The captain of the St. Thomas Tommies women’s hockey squad may soon get to take the biggest shots and skate the largest strides of her lifetime.
Fifth-year forward Kelty Apperson attended the 2016 Hockey Canada Women’s Development Camp from Aug. 5 to 14 in Calgary, Alta., as a member of Team Canadian Interuniversity Sport – or CIS for short.
But the soft-spoken, articulate native of Kingston, Ont., didn’t just show off her skills and talents at the camp.
She also tried out for the Canadian team that will play for world supremacy at the 2017 Winter Universiade tournament from Jan. 28 to Feb. 8 in Kazakhstan.
Apperson expects to learn if she made Team Canada in the coming weeks, but her memories of the development camp will stay with her whether or not she makes the cut.
“I competed as hard as I could,” said Apperson, who turns 22 on Sept. 26.
“I learned so much and had fun while I was at it, and I’m happy with how I did.”
Apperson was one of 22 players from across Canada who suited up for Team CIS at the camp, which featured two Hockey Canada Under-22 development teams along with Sweden’s national team.
The CIS all-stars lost 2-1 in overtime and 4-3 in a shootout against Sweden.
They also fell 3-2 to the red Hockey Canada squad and 9-3 to the white one.
“It was a good showing for the CIS for its first time at the tournament,” said Apperson.
Apperson’s development camp followed a season in which the STU women’s hockey team placed third in the Atlantic University Sport conference after going 16-7-1 in league play.
The Tommies swept the Dalhousie Tigers and Moncton Aigles Bleus in the playoffs before falling to the Saint Mary’s Huskies in the AUS final, but still qualifying for nationals.
After the team’s second appearance in the AUS championships in franchise history, STU was blanked 3-0 by the Guelph Gryphons before edging the juggernaut McGill Martlets 2-1 in the consolation round and falling 4-0 to the host Calgary Dinos in the fifth-place game.
After last season, Apperson became the first STU women’s hockey athlete to be named the AUS most valuable player.
She was also given an AUS first team all-star nod, along with the Tommies’ 2015-16 team MVP honours.
Apperson recorded 26 points (12 goals, 14 assists) in 24 regular season games and notched 15 points (eight goals, seven helpers) in seven AUS post-season contests. She also scored once at the CIS nationals when STU beat McGill.
At the development camp five months later, Apperson was in familiar territory while playing in the same rink where STU took its second shot at a national title in three seasons.
“There were weird vibes going back there,” she said.
Apperson knew some players at the camp by reputation or from past experience, but she was one of two AUS players who represented the CIS in Calgary.
Forward Daley Oddy of the St. Francis Xavier X-Women also carried the Atlantic banner at the development camp.
“Representing the CIS as a team was also unique and humbling and super fun to be part of,” said Apperson.
Apperson and her CIS teammates were busy on and off the ice at the camp, as they took part in fitness testing, games, practices and off-ice seminars about mental preparation, proper diets and managing distractions.
The CIS all-stars also went sightseeing in Banff, Alta., for a day.
Apperson was ready for the rigorous part of the camp, though. She skated with gentle-
men’s league teams and the powerhouse University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds men’s team during the off-season and trained in the gym between shifts at her summer job with Fredericton’s public works department.
“It’s not just one summer that got me here,” said Apperson.
“Working hard over a long time got me to this point.”
Apperson’s hockey career began in the Kitchener minor hockey system in Ontario, but before coming to STU, she played for Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Saskatchewan on a team that won two Canadian championships.
However, the development camp provided her with her first chance to possibly play international hockey.
“I would do it over and over again. Being surrounded by people who wanted to compete at such a high level made it fun.”
