Lunenburg girls peewee hockey team wins 'once in a lifetime trip' to Ottawa
The team will play against girls from Nunavut, Ottawa and Southern Ontario
It's not hard to feel the warmth as the Lunenburg Western Riptide Peewee A girls hockey team gets ready to practise.
And not just because they're up on the dressing room benches dancing to Pink's Get the Party Started and celebrating a teammate's birthday with chocolate cupcakes.
"This team's different," says player Abbie Chisholm. "A lot of teams are just about the team and getting goals, but … we're about being a family."
Soon they'll be taking a family vacation of sorts.
They've won a trip to Ottawa to play against other peewee recreational teams in the Bell Capital Cup. It's a collaboration between the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Ottawa International Hockey Festival (OIHF) in partnership with the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club.
Head coach Chris Hayes, who has a daughter on the team, says house leagues don't normally get an opportunity like this.
"They're actually supporting the base of hockey," he said of the organizers. "This is the heritage, this is the roots of the whole thing is all the kids who just like to get up and play."
He thinks his team represents those roots to a T.
Hayes said the girls choose to come together from 14 different communities so they can play together. Otherwise, they would be on mixed teams. Some have even skipped out on joining competitive teams.
"Those chose to stay here and skate with the girls that they've been skating with for the past five or six years," Hayes said. "They love spending time together. They love playing the game. They love practising, which a lot of people don't enjoy."
In order to be selected for the trip to Ottawa, teams had to submit a short video and an essay. Hayes came up with the idea for the contest entry video and a poem instead of an essay.
The team will play against Ottawa, Nunavut and Southern Ontario. The Nunavut game will be on the new Canada 150 skating rink on Parliament Hill.
Accommodations and flights are paid for by the contest organizers, and the team is also getting support from the community to help fund food, baggage fees and cultural activities in Ottawa.
There will be 32 teams in Ottawa representing every province and territory. A girls and boys team was chosen from Nova Scotia.
The Digby Peewee C team will be representing the boys, playing Nunavut, Ottawa and a team from B.C.
Rosanna Manzer, the boys team manager, says everyone is very excited.
"For a house-level team to get an opportunity like this is just unheard of and amazing."
'The most joyful thing ever'
The girls team's assistant coach, Michelle Lynch, called the team "inclusive, welcoming" and "so spirited."
"It's the most joyful thing ever, really," said Lynch, who has a daughter on the team.
Lynch had a similar experience in the late '90s. She only had figure skating experience before hitting the ice with the varsity women's hockey team at Dalhousie University. But the other women welcomed her with open arms.
Now, she's happy to mentor these girls and watch their teamwork.
And their hard work is paying off. They won silver at the Shearwater East Dartmouth Minor Hockey Association tournament earlier this year.
And the girls are inspiring a whole new group of female hockey players as they get involved in the community, participate in parades and even help coach novice players.
Chisholm is taking it one step further: she's actively recruiting a friend.
"I beg her almost every day."
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