Niverville’s Ginger Fast has won a silver medal with Team Manitoba at the 2023 National Aboriginal Hockey Championships (NAHC), held this past week at the Seven Oaks Arena in Winnipeg.
The NAHC is the premier forum for elite U18 Indigenous hockey players. It is the only annual national hockey championship that showcases and celebrates the top male and female Indigenous hockey players from across the country while fostering cultural unity and pride.
The 16-year-old Fast started playing hockey at the Timbits level in Niverville and played all of her hockey in town until she got to the age where she could try out for the Eastman Selects.
Fast has now wrapped up her fourth year of hockey with the Selects.
She was ecstatic when she got the call a few weeks back confirming that she would have the opportunity to play for Team Manitoba at the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships.
“I was beyond excited and proud to represent my province,” Fast says. “It was a crazy experience playing in this tournament, as the compete level is very fast and there wasn’t much downtime in the day. So we were always on the go.”
Fast notes that she and her teammates felt closer to their Indigenous heritage after competing in the tournament.
“We did so many activities that represented our culture,” she says. “It was definitely a great tournament, and I’m blessed to be able to play for Indigenous heritage.”
Fast and her Team Manitoba squad rolled through the round-robin portion of the tournament with a record of 4–0, outscoring their opponents 29–2 in the process. The tournament really kicked off for Manitoba in the semifinals when they dispatched Alberta by a 4–1 score to reach the final.
Saturday night’s gold medal game versus Ontario came down to the wire. It was a back-and-forth affair, with Ontario ultimately winning 2–1. Manitoba was awarded the silver medal for their tight performance.
Fast scored two goals and four assists for six points over the course of the tournament.
“We had an amazing week as a team, and it all came down to the championship game,” says Fast. “It was a great competition and a very fun game to play in. We didn’t pull off the win in the end, but it’s definitely something I will never forget. It was a great atmosphere to play in and I’m hoping to be back next year and hopefully win gold.”
