Sean who motivated me to skate faster because he would always skate around me backwards. I was older and I wanted to be better than him so it was always a battle between us both, which we continued on for the rest of the three years I played. I played in the Gwich’in Cup one year and it was so fun. I met new friends from all over and got to play with other kids from other communities. Although we never won one game, we still received bronze medals and I have lots of great memories. Hockey made me feel so connected with my teammates and my family. My older brother James started playing hockey when he was 12 years old and instantly fell in love with the sport. Hockey became his main priority. Throughout the years James made great progress in the sport. He even made Team NWT for the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships twice. The first year it took place in Ottawa and the second year it was held in Saskatoon. James played his first year of the IRC Cup in Inuvik with the Gwich’in Flames, which is a team from our hometown Fort McPherson. For the next four years he played with the LJ’s Sabres, which is another team from our community, and this year will be his third year with the Aklavik Outlaws. In April of 2016 my brother welcomed his first son, and as we all expected, he put a Calgary Flames player’s name – Monahan - as his son’s middle name. James also has a daughter who just turned six years old. She is also a huge fan of her dad playing hockey. She plays hockey in their hometown Aklavik, and she has also played one year of the Gwich’in Cup.
Janessa’s brother James with his wife Karlyn and son Layten at the 2017 IRC Cup
J
ust like almost any other kid in the North I grew up always hearing about hockey, and for a few years I even got involved in playing. In our house my two brothers’ favourite teams are the Calgary Flames, and my Dad, sister and I like the Edmonton Oilers. It’s always the “Battle of Alberta” in the house when they play against each other. I never really took notice of hockey until I was about seven years old. That’s when I started hanging out with my older cousin Morgan and his girlfriend Joyce. Joyce played hockey and I always watched her at practice. She was the one to buy me my very first set of hockey gear when I was nine, and she helped me learn quickly the process of how things went in practice. I played for three years with my little brother
My younger brother Sean started playing hockey when he was seven years old. Sean and I were both influenced by our older brother James. Just like James, Sean likes the Calgary Flames. This year was Sean’s fourth year playing in the Gwich’in Cup with our cousin Ajay Peterson. Sean has won two gold, one silver and two bronze medals along with the awards for MVP, heart and hustle and sportsmanship. I look forward to watching Sean grow with this sport. I hope hockey will open as many opportunities for him as it did for James.
Hockey in my community has always been a big thing. My mom Tena sits on the Fort McPherson Youth Hockey Committee, which organizes events, fundraises for kids to go to the Gwich’in Cup (this year 33 youth went!) and also fundraises for the McPhoo Hockey Day that is taking place here for the fourth year. Hockey Day revolves around bringing in kids from all over the Mackenzie Delta, and this year will be the first year they make it two days long. The event provides accommodation to the out of town travellers and the gym is open to the youth when they aren’t playing hockey along with games. In total there will be 75 youth from Fort McPherson, Aklavik and Inuvik participating in the two days of fun hockey. I guess you can say hockey is and probably always will be a big part of my life!
