Hockey finals enjoyed by all

Page 6

Hockey, the quintessential pastime for Canadians, has a new tournament featuring some of Canada's best young Native hockey players. The first National Aboriginal Hockey Championships were held from April 21 to 27 in shared venues of the Akwesasne A'nowara'ko:wa Arena and Cornwall's Civic Centre.

Northern Ontario, Southern Ontario, Eastern Doorway and the North, plus Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia came to compete. In the end only two teams could take home gold. They were the Ontario South girls and the Manitoba boys.

Alwyn Morris, chairman of the Aboriginal Sport Circle, said, "This tournament is an enhanced opportunity for Aboriginal sport development. Too many of our young people fall by the wayside, [but] when they come here to play, hockey scouts and evaluators can observe their skills. What I hope is . . . the kids can go home with some truly memorable experiences."

Teresa Sky, mother of Ontario South team member Jayme Sky, agreed.

"This tournament is a great opportunity for the kids to show their skills and talent as well as the possibility of going somewhere in their sport. The girls being included in it gives them the same opportunity as the boys. I think that's great."

Cole McComber, a member of the Eastern Door and North boys' team, expressed his excitement. "The tournament is really fun and I've got two more years to come to it. I've been to many other tournaments playing for the Express Du Suroit but I didn't enjoy them as much as this one."

Sesi Francis, co-ordinator for the NAHC said, "The support of the Akwesasne community has really helped the tournament. It has been steady and lots of locals have been coming to see the finals."

Constable Leroy Swamp of the Akwesasne Mohawk Police said, "All I've heard from the community has been pretty positive all in all, very few incidents just one impaired driving charge. Other than that the tournament has gone very smooth."

Thanks to the Aboriginal Sport Circle and the Akwesasne community's support of the first ever National Aboriginal Hockey Championships, it was by all accounts an incredible success. And as Morris hoped, youth say the tournament has given them incredible memories of the past seven days.