It’s official, Dakota Tipi First Nation, along with Long Plain and Dakota Plains First Nation, will be establishing a new hockey organization.

It will be called the Dakota Nation Winterhawks and it is meant to provide a better support system and development system for youth in the three First Nation communities. Dakota Tipi councillor Kyle Pashe says it will be open to all age groups but they want to focus a little extra on the teenagers.

“When they get into the teens they usually fall away from hockey and get into a negative lifestyle,” says Pashe. “That’s where we need to bring in stronger support and maybe encourage them to stay in the sports, and then maybe they can be more successful. A lot of our kids are very talented but they don’t have that support system in place to get to the next level and this program is a key to do that.”

He says they want to get this started so the players in their communities know they always have a home.

Pashe talks about having some more competitive and high-level teams as well.

“We do want to have elite teams where we bring in other children from other communities who want to participate,” explains Pashe. “They don’t have to be Indigenous or Metis, they can be from whatever background.”

Pashe says they will have a website launching soon and will make a press release within their communities and on their social media in the near future.