Eabametoong First Nation's peewee girls hockey team has week to remember in Ottawa

The last week has been a dream come true for a group of youth hockey players from Eabametoong First Nation.

After months of fundraising, the Rez Girls 64 Wolves peewee hockey team took to the ice against other girls for the first time, spending the weekend competing in the annual Kanata Girls Hockey Association House League Tournament.

But that wasn't all — the Wolves also spent some time in Ottawa, where they visited Parliament Hill and the RCMP Musical Ride, saw a movie, toured the Canadian Museum of History, and even checked out an Ottawa Senators game.

And while the tournament itself didn't go as well as hoped — the Wolves were eliminated in the first round — the trip itself was a very worthwhile and memorable one, team general manager Allison Norman said.

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"Every day has been just sort of a new adventure for them," Norman said. "Just the kinds of sights that they've seen in Ottawa — most of them have never been out of Thunder Bay, basically, before, so just being in Ottawa is an experience unto itself."

"I'm just really inspired by these girls."

The other teams in the tournament, Norman said, went out of their way to make the Wolves feel welcome. For example, one team re-taped their sticks and wrote #64 on them before taking the ice against the Wolves.

"Each of the teams had a little gift for the girls," she said. "[Saturday], when the girls came off the ice, another one of the teams had a gauntlet set up, with them holding their arms up so the girls could walk under that going back into their dressing rooms."

"It was just a really, really beautiful moment of girls appreciating other girls, and being inspired by other girls."

Inspiration is at the heart of what the Wolves are doing, said assistant coach Leo Atlookan.

"We just wanted to show other girls that they can also do it," he said. "That was the whole purpose of this. We wanted to show other girls that they can make their own team, and make a difference, and just do something as big as this."

"We just wanted to be an example."

The team has worked hard to get where they are. They relied on fundraising and donations to get to Ottawa from their home community, which is located about 360 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, and is only accessible by ice road in the winter, and air in the summer.

"The experience, it's got its ups and downs," Atlookan said. "But we went for it."

"Even if we had to crawl here, we were going to get here," he said. "That's what I kept telling the girls."

'A lot of growth'

Now that the tournament is over — the team is spending a little more time in Ottawa, heading home on Tuesday — Atlookan says it's time to start thinking about next season.

"We're going to get back to the drawing board, and we're going to train a little harder and play a little more," he said. "Some of my friends that are in other communities say 'why don't you bring them to our tournament?"'

"It's all boys, but it'd be good if the girls saw girls playing hockey."

Allison Norman said the team has already shown itself to be a positive thing for the players, and the community itself.

"I'm a teacher in the community, as a number of the other coaches are," she said. "As a teacher, not just as a manager on the team, I see a lot of growth in the classroom — just their ability to work together as a team, be more patient with each other, and just understand differences a little bit more."

"The community also has really bonded together, and has been encouraging these girls," Norman said. "I think that's been a great thing too."