The UNBC Timberwolves are Prince George’s only university sports team, competing in Mens’ & Womens’ Soccer as well as Mens’ & Womens’ Basketball.
Loralyn Murdoch, Athletic Director for the UNBC Timberwolves, says she sees their student athletes “with the intention of giving back to their communities”. She explains that the student athletes are looking to do what others did for them, and jump at the opportunity to support other members in the community.
This emphasis can be seen through their frequent bottle drives, 50/50s, work within the local school districts, and their work with the indigenous community to learn the intricacies of indigenous-style drum making. These drums are made each year by non-graduating varsity athletes as part of a cultural learning & awareness opportunity, and are then gifted to to graduating varsity athletes during the year-end athletic banquet.
Another way the Timberwolves have continued to support young athletes in Prince George is through their annual Legacy Breakfast. Every year, UNBC & the Timberwolves invite a successful athlete or athletic figure to Prince George to speak to the community & their young student athletes about their own personal journey, challenges, and career highlights as a way to inspire & educate those of the possibilities available in the future.
Past speakers include Kady Dandeneau, a former UNBC student-athlete and member of the Canadian National Wheelchair Basketball team, as well as Stanley Cup winning coach Jon Cooper of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning.
Recently, the UNBC Timberwolves also partnered with an indigenous artist to make history in Canada, becoming the first university team to have a jersey & logo solely designed by an indigenous artist. The jersey & logo, designed by Gitxsan artist Trevor Angus, received an immediate positive response. Angus attended UNBC from 2000 to 2003, and previously designed the logo for UNBC’s First Nations Centre.
Thanks to the positive response to the jerseys, the Timberwolves have recently heard the community’s requests and released the jersey for sale to the general public. The profits from these sales will go directly to Indigenous Scholarships & Lheidli T’enneh youth.
The jerseys on sale can be found HERE: https://www.bookstore.unbc.ca/
