by By Dan Ninham (Oneida)
Dayvan Bull is Plains Cree from Little Pine First Nation. His caregiver’s are Dayton Bull and Sonia Pete. Dayvan currently lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
“I compete for the Pilot Mound Hockey Academy of the Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL) and the North American Prep Hockey League (NAPHL),” said Dayvan. “I play defence and I finished off the year with 20 goals, 29 assists for 49 points. One of my most notable accomplishments includes playing for Team Saskatchewan at the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships last year in Whitehorse, Yukon and we brought home a silver medal. The Swan Valley Stampeders of the MJHL also have my rights as they listed me closer to the end of the season.”
“Some of my tribal core values include my family, community, respect, and always being humble,” said Dayvan. “I was always taught growing up to respect everyone because you don’t know their background and what they’re facing. My family has been a really big part of my journey and they have encouraged me to become a better student-athlete while becoming a better person away from the rink. They taught me to always be a role model for the younger kids in my community and show them that they can make it anywhere with hard work and commitment to what your doing.”
“My great-grandpa Ivan Dressyman is an integral piece of my life,” said Dayvan. “He’s supported me in every way he could since the day I was born. He tries to make as many games as he can which are usually in Moose Jaw and Calgary as those are the closest places I play to home. My community of Little Pine is very supportive of where I am and my accomplishments. I moved away for the first time to attend Athol Murray College of Notre Dame at the age of 14, and they all wished me luck and to enjoy my time there while it lasted.”
“Whenever I go back to our reserve they all tell me how they’re all proud of me and to continue on with my success and to put Little Pine on the map. There are a lot of indigenous children who aren’t able to live the same lifestyle that I do, and go out and travel across North America to play hockey for a living. I’m always thankful for everything in my life and the things I’ve been able to experience. I also give a special thanks to my grandma Violet Bull for making all the sacrifices you do to make it all happen for me,” added Dayvan.
“Dayvan is another model student in our program,” said Rod Collins, General Manager of the Pilot Mound Hockey Academy. “He leads by example on and off the ice. Continually working on skill development during free ice sessions and always has his schoolwork caught up. Dayvan is a very respectful student with a bright future.”
“I’ve had numerous people who’ve influenced me in my career thus far, but the most notable to me would be my uncle Dayton Bull who was by my side every step of the way growing up,” said Dayvyn. “He taught me the importance of hard work, he constantly pushed me towards my goals and he never let me give up. He also told me to learn from some of the mistakes he made while growing up and to never take any of the opportunities given to me for granted.”
“Dayvan is a born leader and I truly believe he is going to do great things,” said uncle Dayton Bull. “He is already seen as an inspiration to the youth in our community of Little Pine First Nation. His calm demeanor and maturity have guided him through his path of education and sports molding him to be the role model that he is today. Our community is very proud of him and where his commitment to hockey has taken him, youth adults and elders always ask about him when we see them. He has shown through hard work and by dedication to the sport, that anyone can reach their goals if they try and not give up. We know that this is just the beginning and are very excited to see him further develop his leadership skills. We are so proud of him, all his accomplishments he has achieved, and the young man that he has become.”
“Some others are my current coaches, Rick McConnell and Ernie Sutherland,” said Dayvyn. “I came into this year not knowing what to expect and they both welcomed me to the academy and made me feel at home. Throughout the year they both pushed me to be the best player I could be while teaching me to be a better person off the ice. They showed me a lot of tips and tricks to gain an advantage on my competition and I still carry them with me. It has helped me make less mistakes and become more trustworthy to my teammates on the ice.”
“Dayvan has developed very nicely in his first season with us,” said Rick McConnell, Head Coach of the Pilot Mound Hockey Academy Midget Varsity. “He is a quiet leader on our team. He leads by example both on and off the ice. Dayvan played an important role on our team playing in all situations. He is an excellent skater with very good offensive skills. He scored several big goals for us during our season but none bigger than the game winning power play goal in our Championship game.”
“Another positive influence on me was my Bantam AA coach Lino Dixon,” said Dayvyn. “He was big on class and taught us how to act professional off the ice. He showed me how to play the game the right way and he taught me to play with a competitive edge and give it my all every shift. I showed tremendous growth under his guidance and I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for him and the development he offered me. I also won the Most Improved Player Award for my team that same year.”
“I was the male hockey coordinator and head coach of the Bantam Hounds in the 2017-18 season when I coached Dayvyn,” said Lino Dixon. “I am now an associate with Norton Sports Management.”
“Dayvyn Bull and I first met in the summer of 2017. He had attended Notre Dame’s summer camp for a few years and I was lucky enough to get to know him. He was extremely quiet but always polite and had that infectious smile,” added Coach Lino.
“When we made the final selections for that season, I was lucky to end up with Dayvyn on my squad,” said Coach Lino. “He had tried out as a forward but we were lacking defencemen in the program. When I approached him regarding the switch, he accepted saying, ‘Whatever would help the team.’ That was the type of answer I came to expect from Dayvyn.”
“That year, Dayvyn went on to be a member of my leadership team wearing an ‘A’ and leading by example on and off the ice. He led my team in ice time as someone we could trust in all situations. He played on the first PP unit that operated over 20% efficiency, top all time for the Bantam Hounds team,” added Coach Lino.
“His skating and smarts is what really got people excited about Dayvyn,” said Coach Lino. “I remember talking to an assistant GM of a reputable WHL team at the pre-season tournament in Melville. The only player he was interested in hearing about: Dayvyn Bull.”
“Keep in mind, Dayvyn was doing all this having just been moved to defence. Not once did he complain or look for an easy way out. That’s not to say there weren’t growing pains, but he took it in stride and did his best to make the most of it. At the end of the season, he told me he was going to keep at it with the defence. He won a team award for most improved player and could have won a number of others,” added Coach Lino.
“I think that was a huge year for Dayvan,” said Coach Lino. “He had a choice when times were tough and he persevered. He got to see the rewards for sticking with something both on an individual and team level. I know our championship in Minnesota would not have been possible without him. He was huge for us at our Melville tournament where we went undefeated. However, the game that defined Dayvyn Bull for me was in Manitoba. We had just played the Melville tournament the weekend before and the injuries were piling up. We went to Wawaneesa for the annual pre-season tournament. Two years before, we won with our AAA team. We were now sending only our ‘AA’ team, and as I said, bodies were limited. We suffered three bad losses and were in our final game with only eight players, Dayvan being one of them. I’m not sure he left the ice in the third period and with seconds left, we scored to win. A true, ‘Hounds have heart’ moment.”
‘Simply put, Dayvyn Bull would be trusted with my unborn child,” said Coach Lino. “He’s someone I could count on to do the right thing when I wasn’t in the room. He’s someone who put others before himself. What he did for our team that year, I am forever grateful and proud.”
“Since I don’t have access too much considering a lot of places are closing including gyms, what I’ve done is a lot of body weight workouts and daily runs to keep myself in shape,” said Dayvyn.
“Moving away from home at a young age and giving myself more opportunities to be successful in hockey and most importantly in life,” said Dayvyn.
“Some advice that I have for younger student-athletes is to never give up or get discouraged by anything,” said Dayvyn. “If you have any opportunities awaiting for you, take them because you don’t want to regret it as you grow older. There’s also a life after sports, so make sure school comes before everything else and always be willing to sacrifice things in order to better your self and get ahead of the competition.”
“In Pilot Mound, we practice everyday for an hour right after school and then after that we have a team workout which helps us improve our cardio, strength, agility and speed,” said Dayvyn. “We do a lot of running and sprints because our coach likes having the best conditioned team in the league. At home I use the summers to stay in shape and become stronger by working on my legs a lot as well as my upper body. Over the past two summers I’ve noticed the difference in my physical game by the work that I’ve put into myself. It helps so that can come back to school and be ready for game play without suffering any injuries.”
“Sometimes I find myself second guessing myself and the decisions I make on the ice that lead to me hesitating to make a play,” said Dayvyn. “That’s something I need to work on more and be more confident in my abilities on the ice. I like to embrace what I need to work on and listen to my coaches and what they have to say and also to make sure I execute the next time I’m on the ice.”
“I connect my spirituality by praying before every game for a good game and outcome, and also that there’s no injuries to anyone involved,” said Dayvyn. “Whenever I start to lose control of my feelings, I go back to the bench and just think of what I believe in and the things my spirituality has taught me throughout my life. I always calm down and am able to put my emotions behind me and play the game the way I want to.”
“Some emotional toughness strategies I use that help out my game in stressful situations is thinking that this is what I want to be in,” said Dayvyn. “I focus on the task of defending and making sure that I don’t give up a goal while not putting pressure on myself. I also think back to the same situations in the past that I had success in and think of what I did right and then recreating it.”
“I want to be having fun and playing the best I can,” said Dayvan.
Photo Credit: Kristal Friesen, K’s Photography
