New hockey association aims to create positive on-ice experience for youth

Dec 12, 2018 | 6:00 PM

Most people believe that the scoreboard dictates how a hockey game goes.

That’s not the case for the Moosomin Warriors Atom club.

This winter marks the team’s inaugural season in the Battlefords Minor Hockey Association, and with only five of their players having prior experience on the ice in organized hockey before, the scoreboard may seem lopsided in other teams’ favour.

But that doesn’t matter for the kids on the ice.

With their smiles and work ethic, and with many of the players still learning the game, the squad has been picking up on the sport faster than any of the parents, coaches or even fans have expected. Regardless of what the score clock indicates, they play each shift like it’s their last.

“They’re excited about the team,” said head coach and President of the new Minor Hockey Association in Moosomin, Quenton Swiftwolfe. “The kids come up to you, and thank you for giving them the opportunity to play the game.”

Moosomin plays their games out of their home arena on the Cree First Nation, just minutes outside of Cochin, which seats more than 300 people. They’ve previously had a senior team, but the minor hockey association was lacking in the community of 1500.

It was a group of community members that had the hope that the First Nation could sustain a hockey program. They submitted an application to the step league through BMHA, and Swiftwolfe was invited to their spring meetings. Getting through the initial meeting and laying out the groundwork for the policies and procedures to create the association took some time, before they were then invited back for the fall meetings.

That was when it was set in stone that the Moosomin Warriors would be entering the step league for the 2018-19 season. This year, they were able to ice both the atom team, and coming up in January, the novice club will get their first taste of action. The team has been practicing vigorously getting ready for puckdrop, with the later start to their hockey season.

It was a big win for the young association, but the next step was getting the kids onto the ice and learning the game.

Coach Swiftwolfe said when the games first started, the scores were very lopsided when it came to the final horn.

“They’re just happy to be on the ice and playing opposite other communities,” he said. “For most of the kids it’s the first time playing organized hockey. The first few games may have been blow-outs, but the scores are a little less.”

The team practices twice a week, on top of their regular season games. The coaching staff has been focusing on important skills like commitment, teamwork, and fair play initiatives that have a long-lasting impact on each and every one of the skaters on the ice.

Being in their first year, there are certainly milestones around every corner for the team. First goals, first assists, first points, but it’s not all about the product on the ice or the statistics built up by these young athletes.

Although there has been many highlights for the team, Coach Swiftwolfe doesn’t pinpoint a specific moment in the year as his highlight so far, but focuses more on the impact that being on the ice has each.

“I like to see the kids show up to the rink happy and ready to rock and roll,” he said. “They don’t understand what the win or lose column is yet, they’re just happy to come out.”

In their first game, the team hit the ice not knowing what to expect with the new club, or with the league that they entered in. They focused on making sure everyone got their fair share when it came to ice time, and that the kids were able to soak in every minute of most players’ first taste of game action. After scoring their first goal as a team, upon watching the players come to the bench for the high-five-fly-by. Swiftwolfe said seeing the look on their faces; he knew the kids instantly fell in love with the game of hockey.

Just this past weekend, the team was invited to play in Leoville’s tournament, where they travelled together in the team’s new bus that was supplied with support from Swiftwolfe’s colleagues. In the tournament, the team did something that just a few months ago seemed unimaginable.

They won.

“It was an exciting moment,” Swiftwolfe said. “My coaches were on the bench, and I was on the bench hoping for our first win. But (we all knew) that we had to make sure the kids just had fun.”

Aside from the play on the ice, Swiftwolfe said that his personal experience fuels his passion for coaching. He doesn’t have a child on the team, but he has fond memories playing sports, and knows that it’s the perfect way for the first step on their way to choosing a positive lifestyle, rather than the negative aspects of what the kids could be doing if they weren’t on the ice.

“If I could do that for these kids, help them make the right decisions and being a positive role model for them, hopefully takes them a long way themselves,” he said. “The main aspect is keeping them active rather than taking the wrong path in drugs and alcohol or the gang life.”

Swiftwolfe admits that many First Nations communities have problems when it comes to the negative paths with drugs, alcohol, and gangs coming into the communities. That’s something he hopes these kids stay away from, and being able to be that voice of reason for the young athletes is something that he takes very seriously.

“If we can do (this) as a community, it will eliminate a lot of the future problems,” he said.

Hockey is a way that many of the children can learn new skills and develop as not only athletes, but also as members of the community, becoming better citizens and role models for the next generation. Developing young citizens is the biggest aspect of the program, and it starts with instilling the skills and virtues needed to set the groundwork for the future.

“The discipline I teach and repeat on the ice is something that they need to learn; it happens day to day,” he said. “They need to know what respect, discipline, team play and fair play is. For a lot of them, it’s a learning curve. For me to change one, 15 or 30 kids to learn and better themselves, it would be a win-win for myself, and also the community.”

Swiftwolfe said hockey is not the only thing, but a combination of school, education and sports. Instilling that is crucial for their further development.

Moving forward, the Moosomin hockey program has high goals for what they want to be moving forward. Getting the two initial teams on the ice was step one, now they’re hoping to use the positive results to grow the program to more age groups, and drum up more interest in the community.

Swiftwolfe hopes to have pre-novice to midget solidified in the foreseeable future, and hopes to continue to preach the positive reinforcement for the children as the season moves on into 2019.

 

brady.lang@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @BradyLangCJNB