Meet the Eagles, Sheshatshiu's first basketball team

The boys are soaked in sweat as they race up and down the gym at Sheshatshiu Innu School during a Thursday afternoon basketball scrimmage one frigid day in February.

Passing, shooting, blocking: Their shoes squeak as they run on the court, dribbling the ball in quick drives to the opposing side's net. 

It's a week and a half away from the Eagles's very first tournament that's taking place in Churchill Falls. It's also their first game, ever, against another team. 

An exuberant Phoenix Benuen-Pokue, 14, is the youngest starter on the team.

"I think it's a huge honour. It feels magnificent. It feels like the biggest thing in the world," he told CBC News.

He says the team wants to show Churchill Falls what they're made of at the regional tournament, and he hopes to sink some threes while he's there.

Sheshatshiu Innu School Grade 8 teacher and coach, Nathan Miné-Goldring, says the team started getting together informally in October but says they've became more serious about it since December. 

"I see the change in them as players, but also in their attendance and in their confidence. I'm just proud of them," he said. 

Miné-Goldring says the players, who're between the ages of 14 and 17, are motivated. 

He says they took the initiative to ask Sheshatshiu's recreational coordinator to keep the gym open at nights for practices and taking the lead on promoting the team.

"Yeah, they hound people for it in a really positive way. I'm proud of them for that because they're asking for something they want," he said.

And he says the community is showing interest, too, noting that school staff and students stop him in the hallway to ask about the team. 

Most importantly, he says, he wants them to have fun. 

Benuen-Pokue is adopting