‘Don’t give up on your dreams’: Hockey player from Rankin Inlet signs with U.S. university team | CBC News

When it comes to determination and drive, Charlotte Siksik has it in spades.

The 17-year-old forward from Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, and her family are still celebrating the recent news that she’s been signed to play women’s hockey this fall for the NCAA Division III Arcadia Knights in Philadelphia, Pa.

“I was really excited. It took a lot of work to get there, to a school that had basically everything I ever wanted, and it felt amazing,” she said.

Charlotte was with a group of her friends when she found out she would be playing for the Knights. The first thing she did is message her mom, Hannah Siksik.

“We had a very excited phone call about that, and my friends are very happy for me,” she said.

Siksik has travelled across Canada to develop her hockey skills. She played the past three seasons with the female U18 Prep team at the RINK Hockey Academy in Winnipeg, where she tallied six goals and nine assists in 48 games.

Once in Philadelphia, she’ll be hitting the ice five days a  week, with games every weekend on top of her studies. While there, she’ll be majoring in biology with the hope of one day becoming a wildlife veterinarian.

Growing up in a hockey town

Few places in Nunavut could have set a better foundation for her hockey success than Rankin Inlet, said Hannah

Known as a hockey town, and having produced the likes of former NHL player Jordin Tootoo, Rankin Inlet had a lot of support available for young athletes. Charlotte, who started playing hockey when she was in Grade 2, was soon asked to play with the female hockey team and got to travel with them.

“Our life kind of revolved around the arena for a while there, while she was home,” Hannah said. Both she and Charlotte gave a shout-out to David Clark, Charlotte’s coach in Rankin Inlet.

“She had great coaches that truly believed in not just what happens on the ice … It was about the whole holistic approach of it, which was great,” Hannah said.

Early on, Charlotte displayed an immense drive and focus to play hockey and to excel academically, Hannah said. At 13, Charlotte left home to follow her hockey dream, travelling to Ontario and then being recruited to the RINK Hockey Academy.

“She’s worked so hard for this,” Hannah said. “To get that phone call and hear that she’s been selected by this university that she really, really wanted to go to was just an amazing moment — just for it all to kind of count.”

While this is the most recent triumph for Charlotte, Hannah says her daughter has had a string of hockey successes. Last year, she was named Nunavut’s 2022 Female Athlete of the Year by the Recreation and Parks Association of Nunavut.

But for Hannah, it’s the everyday moments of watching Charlotte play that stand out in her memory.

There was the time Charlotte’s team — of which she was the only female member — won gold at the tournament. And this past season, she captained her team at the hockey academy.

“When she puts on her Team Nunavut uniform and skates out on the ice, that’s a huge moment of pride for me, when I see her celebrating on the ice,” Hannah said. “She rose to every challenge. And those moments just make me incredibly proud.”

As for Charlotte, being signed to play for a university team is proof that all the years of sacrifice were worth it. The huge challenge of leaving home at a young age has prepared her for her academic future in the U.S., and she said she hopes to play professional women’s hockey either in Europe or in Canada once she’s done school.

“Don’t give up on your dreams. You can do anything you want, as long as you push yourself and work hard — and stay focused, because there is no limit to what you can do,” she said.