First Nations wrestler providing inspirational talks to youth

Justina Di Stasio still gets pumped up about school assemblies.

But the tables have turned for Di Stasio, a member of Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba who represented Canada in the women’s wrestling competition at last year’s Paris Olympics.

Instead of being in the audience, Di Stasio will be speaking to young people at six First Nations schools in Alberta this week. Her talks, which will be held March 17 to March 19, have been arranged through Classroom Champions.

That’s a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering youth through athlete mentorship.

“I was just saying on the drive up, it’s kind of cool to be the one doing assemblies because I was the little kid who would get so excited when our school would bring in, not just athletes, but presenters for assemblies,” Di Stasio said. “So, I’m very excited to have the role of the presenter.”

Di Stasio, 32, had made various videos for the Alberta youth the past year about her wrestling exploits and travels. Her videos are incorporated into the curriculum for students to work with throughout the academic year.

“They’ve seen that and now I get to meet them in person and build more on lessons they’re learning in the videos,” she said.

Di Stasio also hopes to inspire students while sharing details about her journey.

Di Stasio was scheduled to do three presentations on March 17, including a pair of assemblies with youth from two schools on Peerless Trout First Nation. The other one this day is with Loon River First Nation youth.

Di Stasio will then meet with students from Lubicon Lake Band and Whitefish Lake First Nation on March 18. And she will complete her trip with a March 19 assembly at Bigstone Cree Nation.

All of the schools Di Stasio will speak to are part of the Kee Tas Kee Now Tribal Council Education Authority.

“I’m very excited,” Di Stasio said of her presentations. “It will be a lot of fun.”

Since this past September Di Stasio has been working full-time as an Indigenous resource teacher with a district school board in Burnaby, B.C.

“I feel like it is a chance for me to kind of learn as well,” she said. “I’m kind of coming as an athlete but getting to come to these Indigenous communities, especially with my job now, I’m really excited to learn from everyone around me these next few days.”

Di Stasio will share her story.

“I introduce myself and tell them who I am outside of being just an athlete,” she said. “I describe my background in sports and tell them some of the lessons I’ve learned. And I talk about good things about being a mentor and a role model and making the right choices.”

While working with Classroom Champions in 2024, Di Stasio’s hectic schedule only allowed her to make one school visit in Alberta. She received positive feedback from that trip, being told the students had fun with her.

“That’s always my goal, to make sure when I’m interacting with people that they’re having fun because then they remember you,” she said. “If you’re just teaching them and talking at them, or making them wrestle too hard, not that we do a ton of wrestling with this, it would be like that day we had to do (physical education) or listen to someone yap. But if they had fun, I feel like the learning can go further.”

Former American bobsledder Steve Mesler, who won a gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, is a co-founder of Classroom Champions.

Di Stasio has been involved with the organization for the past couple of years.

“They were looking for more athletes and, specifically, Indigenous athletes because I am one of the athletes who just goes to Indigenous communities,” she said. “It was a pretty good match.”

Di Stasio officially announced her retirement from wrestling on March 13. She had an illustrious career in the sport.

She won a gold medal at the 2018 world championships in Budapest while competing in her 72-kilogram division. The year before she won a bronze medal at the world meet in Paris.

Di Stasio also captured gold medals at the 2019 Pan American Games and at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Her final international meet was last year at the Paris Olympics. She placed 12th in her 76-kilogram category.

Local Journalism Initiative Reporters are supported by a financial contribution made by the Government of Canada.