Regina Grade 12 student uses Basketball to heal after his father’s death

D’Kin Crowe lost his father at a young age — and basketball has helped him handle that trauma.

His father, Justin Crowe, was killed on Oct. 27, 2015, after being stabbed on Piapot First Nation. A woman was later found not guilty of second-degree murder in connection with the incident.

“It’s like a void in my heart type of thing. Seeing my family go through that, and my brothers, and all the people I cared about, it hurt and it really stuck with me for a really long time, and I think it still does. It hurt so much,” said Crowe, who was only seven or eight at the time.

“Knowing that was the way it happened, it hurts in an unexplainable way. But now that I’m older, it’s like, that’s so sad, and I would never put myself or want to put myself in that type of situation. It’s truly mind-boggling to think about that; it hurts so much at the time, and still does.”

The now Grade 12 student at Scott Collegiate admits it was tough growing up without a dad.

“I truly didn’t know how to feel about it and it was really impactful. I really didn’t know it at the time, but as I grew older, I really saw how it affected me, and it was really hard, especially for me and my brothers. It was truly just that I didn’t know how to feel about it because I was so young. It felt just normal, if that makes sense, like it was normal to not have that presence in my life,” Crowe said.

“But as I grew older, I could really see the impact of what a father would have. Obviously, I have father figures in my life – I could name a whole bunch of people — but yeah, I don’t know. It’s really hard to explain in words. It was rough at times, obviously, but I always tried seeing the positive in my life instead of dwelling on the negativity of it.”

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But one thing has helped him heal on his journey – basketball.

“I’d say it really saved my life in multiple ways. Growing up, it wasn’t really the ideal life, if that makes sense. It was always just an outlet for me to go play and get anything off my mind, type of thing,” Crowe said.

“I feel like if I wasn’t doing basketball, I’d be doing some other stuff that’s not bettering me or my family or just bringing myself down. I was going down that path for a little bit, just not doing stuff with my life and doing negative things. But now, once I found basketball as that outlet, it’s been so much different. I truly believe I’d be down a different path than I am now. I don’t think I would have finished high school. I don’t think I’d be the person I am now.”

Something else that has been important to him has been having his family along with him.

His younger brother, Easton, plays on the team as well.

“It means the world to me. I tried introducing it to him when he was younger, and he never liked it, but he’s always been like the type of person to try new things, and I never wanted to push it on him, and him become resentful of it,” Crowe said.

“We spend so much time together now – not that we didn’t before but so much extra time because I’d be playing basketball and he’d be doing his own thing, but now that we could do that together, it makes me happy, and I hope it does the same for him.”

He has also enjoyed taking on a father-figure type role in his family as the oldest sibling.

“I truly enjoyed every bit of it. I had to step into that type of role and I truly enjoyed every moment of it. I just love being around them. Those are my support systems, like basketball, and they’ll motivate me to get up every morning. Whenever I get sad or upset, the thought of them just clears it all out and makes it peaceful for me,” Crowe said.

“Just stepping into that role just made me so much closer with them as a person, like I love them so much, and I truly enjoyed being that type of father figure. I truly enjoy that. I love every bit of it. I love seeing them in their big moments. I’ve been there in their sad moments, and even those just make me so happy because I see them growing as people, and that makes me so happy.

His cousin David is also in Grade 12 and plays on the team.

“Having David in my life is truly a blessing. We bickered at times and went head-to-head. But like having in my life, having him in my life is like truly a blessing to just relate to someone, being able to talk with someone and growing up with someone with the same struggles as me. It was truly a blessing. He is my brother,” Crowe said.

He and David have matching tattoos on their arm that read “Crowe.” It’s special to both of them.

D’Kin Crowe (right) and his cousin David have their family name tattooed on their forearm. (Britton Gray/980 CJME)

“It means the world to me, it was my first tattoo. I asked my grandma about it. She’s like, ‘You gotta get that because it kind of runs in the family type of thing,’ and me and him went at the same time. It hurt, but like, him being there with me and him having the same tattoo just means a lot to me, because it shows we’re family and that truly means the world to me. I love that so much. Walking around having that pride on my own body,” Crowe said. “It’s there forever, I love that. The tattoo itself is so meaningful. Like the past family has it. We have it. I want my family, like my kids, to have it if they do get tattoos, so it’s kind of like a tradition.”

Travis Goodman is the Athletic director at Scott and said it’s been great to see them embrace basketball.

“Basketball has been so huge for them in this building and it has been huge for our building as well. We have lots of Grade 9s who are now here that want to be like D’Kin and David, so it’s good to see. I think that basketball provides them with a safe space. It’s good to have them here in the building,” Goodman said. “The kids who I like to coach the most are competitors and both of them are just heavy competitors. I have been happy to get to know them. There have been some Crowes who have come before them and there are more Crowes on the way. Happy to work with this family and see what they have next for them.”

Crowe hopes he can continue to play basketball as long as he can.

“It helped me in so many ways — mentally, physically, spiritually. I truly believe basketball is medicine. I take basketball as medicine — it helps me bring my energy up, brings my positivity up. It’s helped me become a better person, grow as a person. It’s helped me build characteristics. It’s helped me build strengths that I use in my everyday life,” Crowe said.