Hockey team honouring Wiikwemkoong to compete at national tournament
By Sam Laskaris
SUDBURY – Hiawatha Osawamick was once again keen to have her daughter compete in a national hockey championship.
As a result, Osawamick took matters into her own hands. She went ahead and entered a club into this year’s U-21 National Indigenous Junior Hockey Championships, which will be held July 16-19 at Toronto’s Westwood Arena.
Though she is a member of Wahnapitae First Nation, Osawamick opted to honour her family’s Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory ancestry by naming the girls’ club Wiki Rockets.
“That’s where our family originated,” she said. “My husband is from there. It just felt like a good thing to do.”
Osawamick will serve as the head coach of the Rockets, a club that will include her 18-year-old daughter Aaliyah.
This marks the second year of the national Under-21 tournament. Aaliyah suited up for a Free Agents squad, comprised of players from various Indigenous communities, at last year’s inaugural tournament.
Aaliyah, a forward, spent the past two seasons playing with the Cornwall-based Ontario Hockey Academy, a private boarding hockey school. She is now gearing up for her freshman season at the University of Connecticut, a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 3 school.
The Rockets’ 14-player roster for the national tournament will primarily feature players from across Ontario. Athletes from Alberta and British Columbia will also be suiting up for the squad.
Though he is just 19 and still playing junior hockey himself, Theron Morningstar, a member of Mississauga #8 First Nation, will serve as the Rockets’ assistant coach.
Morningstar also had a significant role in assembling the Rockets’ roster.
“He’s our hockey recruiter,” Osawamick said. “He’s very out there on social media platforms. So, we were able to secure our players. We just did our homework. We found our solid players and put our lines together. We did our research and that’s how we developed this team.”
Morningstar, a goalie who has signed on to play at the Junior B level this coming season in the Greater Ontario Hockey League with the Welland Jr. Canadians, said he’s known many of those on the Rockets’ roster for a couple of years.
“I played with a few of them at the National Aboriginal Hockey Championship (NAHC),” he said. “So, I met a few of those girls through NAHC. And, just being an athlete, it’s a very small world, especially in the hockey world. And I’ve found myself being good friends with a few of the girls.
When Hiawatha asked me, it was like a light bulb went off in my head. And I contacted everyone.”
This year’s national tournament will feature six clubs participating in the female division. And there will also be 16 squads competing in the male grouping. All teams are guaranteed three round-robin matches. And regardless of how they fare in those outings, all squads will have at least one playoff game as well.
Morningstar is confident the Rockets are capable of registering wins.
“But, more than that, I want every single person on this roster to leave with their heads held high and a bigger vision for themselves,” he said. “Hockey is the vehicle. It’s their identity, their pride, their belonging, and destination. They’re going to carry these memories for the rest of their lives. It’s all around going to be such a great time. And I’m super excited.”
Since they live in various parts of the province, and country for that matter, the team will not have an opportunity to stage any practices before the tournament.
Morningstar is not concerned about that.
“These girls have been training their whole lives,” he said. “And honestly, these girls are very driven individuals.”
He added that the Rockets’ lineup includes numerous elite players who should be able to perform well even if they are not well acquainted with their teammates.
“They’ve been doing this their whole lives,” he said. “Some of these girls have had their rookie seasons in NCAA Division 1 hockey. And many of them are Division 1 commits. So, these girls are more than prepared for this tournament.”