MVP Winner
Mina J.
Women's Ice Hockey

Some people paint like Picasso, others dance with the wind, some can play a red violin with a spirit that's out of this world. I fly on ice. I've been flying since I was 5, but now, I don't have to close my eyes anymore. I grew up in the Middle East with the sun in my face and the sand in my eyes. The only winter I knew of was the indoor ice rink I skated on every day. The only reason I pretended to be a figure skater was so I could watch the first few minutes of hockey after my practice. I never did get the chance to play hockey, and I never did master the triple axel, but I got very good at chasing the imaginary puck.

I've been playing some element of hockey for many years now from rollerblading in the streets, park, house, and class, to leaving black marks on my room walls. I'd go skating four days a week to continue the imaginary puck chase of my life. Last year, I moved away from home in London, Ontario to attend medical school in Ottawa. In the first two weeks of school, one of the girls from second year asked the girls in our class if any of us were interested in women's intramural hockey. I wasn't sure how I was going to do it but I signed up that day. I was ready to fly for real now.

When I play hockey, I have sixty minutes of pure joy and passion. I have nothing on my mind, no worries, nothing to weigh me down. I will not leave until the zamboni driver thinks he has run me over. I am in a world of my own, and yet, I am also in total awareness of the other players with whom I try share my zeal. I wish I was ten sometimes, not for the young age but for more free hours in the week for ice time. I'm either the student doc in the hospital or the Mighty Doc thinking about hockey. Maybe I'll become the first player on Team Canada to also be the team's doctor.

Last September, I signed up for hockey school for women offered by Gloucester Women's Hockey Association Inc. I couldn't wait to catch the bus to practice every Thursday afternoon. I trained even more seriously outside hockey by swimming, karate, running, and strength training. If I had one of those hockey treadmills, I'd be on it for hours! I am my own audience, my own spectator, my own result. I'm learning, I'm improving, and I'm living every second of those 60 minutes.

I represent the many different faces of a woman in Canada. To be a woman, a student in a demanding profession, to not be disillusioned by the crowd, to persevere and to believe that nothing is impossible, for impossibilities are only due to modest faith. If anything makes one feel the way I do on that ice, it can't remain intangible. That is what I've shared with many of the girls who see their age as a barrier or think their dress or culture needs to be compromised in order to navigate their dream.

From just one hockey game, I'm refueled for the rest of the week as a medical student, with remarkable dissipation of stress and negative energy. I hope to learn everything possible from the game, to one day become the NHL player that never was in the NHL. This is not about the fame and fortune, but the feeling that comes along with that perfect flight formation down that ice to the net.
The MVP grant will help me to continue hockey training this summer with extra focus on skill and technique development so I can advance. Thank you CAAWS/Nike for helping women from all streams of life to continue doing what they love in life.