Doing it for Krissy once again

For Brandon Bordeau, Kahnawake Survival School (KSS)’s student engagement and activity facilitator, it was an easy decision for the Krissy Goodleaf Memorial Volleyball Championship to return for a second year - and beyond.

“When we did it last year, I really felt like we needed to do it. I felt like it was a time to heal and a time to gather and remember Krissy,” said Bordeau.

“We still do heal. We still gather together. We still do remember Krissy. But we do it now to keep her name going. We do it now to keep the tradition going. And we do it now to celebrate what she meant, which was more than just volleyball, more than just teaching, more than just being a mentor.

“But she was very well known for volleyball, and she loved volleyball, and we love having this tournament.”

Goodleaf passed away unexpectedly in December 2024. She had worked at KSS for over 20 years, coaching the volleyball team, as a language arts teacher, and then as the student life and prevention administrator - she was also the one who hired Bordeau in his current role.

After the success of the first Krissy Goodleaf Memorial Volleyball Championship last year, Bordeau invited three other schools’ Benjamin teams to come participate at KSS on April 2 for the second edition: the defending champions, Howard S. Billings, Beurling Academy, and Lakeside Academy.

“I’m super happy that we’ve established great relationships with these schools over the years, and we want to keep on growing that legacy and building those relationships,” said Bordeau.

He was honoured that their entire teams showed up to play, not just a couple of players.

“I feel like we’ve invited the right teams,” he said.

Lakeside had been a late addition to the tournament after Lasalle Community Comprehensive High School was unable to attend.

“I thought, ‘why don’t we just invite the team that has two Kahnawa’kehró:non on it?’” said Bordeau, referring to Lakeside team captain Korlynn Delisle and her teammate Iakohtwatsiron:ni Brown.

“I was very pleased to get the invitation,” said Marc-André Côté, Lakeside’s volleyball head coach.

He was also pleased to give a chance to his team to play some more competitive volleyball, with the regular season ending in the winter.

And competitive volleyball it was, with almost every set coming down to the wire - each game was played with two sets where the first to 25 was the winner.

Each team played one game against every other team, and the two teams that won the most sets met in the finals: Billings, the defending champions, and newcomers Lakeside.

It was Lakeside that took home the ultra-competitive game in straight sets.

“I think the closer the games are against any opponent, that’s what makes it important. You become better when you play against the best teams,” said Côté.

“This group of girls played well all year long, and it’s been quite something. What I’ll remember for a long time, is the way they did, they did it with a lot of respect towards the opponents, but also towards the referees and the coaches and all that.”

Lakeside gets to return to their school with the trophy, and next year, when they come back to defend it, their school’s name will be engraved on the trophy.

“Knowing the history of that trophy, we’re very happy to bring it home, and we’ll be taking good care of it,” said Côté.

Although KSS did not make the finals, it was still a fun and meaningful tournament for the players.

“It’s very special,” said Nyah Thusky, who is in grade seven.

She said even though she was not a KSS student when Goodleaf passed away, it was still good to be able to honour her name.

“It’s really special that we get to play and honour her and just that when we play, you could feel that she is with us. That’s really special,” said Ienerahtiiò’a Rice, also in grade seven. “I had a lot of fun.”

So did Bordeau - and he’s hopeful someone else had fun, too.

“Wherever Krissy is, I really hope that she’s enjoying watching this and hopefully next year, we make it even better.”

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