“When I went into the changeroom, I saw girls from all over the world. That was kind of relieving because I didn’t feel like an outsider. I was like, ‘Oh, I belong with them.’ We were all beginners.”

“It’s a sport that, honestly, I never actually pictured myself doing in my life because I was always so scared. But I just thought, you know, might as well try it, just to feel for it... It didn’t feel real because I remember going, getting the taxi, coming here and then actually putting [on the equipment] and it was like, ‘Oh, this is actually happening!’”

“The first time I went [on the ice], I thought ‘I know nothing, I’m probably going to quit on the first day.’ It feels really awkward when you’re born and raised in a separate country, and you’re trying to be more comfortable but you don’t know how, and then suddenly someone comes and they are like, ‘We are with you, we are going to help you.’”

“Other than having a chair, I could just be there, hold them up and teach them how to skate. I didn’t have that when I was a kid, and I wish that I did.”

“It’s hard to play hockey, but I said to myself that it’ll be fun. I never thought girls could play hockey.”

“There’s a lot of people to support you while you practice and it’s very fun to play with friends too. I was falling very badly, but now I feel better.”

“It helped me understand that in life, sometimes you fall, sometimes you don’t get the results you want. That’s why you have to work harder each day. Sometimes, even after you work hard, you’ll still fall. But you gotta learn that you can’t give up. You worked so hard and you want to give up that easy? You gotta get back up.”

“I’m going to fall, but it’s good. I’m going to try.”

“I love the new adventures in [Canada]. There’s no hockey or skating or anything in my country, so I think that it is a nice adventure to be on ice and playing and maybe I’ll be a hockey player in the future.”

“Hockey was my first job in Canada. I’m proud to say that after two years of playing, I was able to coach 50 young kids that skated for the first time in their lives.”

“I want to feel like a Canadian. In Africa, we don’t have [hockey]. It’s amazing. I want to try it.”

“I used skating as a form of therapy. Whenever I feel lonely or that nobody understands me, I just go skating and the wind in my face feels so freeing. You’re just floating on ice. It’s skating, but it feels like floating. It’s outdoors, so you can just look at the sky.”

“It’s a new experience that I’ve never tried before. After this I’m going to continue playing and skating.”

“It always feels different and so fun being on the ice and playing. Whenever I’m on the ice, I really forget anything I’m annoyed about outside of the rink, and I just play with spirit and have a lot of fun.”

“I didn’t know how happy hockey would make me when I [first] tried it. I feel like it’s one of the most positive things that ever happened to me.”

“Playing [with Hockey 4 Youth] gave me more of a boost to play it because it was right in front of me and they encouraged us so much to do it.”