Soon, Caen Passeri will be stepping onto a plane to fly to Halifax to play in the North American Indigenous Games 2023 as a junior golfer.
The games bring together Indigenous athletes from all across North America to compete in a broad range of sports, from archery to wrestling.
Caen will be competing against 24 fellow male golfers under 19 years old, despite having taken up the sport a few short years ago.
It was only as a result of getting a job at the Williams Lake Golf and Tennis Club after his Grade 9 school year Caen began playing golf.
“I decided that I may as well do it if I have it there in front of me,” he said, noting one of the big perks of the job is getting to golf for free.
No one in his family played much golf, but he said he ended up really liking the sport, and was able to play with some skilled golfers who gave him tips to improve his game.
Caen said he owes a lot to the guidance of Brody Conroy, Rob Yaworski and Morgan Day for helping him advance his game, which has progressed enough to have finished second in the regional qualifiers held in Oliver in May.
The first Indigenous Championship in B.C. was played at Nk’Mip Canyon Desert Golf Course and 128 women, men and youth competed, with those under 19 competing to represent B.C. in Halifax.
Caen said he’s very proud to be representing B.C. as an Indigenous athlete after earning his spot on the B.C. team.
A member of ?Esdilagh First Nation, Caen was born and raised in Williams Lake.
The son of Quynn and Marco Passeri, Caen is 17 years old, the third of five children, with an older brother Jaxon and sister Dylan and younger sister Sofie and younger brother Kache.
While Caen said he manages to drag his dad Marco out for the occasional game, and Jaxon plays golf sometimes as well, he is the lone serious golfer in the family.
It is actually thanks to his mom Quynn he will be heading to Halifax.
She had heard about the Indigenous Games from a friend whose daughter went, and when she looked them up and saw golf on the list of sports, she asked Caen if he’d be interested. When he said yes, she signed him up for the qualifying tournament.
“We’re thrilled,” she said.
“It’s super exciting and the chance of a lifetime, I think,” added Quynn, noting it will be his last chance to be eligible for the games, which don’t happen every year, because he would be too old the next time around.
Quynn said Caen and two of his siblings took junior golf lessons briefly once when they were younger, and then it was thanks to a set of hand-me-down golf clubs from a cousin and after he got the job at the golf course he got into it. Then when school was on, he would take the bus from the school to get to the golf course on weekdays to go practice and they’d give him rides up for some practice when he wasn’t working, which he normally did every weekend.
“We’re pretty proud of him,” she said of making the games.
But Caen has always been athletic and has played hockey his entire life and also grew up with soccer and wrestling. However now it is primarily golf in the summer and hockey in the winter and he said he enjoys the quiet nature of golf.
“Between shots it’s just you and your own mind.”
“I’ve done a lot of stuff but I think golf definitely takes the cake with me,” he said, noting he likes how with golf there will always be more he can continue to improve.
The strongest parts of Caen’s game right now are his drivers and his irons, but he is still working on his short game.
He plays about three to four times a week during the summer, getting in driving range and greens practice before work when he can. During the school year, Caen still plays about once a week during the golf season.
In Halifax at the North America Indigenous Games, he said he’s just hoping to play the best he can, and has heard the competition is tough.
To get into the top 10 would be an accomplishment, he said, noting he is fairly new to playing tournaments.
“I’m looking forward to it, it’s going to be an awesome time.”
READ MORE: OUR HOMETOWN: Matt Lees enjoys working and living in Williams Lake
READ MORE: OUR HOMETOWN: Beverly Evans is focussed on her family
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