By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle
Two local hockey stars are confident this will be the year they bring home a medal from the 2024 National Aboriginal Hockey Championships.
Preston Gabriel and Samera Gabriel, both from Oliver and representing the Osoyoos Indian Band/Okanagan Nation and local communities as part of Team BC, were among the 20 girls chosen for the female hockey team from across the province.
Team BC – both girls and boys under 18 years of age – will compete at the national championship hosted on Treaty 8 territory in Grande Prairie, Alberta from May 5-11, 2024.
A third girl on the team who hails from Osoyoos, Danica Maynard, is now in Lake Country attending the Rink Hockey Academy U18 there. She had been attending the Okanagan Hockey Academy U18 in Penticton where Preston and Samera both attend.
Danica Maynard celebrates with a gold medal around her neck, parading the BC flag as a first time gold medal winner and champion. Dean Maynard photo.
Preston has been playing since age three and has been playing together with Danica, who represents the Metis community, on and off since they were five years old as a part of the South Okanagan Minor Hockey Association and the Okanagan Nighthawks spring hockey team.
Danica was part of last year’s Indigenous team as well as the Team BC squad that won the province’s first ever women’s gold at the Canada Winter Games. Preston didn’t make the team but did achieve the impressive feat of making it to the second round. “I unfortunately didn’t make it but I do think it’s pretty cool to be one of the top 64 players overall,” she said.
Preston, who was also on the BC Indigenous team last year which narrowly missed a bronze medal, is confident things will be different this time around, saying it’s a stronger, more cohesive team this year.
“The team this year compared to last year, I honestly think we have a chance of getting gold. I think as a team we’re definitely more social, are more connected and on ice we’re definitely really strong defensively and offensively.
“I think we have a lot of offensive action this year compared to last year. But I do think we have a chance to get a gold and getting a lot of goals.”
It’s the second time for Preston Gabriel who is confident of a team medal. Contributed photo
She reckons the top competitors will be Alberta and Ontario and notes that last year Team BC lost to Alberta in double overtime for the bronze medal.
“So I definitely think they’re the team to beat and then team Ontario too. We had a lot of close games with them. I think those two are definitely our top competitors but I do think we definitely have a better chance this year.”
Knowing many of the players from last year is bonus Preston says, adding this year is “all excitement and I’m ready to work, I’m ready to put the effort.” Last year she notes she was stressed not knowing most of her teammates.
“But this year I know a lot of the girls. I’m excited to play with them, excited to get some goals and really just work hard and I just want to have some fun,” she says.
So how will first timer at the games Samera Gabriel cope, especially given she’s one of two youngest players on the team at only 14 years of age on a team which typically features players two to three years their senior.
When asked what she thinks about making the team at such a relatively younger age than most of her teammates she says, “I am pretty hyped and really proud to be selected! I worked really hard to make it!”
She adds that she feels honoured to be representing her community and hopes “they are proud of all my efforts”
Samera says she would like to go out and be a role model for all the kids who play hockey in the community.
And if she’s losing sleep over the fact it’s her first national tournament, it would only be from excitement. “I am really excited to play at a national level! It will be fun to play against players from all over Canada and hopefully make some new friends with the same goals,” she says.
Similar to Preston she says the team this year is “pretty solid”. “I was talking to the other girls who made it and I am feeling pretty good about competing for Team BC.”
One of two youngest on the team Samera Gabriel is 14 years old. Contributed photo
And certainly along with Danica and Preston, Samera’s name will likely be one we hear a lot more of in the future. Her goal is to get a scholarship for hockey at a division 1 school, “hopefully play in the Olympics and if everything goes right, play in the PWHL [the newly formed Professional Women’s Hockey League].”
The Indigenous Sport, Physical Activity & Recreation Council (I∙SPARC) hosted its Team BC Player Selection Camp from April 5-7, 2024 in Prince George where over 150 elite Indigenous male and female hockey players participated in the three-day process.
From the camp, twenty male and twenty female hockey players were selected. These players will not only represent BC, but they will also proudly represent their Indigenous Nations and communities at this prestigious national championship.
“Congratulations to the outstanding hockey players and team staff selected to represent Team BC in the upcoming 2024 National Aboriginal Hockey Championships in Grande Prairie, Alberta,” said Rick Brant, CEO of I·SPARC.
“This year’s three-day Provincial Selection Camp was one of the highest attended camps in the program’s history, which demonstrates the growth of Indigenous participation in hockey throughout the province.”
