The 2014 National Aboriginal Hockey Championships will be held in Kahnawake, Quebec from April 28 – May 3, 2014. This will be the third time that Kahnawake has hosted this national tournament for young male and female hockey players from across Canada.
Kahnawake has previously hosted the NAHC in 2006 and 2013.
This coming spring the 45-game tournament will see games played at the Kahnawake Sports Complex and in Brossard. The NAHC is a minor hockey Championship for male and female players who are Bantam and Midget aged. In order to be eligible to play in the Championship a player must be of Aboriginal decent (Status or non-status Indian, Metis, Inuit or Dene).
“There’s going to be a lot of great talent coming to Kahnawake,” Alwin Morris, Chair of the Aboriginal Sport Circle said. Past players have included many male and female players that have gone on to play hockey Junior Hockey and at University and Colleges across North America. Michael Ferland was drafted by the Calgary Flames; Jocelyn Larocque has been a long time member of Canada’s National Woman’s team, Bridgette Lacquette (MB) played on the Canadian U-21 team and Jamie Lee Rattray (ON) on the Canadian U-22 team.
The cost to host the NAHC is anywhere from $100,000 to $150,000, Jeff Spencer, the Chair of the Aboriginal Sport Circle Hockey Committee said. The majority of that cost is for ice rentals, transportation of athletes, game officials and a banquet. In return, the revenue generated in Kahnawake and surrounding communities will be close to one million dollars.
Spencer said that the host committee has followed a conservative budget, which continues to be raised through fundraising and sponsorships. “We have been embarking on an aggressive fundraising and volunteer recruitment campaign,” he said.
Kahnawake’s Alwyn Morris, who has been instrumental in this initiative, said that this tournament is a very important experience for the athletes, especially when they get to play in front of their home crowd fans. “It is a great opportunity for our youth to see athletes not much older than themselves playing in a tournament of this caliber,” Morris said. “It gives them something more and exciting to strive for”
For more information please contact: ASC Hockey Committee Chair – Jeff Spencer creetech@lino.com
