Nk'maplqs Challenge Cup Hockey Tournament

In our journey to promote sportsmanship and friendship in hockey, I started out with the Challenge Cup organizers in 2005 alongside avid competitors and fans of the sport in hockey. The Late Jay Louis was one of those founding organizers, and he leaves so many great memories in hockey and other sporting competitions, and noticeably as we watched many of our family and community members playing in different levels of hockey, we wanted to showcase our young competitors in our community and decided to come together with the goal to bring Aboriginal hockey here in Vernon.

The first Nk’maplqs Challenge Cup All Native Tournament was organized by a small committee consisting of Jay D. Louis, Kevin Ned, Shelly Mitchell, myself and Brad Steel from Rec Excellence with just 11 teams in Competitive and Recreation divisions. Over the years we have expanded our divisions to include the Masters Division. And we have also expanded our committee to a total of 9 members (Keith Louis, Richard Louis Jr., Martie Louis, Glenda Louis, Jennifer Louis, Sherry Louis, Helen Wilson, and Deb Conlin). We see as many as 30 plus teams come to our territory to share and compete in the fun-filled excitement of hockey.

Alike many other aboriginal communities, sports is a key activity in the majority of our daily existence, not only for the satisfaction and pride it brings to one selves, but also to the communities that collectively come together to cheer on their teams. I reminisce the days when I laced up my first set of skates, with the ambition to succeed in the footsteps of my brothers and relatives, but also beholding the role models competing the NHL and dreaming that one day I could to be the next “Bobby Orr”.

Many of our reserve communities have memories when we all started hockey, whether it be played in community arenas, or on makeshift ice but I remember skating on Okanagan Lake with a dozen of kids from the reserve trying to put the puck in between two boots. These fond memories will be shared over and over again with family and friends, perhaps a story to laugh about in the change rooms sharing our experience with young and upcoming hockey players.
With this great memory we aim around our sporting weekend, which is held annually on Easter Weekend, to "Mentoring Aboriginal Youth in their Hockey Development by Promoting Sportsmanship, Fair play and Positive Role Modeling". Our committee remains consistent with our message and we ensure to continue to foster our mission statement in our rules of play and interaction on and off the ice.
In closing, I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to all the volunteers and organizers who also dedicate their time and effort in our annual event and making this a community success.

Lim Limpt!
Keith Louis
President