Joie Simon is in the midst of her latest move up the hockey ladder although it scared the daylights out of her housemates.
Simon was recently named to Team Manitoba for the upcoming National Aboriginal Hockey Championships, open to players aged 15 to 18. When she received the news, she reacted exactly how many 15-year-old hockey players would after making a team; she screamed with joy.
“To be honest with you, when I got the phone call, I yelled a little bit and everyone in the house came in my room and asked what was wrong,” she said. “It definitely was awkward and my response was, ‘Oh, nothing. Don’t worry. I’m perfectly fine.’” Simon was added to the provincial team roster despite being unable to attend the team’s first set of tryouts earlier this season. When Simon started the year with good play, officials with Team Manitoba contacted her family and watched her compete. Once the coaches caught a glimpse of Simon on the ice, they knew they wanted her on the team.
“They wanted me to come to the final cut. I went to the tryouts and there were a lot of talented girls and I knew that it was going to be tough to crack the roster,” she said.
Simon has made a name for herself in Manitoba’s female midget hockey circles. Since leaving Flin Flon for Shoal Lake, Man. and a spot on the Yellowhead Chiefs, Simon has had an impressive rookie season with 15 points in 25 games. Simon is the former captain of the bantam Norman Wolves. She moved at the start of the school year due to a lack of northern Manitoba-based female midget teams. Faced with the choice of staying home and hanging up her skates and leaving home to continue playing, Simon headed south.
“The program has gone really well. Iit is definitely different than Norman,” said Simon. “Norman was fun, but it was a challenge sometimes for myself. But I have to say Yellowhead has been better for me personally. I have improved in everything that I was weak and strong in. The coaches, players and the players’ families have helped me in many ways and it is like another family.”
Simon’s next step isn’t quite clear. She knows she wants to pursue a scholarship and continue playing university or college hockey. Where that may be is still not known. Once she makes that step, Simon hopes to wear the red and white jersey of the Canadian national women’s hockey team.
“I don’t know what will happen next for me because surprises are happening everywhere, but the one thing that I know I am going to try and get is a good scholarship to a good school where I will be able to play hockey. Hopefully, I will play hockey for the rest of my life,” she said.
“I always had the dream to make Team Canada and I am going to work my hardest to try and achieve it. I don’t know if there would be any other team I would want to be on.”
The National Aboriginal Hockey Championships will be held May 6 to 14 in Whitehorse, Yukon.
