Stars’ forward, Jake Southgate wasted no time transitioning to the SJHL ranks, as the young forward looks primed to be a difference maker for the team when they return to the ice in the New Year. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

Southgate Shines

A hometown boy’s journey to the Stars

Dec 24, 2020 | 12:00 PM

Ever since he can remember, the winter season has been synonymous with hockey for Battlefords hometown product, Jake Southgate.

The North Stars first-year player grew up on a farm, just 20 minutes south of Battleford, where he said he can still remember the early beginnings of his passion for the sport, back where it all began – on the backyard dugout.

“I think I was around four or five years old just playing on the dugout that my dad would clear off,” Southgate said of his earliest hockey memories. “I remember we’d go around shooting pucks, and then not long after, I started playing organized hockey my first year of initiation at about age five.”

Southgate said, whether on the dugout or in the basement, there always seemed to be a game of stick and puck going on somewhere growing up in a true hockey household with three brothers.

“We have an area downstairs where we played mini sticks growing up until we put a few holes in the wall,” the now-18-year-old said with a laugh. “Not long after that, my dad built us a full-size rink outside when I was about 11 years old, so it’s been pretty great growing up just skating on that every day in the winter.”

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All those brotherly battles proved to pay off in organized hockey as well.

Honing his craft while progressing through the local minor hockey ranks, Southgate joined the North Stars this season following three memorable years of U18. In his first year advancing to the AAA level last season, Southgate scored 17 goals and 28 points in 43 games to earn team-MVP honours.

Southgate’s performance also saw him receive a call-up to join the North Stars for a three-game stint last year, towards the tail-end of the season. It was an experience he said would prove invaluable to the next step in his development.

“It was great being with that team, because that group knew what it took to win,” he said. “Learning from those guys a bit was a big help and going into the summer it kind of showed me what I needed to do to train, and how hard I needed to train, to come back and be an impact player for the team.”

And an impact player, he has been. In just his second of the team’s three games prior to Christmas, Southgate scored his first career SJHL goal, in a moment he still remembers vividly.

Southgate said while his junior career with the North Stars may only be beginning, he is grateful for the support of his mom and dad, whose dedication, care and support have been integral to helping him get to where he is today.

He said suiting up for the North Stars this season has been a dream come true; a dream that was born from a young age, watching the Stars play at the Civic Centre (Access Communications Centre).

“Every year we’d go to about five or 10 games and I’d sit with my dad,” Southgate recalled. “He’d tell me things about each player and what to watch, and then every year he’d also take me to the North Stars’ kid’s camp. [There] I’d learn from those guys and hope to be one of them one day.”

Southgate and his North Stars teammates are hopeful to able to return to the ice in the New Year. For all the latest SJHL news and developments heading into 2021, stay tuned to battlefordsNOW.

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1