Hockey

Hockey Stars Dominate MASRC Scholarship Winners

By Scott Taylor, Photos by James Carey Lauder, St. Thomas University, the MFHL U18 AAA and Kristal Friesen/K’s Photography

Kennesha Miswaggon is an outstanding defenseman at the University of British Columbia. Bryden Sinclair has a hockey scholarship waiting for him at the University of Maine. Rachel O’Toole and Kaila Powell just completed their freshman seasons at the University of Regina. And Breanna McLennan was a star at Winnipeg’s Vincent Massey Collegiate and Kenesha Miswaggon played this past season with Prairie Blaze in the Manitoba Junior Women’s Hockey League.

Miswaggon, Sinclair, McLennan, O’Toole and Powell along with coaches Lauren Legault, a graduate of the hockey program at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, N.B., and Hayden Yaremko, a former star with the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s OCN Blizzard, are among the 15 athletes and coaches who have been named winners of the Manitoba Aboriginal Sports and Recreation Council’s 2019 MASRC/2002 NAIG Legacy Scholarships.

The 2002 NAIG Legacy Scholarships were created through the generosity of the 2002 North American Indigenous Games Legacies. The Athlete Scholarships are awarded yearly to Aboriginal athletes in Manitoba who have shown athletic leadership in Manitoba’s amateur sport community through well rounded participation as an athlete, as well as on academic standing, and other school and community related activities.

THE 2019 ATHLETE SCHOLARSHIPS ($600)

Robert (Jesse) Skelton Multi-Sport Hartney Bianca Mckay Softball Dauphin (Skownan) Cassidy Alyn Multi-Sport Fisher Branch Emma Ricard Martial Arts St. Ambroise Stefanie Byron Baseball Oak Point Cam Gayleard Volleyball St. Andrews Bryden Sinclair Ice Hockey Peguis First Nation Kaila Powell Ice Hockey Swan River (Norway House) Rachel O’Toole Ice Hockey The Pas (Couchiching) Kennesha Miswaggon Multi-Sport Cross Lake (Pimicikamak) Breanna McLennan Ice Hockey Winnipeg Haven George Multi-Sport Gillam

THE 2019 COACH SCHOLARSHIPS ($600)

The Coach Scholarships are awarded yearly to Aboriginal coaches in Manitoba who have shown outstanding coaching leadership in Manitoba’s amateur sport community, as well as on academic standing and other school and community related activities. Lauren Legault Ice Hockey Elie Hayden Yaremko Ice Hockey The Pas Gregory Meconse Soccer Winnipeg (Pinaymootang) Loryn Evans Wrestling Winnipeg (Pimicikamak)

Lauren Legault

Kaila Powell

Rachel O’Toole

Hayden Yaremko

Bryden Sinclair

The 2002 NAIG Legacy Scholarships were created through the generosity of the 2002 North American Indigenous Games Legacies

Miswaggon had a superb first season with the UBC Thunderbirds. A defender, Miswaggon played 27 regular season games and four playoff games as a freshman and had a goal and six points. This came a year after she led the Balmoral Hall Blazers to the championship of the North American-wide Junior Women’s Hockey League. It was BH’s first league championship victory.

Powell and O’Toole both graduated from the Manitoba Female Hockey U18 AAA League and had solid first seasons at Regina. Powell, a defender, came out of the Pembina Valley Hawks and played 21 games in her rookie season at Regina. O’Toole, also a defender, is a product of the Westman Wildcats and had two assists in 25 games with the Cougars this past season.

Sinclair, also a defenseman, attended Pilot Mound Academy, played a season with the OCN Blizzard of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, then spent last season with the Maryland Black Bears of the North American Hockey League where he had a goal and eight points in all 50 of his team’s games. Sinclair, 19, will attend the University of Maine this year and will start his NCAA season when the league feels it is safe to do so.

And Breanna McLennan a defender from Vincent Massey Collegiate in Winnipeg starred with the Eastman Selects of the MFHL U18 AAA in 2018-19 and played at the 2018 Manitoba Winter Games. This past season she had 10 assists in 25 games in the MWJHL.

All of these young hockey stars have represented Manitoba at the National Aboriginal Hockey Championship at various points in their careers. l

Breanna McLennan