The next generation!

Interviews conducted on January 22 & 24, 2026.
Thank you to the young athletes: Rodrigo Cuevas, Hector Bruno Tomy, Ana Stephens-de-Teresa, Margot Pagès and Aven Jairho Allana.

[Throughout the video, young athletes speak directly to the camera, sitting in front of a grey background. The first, Hector Bruno Tomy, 11 years old, who practises bujutsu, greets the viewer with a bow. He wears a brown belt, knotted around a black uniform.] Hector Bruno Tomy: I started bujutsu in kindergarten, when I was five years old. It's a type of martial art. I started doing it because I was fidgety at school and my parents wanted me to be more disciplined. [Ana Stephens-de Teresa, 15 years old, who practises synchronized skating, smiles as she holds up a pair of white ice skates. She speaks in English.] Ana Stephens-de Teresa: I started figure skating because of my mom. We would watch the Olympic games together. That’s where I really got my passion from. [Margot Pagès, 10 years old, a gymnast, does a back bend.] Margot Pagès: I've been doing gymnastics since I was three. I go to the Club Gymnix at Claude-Robillard. [A photograph shows Rodrigo Cuevas, 17 years old, who plays soccer. Wearing a medal around his neck, he poses next to his grandfather.] Rodrigo Cuevas: I started playing soccer because of my grandfather. He played professionally in Chile when he was young. [Aven Jairho Allana, 19 years old, who plays basketball, holds up a grey t-shirt that says "Quebec" underneath a logo of a fleur-de-lis superimposed over a basketball.] Aven Jairho Allana: My father used to play basketball too. He brought me to his games, he brought me to his practices, and that's where I found my love of basketball. [A childhood photo of Aven Jairho Allana shows him dribbling and running on the court.] [A photograph shows Ana Stephens-de Teresa smiling proudly on the ice, with several medals around her neck. In another photo, she poses with her arms open wide, wearing a sparkly black costume.] Ana Stephens-de Teresa: In synchronized figure skating within your team, you make a lot of friends. And your teammates, that bond is super important because you really rely on the people next to you. Rodrigo Cuevas: Every player has something to bring to the pitch. The goalkeeper, just like the striker, has a role to play, which leads to a shared victory. [In a photograph, Aven Jairho Allana smiles in his blue uniform, a medal around his neck.] Aven Jairho Allana: Playing in a team sport really creates this kind of brotherhood with my teammates. Hector Bruno Tomy: I think martial arts are fun because I can get better working on my own, without holding a team back, or getting ahead of a team. Margot Pagès: My favourite gymnastics events are the uneven bars and the floor exercises. The most challenging event when I'm training is the vault. [A photograph shows Aven Jairho Allana looking serious on the bench, wearing a yellow uniform.] Aven Jairho Allana: The biggest challenge for me in basketball is my height. I'm 5’ 11” and I'm the smallest on the team, and probably the smallest in the league. This is something uncontrollable, but something I can control is my work ethic, my perseverance, and my motivation. [Standing, Hector Bruno Tomy executes a series of moves, wearing his black uniform and brown belt.] Hector Bruno Tomy: For a long time, I was the smallest guy in my martial arts classes. To take down people twice my size, I usually had to jump or stand on my tiptoes. Ana Stephens-de Teresa: My biggest challenge in my sport, I would say right now, is knowing how to manage my stress. One of my tricks to deal with that pressure is taking deep breaths and remembering that everything is going to be fine. No matter what happens, I’m still here, I’m still doing my best. [A photograph shows Aven Jairho Allana holding his hands together in front of his mouth, looking very focussed.] Aven Jairho Allana: Basketball brings me time management. It helps me create new friendships, and it also brings discipline to my day-to-day life. Hector Bruno Tomy: It gives me a lot of self-confidence. It also makes me more disciplined. [A black and white photograph shows Rodrigo Cuevas on the pitch, controlling the ball. A second photo then shows him a navy blue and white uniform that says "Rome City" on the front.] Rodrigo Cuevas: Soccer inspires me to become not only a better athlete, but a better person. [In two photographs, Aven Jairho Allana has possession of the ball during a game. His white uniform jersey says "Brébeuf" on the front.] Aven Jairho Allana: The best souvenirs I had, were not playing basketball itself, but the moments I had with my teammates outside of basketball and the memories I was able to create and the brotherhood I was able to form through basketball. [A photograph taken from above shows Ana Stephens-de Teresa's team standing in a ring around a medal lying on the ice. Their faces are not in the frame, but each skater is wearing a sparkly burgundy costume and white skates.] Ana Stephens-de Teresa: My favourite memory in figure skating is when I won first in regionals with my team. [Hector Bruno Tomy holds his brown belt along with several other belts in various colours.] Hector Bruno Tomy: I think my happiest bujutsu memory is when I recently earned my brown belt. I'm proud of myself, for having reached the brown belt. [Aven Jairho Allana shows off two medals.] [Smiling from ear to ear in front of the grey background, Ana Stephens-de Teresa wears a a dozen or so medals and then holds up a trophy.] [The McCord Stewart Museum logo appears in white on a black background. In the bottom right corner of the image, the following information is displayed: Copyright: McCord Stewart Museum, 2026.]