Meet Angela Houle, the Indigenous strongwoman fighting for her pro card
CBC
An Indigenous strongwoman is competing this week in Fort McMurray as the only female amateur in the Pro Am competition. Plus, she's competing alongside her own coach.
Angela Houle is battling for a spot in Canada's Strongest Woman, so she can enter and become the first Indigenous woman to get her pro card in Canada.
She said she's trying to pave the way for Indigenous women.
In the last two years, Houle has been in six competitions and she placed in the top three every time.
Houle, a 39-year-old mother from Goodfish Lake First Nation, started lifting seven years ago. She started flipping tractor tires around the track as a way for her to battle the postpartum depression she was facing, but it developed into a passion for strongwoman competitions.
"Everything that was going on with my mental health, I took it out on this tractor tire," said Houle.
While Houle got into the best shape of her life, she said her mental health was low and there weren't many supports available to her.
She started going to the gym and said she was "hooked" as everyone was there battling their own demons.
"We're all battling the same battle. And I'm glad it's in a gym and it's not with a bottle," said Houle.
Her heaviest lift in competition was a 415-pound deadlift, but for the next competition she expects to go much heavier.
"I don't know what my max is," Houle said. She's also done a 500 pound yoke and plans to do 550 pounds on Saturday.
Jackie Osczevski, Houle's coach, said she's been working with Houle for almost a year, and she'll be competing against her trainee at Saturday's competition.
"She's been putting in a lot of hard work," said Osczevski.
She said it's also inspiring to see Houle work so hard while raising four kids, having a full time job and a marriage.
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