Making it to International ice

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Three Aboriginal teenagers will represent Canada next August as members of the Manitoba Polar Ice.

That's when the select pee wee hockey team will return to defend its 1999 gold medal championship at the Sapporo Cup International Ice Hockey Meet in Sapporo, Japan.

Austin Keshane, of the Island Lake First Nation in Saskatchewan, along with Sage Longclaws and Trevor Catcheway of Manitoba, were chosen out of more than 120 players from around Western Canada to play for the Polar Ice. General manager Darryl Wolski said the three First Nation athletes are all welcome additions to the team, and like all the other players chosen, they had to meet certain criteria.

"To be honest, this team is a 14-or 15-month project and there's a lot of factors in picking a kid, and some people think that we just pick all the kids on sheer talent," explained Wolski. "We have to make sure that the whole package is there. Number one, what's he like off the ice? Is he going to be a troublemaker? What is his family like? All of those things come into consideration."

Each of the players on the roster was selected to fill a specific role.

Finding a role for 13-year-old Austin Keshane, who is already six feet tall and about 180 pounds, was not difficult.

"When we go to play international hockey, (the officials) don't like dirty hockey. They like clean hockey, and that doesn't mean that he doesn't play physical. They don't like to see elbows in the face, they don't like stuff like that. Austin is a big menacing player on the ice, but he's not dirty," said Wolski. "We needed a kid with physical presence as well, but if we were going to take a kid that was going to get us into lots of penalty trouble, we probably wouldn't have taken him, but the stuff that he does on the ice is clean and solid."

Another characteristic that Wolski appreciates in Keshane is his on-ice determination.

"One thing I always tell people is: kids can have all the skills in the world, but if they have no intensity, no passion for the game, well, it's all over as far as I'm concerned. They're only going to go so far.

"That's one thing that Austin does have, is the intensity, the perseverance, I believe, and those are the things that you can't teach somebody. Either you've got them or you don't."

Austin's father Frank is thrilled for his son.

"He's really doing well. There's a lot of interest in him right now from a lot of different people, and people treat him good. He's a really good kid and a pretty good role model," he said.

A late starter compared to most elite hockey prospects, Austin is amazing people with his progress.

"He started when he was eight years old. When most kids start, they're about five. His grandmother Dora gave him skates for Christmas. That kicked it all off. It's a really big accomplishment for him to be the only boy from the whole province to make it. There were 42 other boys that tried out, besides him, from the province of Saskatchewan."

Twelve-year-old Sage Longclaws is the team's youngest member. The young Manitoban, who originates from the Waywayisapisco First Nation but now lives in Winnipeg, has also proven to the team's management that he will fill an important role for the team.

"Sage is quite a character," said Wolski. "He brings a lot of humor to the locker room and the coaches. He always has me laughing, anyway. Sage is a smaller kid. I think he's really going to surprise a lot of people down the road. He's got a lot of potential."

Lyle Longclaws, Sage's father, is proud of his son's accomplishment.

"I was open to supporting any of his decisions, and we always have been regarding his hockey. It's difficult for a First Nation player, particularly in the city of Winnipeg, so I always admire his accomplishments because I feel he's had to work twice as hard as any other player in this city," he said.

At first, the 12-year-old didn't realize just what he'd accomplished by making the team.

"When I first got chosen, I thought tha it was just like any other team, but then after they showed me that video about going to Japan and stuff, (I realized) we're kind of like Team Canada," said Sage.

Both Austin Keshane and Sage, who only weighs 115 pounds, admitted to having doubts about making the team.

"I sort of felt like there were other better players than me, because they were older and I'm a year younger. It feels like making any other team with the tryouts. It was pretty hard," said Sage.

"It really boosted his self-confidence because being selected to represent Canada at an international level at a year older than your age, that's really quite something," said his mother, Brenda.

Trevor Catcheway, from the Scownan First Nation in Manitoba, impressed the coaches with his scoring ability.

"I've never seen a kid shoot a puck like him - just phenomenal. How he can shoot a puck 75 to 80 miles per hour on the fly," Wolski said. "When we had our Saskatoon camp, he was by far the best player we saw. He'll be an offensive force for us, no question. He played in the AAA Hockey Challenge in Brandon and he led the scoring for his age group out of all the kids from all over North America."

Considering how hard it can be for young players living on remote reserves to get the same opportunities as city kids, Catcheway had already overcome the odds just by being asked to try out for the team.

"He started when he was around eight or nine years old at the skating rink on the reserve," said his father, Bev Catcheway. "We then had to travel to Winnepegosis, which is about a 40 mile trip."

Coaches and scouts who see the abilities of the three Aboriginal players who made this team must wonder how many other talented players are out there who don't get noticed or who don't get a chance to play and develop their skills.

When Aboriginal kids make the team, Wolski does what he can to promote them, to bring attention to a few more young Aboriginal role models who will encourage others to get involved in hocke.

"Last year, we had two Aboriginal kids on the team. This year, we have three, and [one of the kids] we took with us last year, he's probably going to be the number one draft pick in the Western Hockey League (bantam draft) next year, Cory Duchene. I really, really like to promote those kids as much as I can," he said.

For any family, having a child involved in a sport like hockey is a costly venture. Just ask Lyle Longclaws, whose son Sage plays hockey year round.

"The unfortunate part is there's no assistance at all for First Nations players, at least not in Manitoba, so it makes it extremely difficult to fund all these things because basically, Sage has been playing hockey all year round" said Lyle. "Right now, he's trying out for the AAA Monarchs. Most of them are pee wee, which is 13 years old, and he's the only 12-year-old that's been age advanced into that group. With AAA, it's very costly. It's about four or five thousand dollars, depending on how well the team does. He also plays with the Winnipeg Junior Jets, which is the best of the 12-year-olds, starting in April and plays right until usually the beginning of July, so that's usually costing us about $6,000. So it's about $1,000 per month to keep your son in elite AAA hockey these days, which is extremely costly. I think for most First Nations people, it's totally out of their price range, so I don't think most of our people are able to afford it."

The traveling expenses per player going to Japan will be about $3,500. However, it will be even more costly when the players' families come to Japan as a cheering section for their kids. The families are trying to fundraise so they can make the trip. The Polar Bears provided a starting point for all parents, but for people in First Nation communities, it proved to not be as effective a fundraising tool.

"I had tried to sell some of the packages that the Polar Ice has, but a lot of the First Nation companies are not dealing in Japan, so as a result, we arn't able to really make use of the packages. I'm trying to move around a bit more in the other organizations who are interested in supporting Native people but that hasn't gone over very well. I can't see us selling $15,000 worth of chocolates. Chocolates just won't do it," said Lyle Longclaws.

For many, taking pride in their children's achievements also helps parents live out dreams of their own.

"I told him that one of the things I would really feel good about, if he tried his hardest and made this team. It would be a dream come true for me to be overseas sitting in the rink in Japan and watching him play the Russians. That would be a dream," said Frank Keshane. "Now that dream is going to come true. I'm actually going to get to see him play the Russians now. Not too many people get to watch their boys play international hockey overseas, and so it's a pretty big event."