From shadowing his father at 14 years old, to attending the 2025 Canada Summer Games with the Aboriginal Apprentice Coaching Program (AACP), Thomas Favel has had one goal: to be the best coach possible.
Even as Favel has continued to step further into his coaching career, he claims that his father has remained his idol through it all.
“He is obviously my role model, not only because he is my dad, but because he is a really great man.”
Since his youth, Favel has watched his father take on various challenges, working to dismantle marginalization that continues to affect areas within the sport system.
Favel shared that his father often had to overcome barriers that did not affect most other coaches because he was from a reserve.
“He’s always pushed himself and he’s always wanted to get these things that a lot of people don’t, that a lot of people think aren’t available to them. He goes and gets these things and he goes and pushes himself for certifications and he does it not for himself, but because there is a big gap in the system.”
Over time, Favel watched his father be the first through the door in various areas, seeing first-hand the determination it took.
And that same perseverance that guided his father as a coach, is instilled in Favel.
But it has become more than wanting to achieve the same accomplishments and outreach as his father, as Favel looks to push those limits even further.
“I’m very fortunate to have a role model like him, because a lot of people don’t. I always want to be better than him, as a player and as a coach. But not in a rude way,” laughed Thomas. “He’s doing all these things and I don’t really have an excuse as to why I’m in the same system and ecosystem but I’m not going as far as him.”
That goal of being better, alongside encouragement from peers, is what led Favel to apply for the Canada Games AACP and join the Saskatchewan men’s soccer team in Newfoundland.
Offered by the Canada Games Council and the Aboriginal Sport Circle, the AACP was designed to offer Indigenous coaches from communities across Canada the opportunity to build their coaching capacity.
Although the Canada Games was not his first coaching experience at a large multi-sport event — having previously attended the North American Indigenous Games in 2023 — Favel didn’t know what to expect of the apprenticeship.
“I wasn’t sure what my role was going to be. I thought I was just going to be standing around, picking up cones or something, but our head coach Kevin Holness, really made me feel valued and part of the group. He always held meetings and he would go around in a circle and asked everyone for their input and he would really listen.”
Holness’ capacity to coach not only the athletes, but other coaching staff is what made Favel look forward to every opportunity they had together as a team.
“I learned a lot. Especially from Kevin being the head coach. He was really welcoming and showed me the importance of that. It’s something I do a little bit, but not to his scale, so now knowing how good it felt on my end, it is definitely something that I would like to work on.”
According to Favel, their group shared the same foundation of thinking, which allowed them to ask questions and be honest amongst themselves.
In addition, the ACCP created a safe space to learn and make mistakes, but in a controlled environment. Favel felt like those moments of correction are what helped him grow as a coach.
“I’m a way better off coach for it now, one hundred percent. Our coaching staff was the biggest reason why I was able to grow so much,” said Favel. “I was able to voice myself and I wasn’t always right and that’s fine, but Holness really made you feel valued.”
