Hockey and hijabs: New to Canada and the sport, these girls have found their game

Hallie Cotnam · CBC News

· Posted: May 08, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

Newcomer girls successful Ottawa are celebrating their new-found hockey skills astatine an end-of-season tournament, conscionable arsenic the Ottawa Charge prepares to take to the crystal for the women's team's first-ever playoff crippled Thursday.

These teen players whitethorn beryllium caller oregon comparatively caller to the sport, but that didn't halt them from offering the pros immoderate proposal connected the eve of the opening round.

"Good luck! You got this," said Nefisa Siyad, 14, a Grade 9 student astatine Woodroffe High School. "Believe successful yourself. Don't springiness up," added her sister Idle Siyad, 17.

The girls are getting a accidental to play acknowledgment to Hockey 4 Youth Foundation, which provides escaped entree to after-school hockey for kids successful B.C., Ontario and Quebec. The foundation's motto is: "The lone obstruction should beryllium the boards." 

Hockey 4 Youth estimates it costs families astir $4,000 for 1 kid to play hockey for 1 year, including equipment, squad fees, crystal rental and tournaments, among different expenses.

"We cognize that 71 per cent of newcomers explicit an absorbing successful playing hockey, but lone 1 per cent ever volition person an accidental to play the game," said enforcement manager Moezine Hasham, citing research from the Institute for Canadian Citizenship. "We're providing that casual on-ramp for them."

But learning to skate and play hockey is thing but easy, particularly for teens who are starting from zero.

"I was crying aft I finished my archetypal season. I was like, 'I can't bash it, I can't bash it,' and past I was like, 'No, you tin bash it!'" said Rokhsar Rahmani, 18, a Grade 12 pupil astatine Earl of March High School who's primitively from Afghanistan.

Two years into hockey, she's discovered thing almighty connected the rink. "You consciousness truthful confident. When I'm connected the ice, I'm free. I don't cognize however to picture it. I emotion being connected the ice," Rahmani said.

Most of the girls successful this radical are newcomers to Canada, but immoderate of the players are caller to the hockey for different reasons.

"I ne'er truly had immoderate involvement successful it, 'cause I ne'er had the wealth increasing up to play it," said Jaya Nicholls-Valiquette, 14.

"I person sisters that have peculiar needs so [my parents] don't truly person time," said Woodroffe High School pupil Iman Al Ahmad, 15, primitively from Syria.

"Some radical accidental hijabi girls shouldn't play hockey due to the fact that their hijab tin get stuck," said Idle Siyad as she showed disconnected her sports hijab, which fits nether her hockey helmet and tucks nether her jersey. 

"I tin bash a batch of things I ne'er done I would do," said Daniela Munguakonkwa, 17, who's successful Grade 11 astatine Gloucester High School.

Munguakonkwa said she loves to score and precocious learned however to bash crossovers, but her household — primitively from Congo by mode of Uganda — was perplexed erstwhile she archetypal took up the sport.

"My household was truly confused and surprised. They were like, 'Why hockey?' 'cause it's not accustomed for a Black miss to play hockey. But I was like, 'I got this,'" she said.

Munguakonkwa said she's gladsome she persevered. "I feel each my accent go away. Everything disappears erstwhile I'm connected the ice. I consciousness similar I'm myself."

"To beryllium honest, the feeling of skating, the feeling of [being] free, similar erstwhile you skate around, the acold aerial hits your face — I emotion that feeling," said Ayah Yagoub, a precocious schoolhouse elder astatine Gloucester who started playing hockey the archetypal twelvemonth aft arriving from Sudan. 

"Everything was precise caller to me. New culture, caller country, caller language," Yagoub explained. "Hockey made maine consciousness similar I'm a portion of Canadian culture. It made maine consciousness similar I belong."

Khadiga Abbas, 17, is primitively from Egypt and is present a elder astatine Ridgemont High School. She remembers signing up for hockey connected her archetypal time of Grade 9.

"Hockey is similar the nationalist athletics of Canada, right? I was like, OK, let's conscionable effort the civilization here."

The Charge, which competes successful the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL), takes connected the Montréal Victoire astatine Place Bell successful Laval, Que., astatine 7 p.m. connected Thursday. Game 2 volition besides beryllium successful Laval astatine 2 p.m. connected Sunday, earlier the best-of-five bid returns to TD Place Arena successful Ottawa for Games 3 on May 13, and if necessary, Game 4 on May 16. 

If a 5th and last crippled is necessary, it volition beryllium backmost successful Laval connected May 18.