Black History Month: Nicholas Barker Tells His Story

SASKATOON, SK – Huskie Athletics had an opportunity to sit down with Nicholas Barker and talk about Black History Month. Barker is a second year outside hitter from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

Volleyball wasn’t always the sport of choice for Barker. “I played soccer growing up and soccer got a little boring. My high school (volleyball) coach came up to me and asked If I wanted to play volleyball. I originally said no and then one day he saw me jumping and he begged me to come out and I did, and the rest is history.” 

Playing sports hasn’t always been easy for Barker. “Playing soccer when I was ten, my team had just won and after the game some of my teammates came up to me and told me the other team was calling me some derogatory names and that hurt. I went back and cried, and I didn’t want to play soccer.” It was Barker’s father who encouraged him to keep playing. “My dad came up to me and told me I need to keep on going and ignore them. They are just jealous because you are doing well, and I need to keep my head up.”

Barker noted how positive his experience has been since coming to the Huskies. “Coming to the Huskies in general, I was kind of used to a little discrimination and hurtful comments coming from a small town in Saskatchewan. Coming here and seeing how they respect people and the level of dignity and respect that you get from adults is heartwarming to see. That they are understanding, and they treat you as a human being. I have teammates who lift me up every day around me and which is a pretty big deal. It helps me ignore all hate and hurtful comments from back in the day.”

Barker thinks getting communities and people with diverse backgrounds in sport would help with inclusion. “I think Huskie Athletics could go to different schools and really encourage people of different colours, backgrounds, socioeconomic backgrounds to join sports and show them how fun being a Huskie athlete really is.” 

Barker pointed out there are stereotypes to being a person of colour in sport. “Some stereotypes are that maybe you are just good at sports and pretty athletic because you are black, or if you weren’t black, you wouldn’t be able to jump so high or run so fast or wouldn’t be so strong.” Barker acknowledged these stereotypes are affecting people who may want to participate in sport. “It prevents people from really wanting to continue the sport. It is hard when people think you are only good at what you do because you are a certain colour, and it affects people from reaching their potential.”

The theme of Black History Month this year is resilience and Barker took time to reflect on that. “When I think of resilience I think of perseverance, persevering through hurtful comments, people trying to hold you back or resilience from not seeing other teammates of the same colour and continuing to strive to achieve something great.”

Barker acknowledged that he is the only athlete of colour on the volleyball team but still feels included. “Honestly just the fact that they are inclusive and respectful is pretty big. I would love to see another black teammate at one time in my career it would be nice, but I am just glad right now I am in a place that everyone includes me and respects me.” 

“Having teammates from small towns that aren’t used to having black players or even black people in general around, they can be quite ignorant sometimes and are learning and overcoming that. Some of my best friends on the team come from small towns who never really interacted with black people, and it is nice to see how far they have grown and see how accepting they are now.” 

Barker had some advice for young athletes of colour. “Embrace difference, embrace being different and really let that drive you to achieve your potential.”