Local Indigenous hockey teams gear up for Little NHL

Indigenous youth hockey players from across Ontario will be heading to Mississauga, Ont. this weekend for the 47th annual Little Native Hockey League (LNHL) tournament.

With more than 200 teams and roughly 3,000 players, the event is the largest Indigenous hockey tournament of its kind in the province.

“We really look forward to this every year,” said Batchewana First Nation Chief Dean Sayers. “The First Nation has participated for a couple of generations now, over 40 years.”

Sayers, who suited up for the tournament as a teenager, says that seven hockey teams from Batchewana - consisting of 78 players, not to mention coaches, managers, trainers and parents - will be heading down to southern Ontario for the LNHL tournament.  

“I remember even participating as a child, it’s quite a memorable experience,” said Sayers. “You get to create some really beautiful memories, and you get to meet a lot of new friends as a child.”

“You also learn about competitiveness, even though it’s competitive, we’re reminded of who we are as Indigenous people, and we need to be kind to each other even in the face of that competitiveness.”

Batchewana First Nation, like most First Nations across Ontario, spend most of the winter fundraising in order to ice its LNHL hockey teams, using 50/50 draws and selling nevada tickets to raise money, with Batchewana picking up the remainder of the costs.

An Indigenous NHL alumni game at the Rankin Arena this past January also helped raise some funds.

“There’s a lot of Indigenous NHL hockey players, so they have been able to come out and support us too, and they help us with the fundraisers,” Sayers said.

Sayers says that the total cost to send all seven Batchewana teams down to Mississauga is somewhere around “90,000 well spent dollars.”

Vicki Boissoneau, who manages both the second-year atoms and midget boys teams for Garden River First Nation, says that the fundraising efforts in her community - which consists of a number of draws and raffles - is almost a year-round endeavour, with costs ranging anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000 per team each year.

Ten teams from Garden River First Nation are taking part in this year’s LNHL tournament, she said.

“Fundraising pretty much starts about two weeks once we return home after the tournament, beginning of April roughly and continues right up until we leave for the next tournament,” said Boissoneau via email. “The kids love this tournament. It is a chance for them to meet up some friends who they've met from previous years and it's a chance for families to meet up and visit especially when they don't live here.”

“This tournament is a sense of pride for the kids, they love representing their own First Nation and playing other First Nations.”

Going to the tournament is also something that’s passed down from generation to generation. Chief Dean Sayers has fond memories of playing for Batchewana at a LNHL tournament in Peterborough during his teens.

“The most fun part was riding in the back of my dad’s big van, there was no seatbelts back then,” said Sayers. “We all wrestled around and hung out and played.”

“It was a pretty good memory.”

Now it’s Sayers’ turn to be a LNHL hockey dad, as he prepares to take his six year-old son, Audomoak, down to Mississauga to play for Batchewana’s tyke division team. He’ll also be watching his granddaughter and two grandsons from the stands.

“There’s no real serious scorekeeping, there’s no finals for the smallest guys,” Sayers said. “It’s getting out there, having fun, learning about the game.”

The event, which started from humble beginnings in 1971, has now grown so big that many northern Ontario communities can’t host the event. According to the LNHL website, the hockey tournament will remain in Mississauga until its 50th anniversary in 2021.

“During the actual Little NHL in all the arenas, there’s play stations and learning opportunities and cultural opportunities,” Sayers said. “There’s craft vendors, there’s native food. It’s a real carnival atmosphere, and a lot of people.”

Although the LNHL will call Mississauga home for the next few years, a return to northern Ontario could be on the horizon sometime in the future.

“Batchewana’s leadership have most recently expressed an interest to host in Sault Ste. Marie in the near future, working out some kind of plan to be able to accommodate the over 200 teams that are involved,” said Sayers. “I think we’re going to be putting forward that pitch in the short while.”

Opening ceremonies for the 2018 LNHL tournament take place Sunday afternoon, with tournament play beginning Monday morning.

A complete schedule for the tournament can be found here.