Team Saskatchewan won gold in both the Female and Male National Aboriginal Hockey Championships in Kanahwake, Quebec, this last week. 

"The girls and boys both did really well," says Lynn Regnier, coach of the female team. "They battled hard. The boys had to really work to get to the finals against BC and were like the underdogs who came through. They bonded to each other, and then they won gold, too."

"It was a tied game, 3-3 with 5 minutes left and then my teammates scored 2 breakaway goals," recalls Summer Roberts, goaltender for Team Saskatchewan Aboriginal Female. "We got silver two years in a row before this, so it was nice to finally win! Then we cheered on the boys who played right after us and they also won, so it was double gold!"

"It's an honour for our whole team," says Roberts. "You feel good to represent your province like this."

Roberts will be taking pre-Dentistry at Red Deer College in the fall while she continues to play hockey for the Red Deer Queens and looks forward to the next National Championships in Halifax next year.

Regnier says the Saskatchewan Aboriginal hockey program is really excellent: "The talent in Saskatchewan has gotten a lot better. We've got a good bunch of kids who like to play the game, and they come from all over - Weyburn or Regina or Stanley Mission. It's kind of the best of the best for Aboriginal youth."

Regnier's daughter, Kelly, also played in the program and is now an Assistant Coach.

"We're both giving back," laughs Regnier.

Aboriginal players went through tryouts in March and had one month to come together as a team before heading to the Championships just outside of Montreal from April 27 to May 3.

Regnier notes that there is a tremendous amount of work that is done to support the team at this level of championship and acknowledges in particular, April Tipewan, FSIN Youth Sports coordinator and Mark Arcand, assistant coach and Vice Chief with Saskatoon Tribal Council, who worked hard to raise the funding that made this possible. 

The NAHC is a minor hockey Championship for male and female players who are Bantam and Midget aged. Past players at the Aboriginal Hockey Championships have included many male and female players that have gone on to play Junior Hockey and at University and Colleges across North America.