Three members of Red Deer Minor Hockey were crowned provincial champions last week.
Areyanna Payne, Cayslie Perkins, and Alison Buelow represented Red Deer at the U13 Female Native Hockey Alberta Provincial Championships in Edmonton.
All three played for the Swan River Selects who went undefeated in six games including an 8-0 win in the gold medal game over Wood Buffalo.
The Selects dominated the competition From April 4-7 winning their opening game over Peavine 20-0 followed by three more double-digit wins before the gold medal victory.
During the season, Perkins and Buelow suited up for the U13 Tier 1 Sutter Fund Chiefs, and Payne played for the U13 AA Central Alberta Twins.
Head coach of the Twins Mike Christie said Payne is a very determined player.
“She went through some adversity this year. She broke her ankle in November so she missed a couple of months of hockey. She rejoined the team in January and took off from there,” he said.
“It took her a bit to get going and then she started getting comfortable again and became a big key piece to the team for the playoff stretch.”
This year was the Twins’ inaugural season after the Alberta Female Hockey League decided to add a U13 AA program. In their first season together, Central Alberta flourished winning the South Division championship after finishing the regular season with an 8-12-0-0-4 record.
They defeated the Calgary Fire Red in the championship game 3-2 in Calgary. That led them to provincials where they lost three games and tied one.
“Other than a few girls on my team last year this was for most of the girls their first provincial tournament they got to attend,” Christie added.