Hockey stars appear at Espanola youth camp

By Sam Laskaris

ESPANOLA—A professional women’s hockey player was one of the featured instructors at a two-day girls’ camp in Espanola this past week.

Kelly Babstock, a citizen of Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory who is gearing up for her fourth season in the National Women’s Hockey League, was among those instructing the 44 players who attended the camp, which wrapped up Friday.

The event was organized by Lawrence Enosse, who manages Wiikwemkoong’s Waasa Nabin Community Youth Services Centre.

Since there is no ice available in the Wiikwemkoong rink during the summer months, the closest location Enosse could find to stage the camp was in Espanola, about 100 kilometres away.

The camp was free for Wiikwemkoong members. Players from elsewhere had to pay a fee for the camp, which offered three hours of on-ice instruction.

Enosse was thrilled with the turnout. Players ranged in age from 5-17.

“We only advertised it a week and a half in advance,” he said.

In addition to the several players from Manitoulin Island, other camp participants came from as far away as Sudbury, North Bay and Sault Ste. Marie.

Babstock was joined on the ice by another elite Indigenous player, Kalley Armstrong, the granddaughter of former Toronto Maple Leafs’ captain George Armstrong.

Armstrong, who was born in Maple, Ont., played four seasons of collegiate hockey in the United States, graduating from Harvard University in 2015.

Babstock, who is from Mississauga, spent the past three seasons starring for the Connecticut Whale. Though she will still be toiling in the NWHL, she will be playing closer to home now as she signed an off-season deal with the Buffalo Beauts.

“There was a lot of excitement and from the parents as well,” Enosse said of the reactions of camp participants who were sharing the ice with Babstock and Armstrong. “I found it really inspiring to the young players that were present.”

Enosse said Babstock was the one who suggested running the camp. Earlier in the month, she was in Wiikwemkoong, where her family has a cottage, speaking at a youth conference.

At that two-day event, Babstock spoke to conference attendees about the importance of combining sports and academics.

After Babstock’s suggestion to run a hockey camp, Enosse quickly put the wheels into motion.

“It was a last-minute thing,” Babstock said. “But it was a good turnout. There were a lot of good kids there and a lot of skilled players out there.”

Babstock invited her close friend Armstrong to help at the camp as well. The pair have known each other for a number of years.

They were both members of the girls’ Ontario South coaching staff for the squad that participated at the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships this past May. That tournament was hosted by Nova Scotia’s Membertou First Nation.

Both Enosse and Babstock are keen to team up and stage another girls’ hockey camp in 2019.

“It’s something to build on,” Enosse said. “We’re possibly having a longer camp next year.”

Babstock sounds even more certain another camp will be staged, and not just next year.

“We’re going to make it an annual summer camp,” she said.