot in Sports activities Illustrated Journal and to being named the in-game host for the Edmonton Elks Soccer staff with CISN Nation’s Chris Scheetz.

A Cree girl as an in-game host is a monumental second for all Cree ladies and a primary for Canadian Soccer.

“Being a proud member of Treaty Six, I’ve at all times been a fan of Edmonton’s sports activities groups,” stated Callingbull-Rabbit. “I’m excited to affix one in every of my hometown groups with the Edmonton Elks.”

“Having Ashley be a game-day voice of the Elks shouldn’t be solely a supply of pleasure for Enoch, however all Treaty Six First Nations,” Enoch Cree Nation Chief Billy Morin stated.

Her health journey began in 2020, originally of the pandemic.

“I assumed I wanted to make a change,” she stated. “My way of life is busy, like consistently flying, touring, and dealing. However when the pandemic began and it was time to enter quarantine, I simply felt misplaced.”

Misplaced and unhappy.

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“I used to be sitting there on the sofa consuming cheeses. I wasn’t feeling as bold as earlier than as a result of every part was simply so unsure, so I assumed, I’m not feeling good mentally proper now.”

She determined to start out with small exercises and steadily construct up her exercise routine. “And now I’ve been doing it for nearly two years. I’m in the most effective form of my life. I really feel superb,” she stated.

“It feels good to care for myself bodily as a result of it helps mentally, and I really feel stronger throughout.”

It additionally paid dividends. In Might, the previous Mrs. World turned the first-ever Indigenous girl to grace the pages of Sports activities Illustrated journal’s Swimsuit Version.

It was an unbelievable alternative, stated Callingbull-Rabbit, as a result of hundreds of ladies utilized for it.

She had put a video collectively for Sports activities Illustrated that showcased who she was and what she stood for. She acquired a message that she made it to the casting spherical with 50 different fashions, all from totally different backgrounds, with totally different tales and accomplishments.

“After which, I bear in mind it was virtually 6 a.m. on March 1 and nobody calls me at 6 a.m. except it’s an emergency.

“I answered the telephone, and I used to be half-awake, they usually stated: ‘We’re calling from Sports activities Illustrated, and we need to let you recognize that we’ve chosen you and are you free to fly to the Dominican Republic.’

“I stated sure and I used to be crying. I assumed it wasn’t actual,” she recalled.

“I assumed perhaps I’d get up, like a dream. After which inside days, I used to be in Dominican Republic taking pictures for Sports activities Illustrated, it simply occurred so quick.”

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It was an exquisite expertise and an actual honour, she added. “I’ve at all times been pushing myself and at all times working towards my targets.”

Certainly one of her targets is to assist susceptible and exploited ladies. “At some point, I hope to start out a ladies’s shelter as a result of my mother was escaping home violence,” stated Callingbull-Rabbit.

“It’s important for me to offer ladies a second probability at life, and particularly assist their children,” she added. “I don’t need them to undergo what I went by way of.”

She challenged others so as to add motion to their lives, for each their bodily and psychological wellness: “motion is drugs.”

• Chevi Rabbit is a Native Journalism Initiative reporter with Alberta Native Information

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