Indigenous Team Ontario
Reese Shigwadja is suiting up this weekend for Indigenous Team Ontario at the 2023 US Box/Lacrosse Association ‘Border Wars Tournament’ in Oakville. She will be joined by her sister Mackenzie Shigwadja as trainer. Both girls are proud members of Wikwemikong Unceded Territory.
Mackenzie presently plays attack for the Brock University women’s field lacrosse team where she is a captain and leading goal scorer. Mackenzie previously played for Team Ontario in 2017 and 2019, helping her team win Gold and Bronze at Canadian Nationals. She has also played for the Haudenosaunee Nationals field lacrosse team at the Brogden Cup in Maryland in previous years.
Reese currently plays for the Burlington Blaze U17 box lacrosse team who dominated and won their zone finals this season. This summer, she played for Team Ontario at the North American Indigenous Games in Nova Scotia, helping her team capture Silver. Reese also plays for the St. Catharine’s Athletics U19 team, who won Gold in their provincials this year.
This fall, Reese suited up for Empress Lacrosse in Buffalo as well as the U17 and U19 Haudenosaunee Nationals field lacrosse teams at Brogden Cup in Maryland, playing against the US and Canadian national teams. This winter, she will be headed to California with the Haudenosaunee Selects Jr. team for USBOXLA Nationals.
Both girls are currently training with the Women’s Haudenosaunee Nationals team, preparing for the 2024 World Box Lacrosse championships in New York. Wow, what a resume. Good luck, Reese and Mackenzie!
Local player to League Showcase!
Known as the ‘Ko Show’ by his teammates, Kohyn Eshkawkogan has been selected to one of the top shows of his young playing career. Kohyn was selected (badly mangling his name in the process!) in a streamed, live broadcast of roster announcement for the 2024 GTHL Top Prospects game coming up in the New Year! He is the only Indigenous selected this year and perhaps ever in the game’s 13 iterations. The announcement is still on YouTube if you want to check it out.
This is an annual event featuring the League’s top Under-16 ‘AAA’ (formerly minor midget) players at that all-important OHL draft age. The game features celebrity coaches from the many GTHL and NHL alumni. The list of event alumni includes current NHL standouts, Connor McDavid, Darnell Nurse, Max Domi, Sean Monahan, Sam Bennett, Tom Wilson and many more.
The game is set for January 17 at the Carnegie Centennial Centre in North York. Tickets are going fast as there are not any sales at the arena and it always sells out! Streaming opportunities are to be announced!
Congratulations.
Lady Panther Points!
This week saw the U-18 Panthers travel to Haileybury on Saturday for one of their Tournament style formats for their league play. In game one of their double-header game against the Temiskaming Shores Puckhounds ‘BB’ women’s team, they were on the wrong side of a 4-2 final but considering their opponents are ranked one level higher, they did fantastic!
Coach Hughson relayed that the girls continue to work very hard and are bringing their newly learned practice skills to the games, so they will continue to make progress towards their year-end goals. A special shout-out to Gracie Gibson who got the pink hard hat for team MVP for this game as chosen by the coaching staff. Scot added, “Her heart and work ethic are always present!”
In game two, they again found themselves with a learning score of 6-1. Coach Scot explained that, “I say learning because we continue to learn as this season progresses and bring these lessons with us to our upcoming practices. This score is not indicative of the game we played though. It was 3-1 starting the third period but with a short bench due to injuries and a lot of our players just getting better from nasty illnesses, the gas tanks were drained. In my opinion, the first period of this game was the best period of hockey that our girls have played all season.”
The team staff are very proud of the way they continue to battle and improve with every game. This game saw Izzy Hughson earn the pink hard hat as chosen by the previous game’s recipient. This is their customary practice but since Camaryn Ramsay was unable to attend these games due to injury, the coaching staff picked Gracie in net for game one. Izzy came up with some huge, timely saves early in the game to keep them right in it.
For the double-header, they showed great effort by all the players on Saturday as they battled through sickness, injuries and a long travel day to play some great hockey. Mr. Hughson was very impressed with the team’s ability to persevere through all obstacles.
The highlight for this week will be their game against the WTPS (Wiikwemkoong Tribal Police Services) Freeze coming up Thursday (December 21) night in Wikwemikong at 7 pm. Sounds like Mr. Peltier and crew are getting ready for a tough game. Rumour has it that they have bolstered their roster significantly and are even hitting the ice for a practice before the game. It will be the longest night of the year after all, hopefully it doesn’t feel that way for the Freeze.
It is going to be a very fun night with some great hockey action, so why not get on out and cheer both teams on? Don’t forget that admission is only $2 or a non-perishable food item, with these items being sent to the Wiikwemkoong Food Bank.
World Junior camp invitee!
Congrats to Michael Buchinger (Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory) of the Guelph Storm (OHL) for being named to Team Canada Selection camp roster for the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championships. Incidentally, scrolling through past rosters of the GTHL Top Prospects game and there is Michael listed for Team Stacey-Primeau-Tucker for the December 2019 game!
Word spreading far of Wiky Tourney!
Gerry Baibomcowai is one thorough promoter. He is recruiting for a big three division tournament on February 16 – 18. Depending on his all-important conscripting of teams, there is a chance of significant prize money, like $10,000 based on eight teams in the men’s open division. Gerry boasts that, “It is only a seven-hour drive from Val D’Or, Quebec!” An under-22 category has a $750 entry fee and a chance at a $2,000 payout. The women’s division is looking for six teams at only $500 a roster to a pot of two grand! Contact Gerry through Facebook.
