Six Nations Roxanne General wins bronze at Canada 55-Plus Games

KAMLOOPS, B.C. — Athletes representing “District 25” which encompasses Brant, Haldimand, Norfolk and Six Nations returned home with medals in three sports from last month’s Canada 55-Plus Games held in Kamloops, B.C.

Amongst the medal winners was Roxanne General, 67, of Six Nations, who earned a bronze medal in golf in the 65-plus division.

“It felt awesome,” said General. “I just couldn’t wait to go. I waited two years ‘cause it kept getting cancelled.”

Her journey to the Games was one that was interrupted by both the pandemic and an injury.

After playing at the Greens of Renton in a qualifier, the Ontario Senior Games Association regional games in Kincardine in 2020, saw her win gold over Linda Wood, who won silver, and Melanie Hind, who won bronze, in the 55-plus category.

Her gold medal qualified her to move on to the Canada 55-Plus Games.

Fast forward to July of this year, General explained that she might have torn her meniscus, a primary tendon in the knee, and is awaiting an MRI. But with her sights set on competing in Kamloops still, she wouldn’t allow it to stop her.

“I wasn’t giving it up because I tried so hard to get it, and when I got it, I had to wait two years. So I didn’t care how I golfed—I wanted to win, but to me, my goal was to finish.”

“I was only four strokes behind silver,” she said.

General said that her favourite part of the experience at the Games was the opportunity to take part in the opening and closing ceremonies. The Games featured more than 2,700 athletes competing in 26 events.

“There were a lot of us and we got to march in by our provinces,” she said, noting that she enjoyed the bagpipes that led Ontario.

In the future, General competed in the first Indigenous Ontario Championship to be held at the MontHill Golf Course that finalized yesterday on Tuesday, September 20, and the Masters Indigenous Games next July in Ottawa.

For others looking for advice in the sport, General shared that tenacity is key.

“Just keep trying,” she said. “To me, you have to go into a sport to have fun, so I like to win, but if I don’t win, I still love the sport. I like going in it for the experience and you can meet a lot of people. When you go into tournaments, you hardly know anyone, so I met a lot of people, which is awesome.”

As pictured, from left, General stands with silver medalist Stacey Wheeler and gold medalist Lauren Lehman after the Canada 55-Plus Games medal ceremony finalized.

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