Staff named for Team Eastern Door

Team Eastern Door and the North (EDN) has announced its coaching and management staff ahead of the 2026 National Aboriginal Hockey Championships (NAHC), with many returning names, along with some new faces for the boys’ and girls’ teams.

Kahnawa’kehró:non will recognize several names on the list. For the girls’ team, Jessica Katsitsiio Jacobs and Kwaronienhawi Jacobs will be assistant coaches to head coach Patrice Dominique, while Kahnawake firefighter and paramedic Kateri Oesterreich will serve as first aide attendant. All are returning from last year’s team except Jessica Katsitsiio Jacobs, who is joining for the first time.

“We have one brand new person, and it’s someone I grew up with, so I think it’s going to be a really easy transition,” said Kwaronienhawi.

She is excited to be back on for another year of seeing the players grow and get better.

“We’ve had girls from age 13-14 years old, and seeing them go to the next stage of their capabilities has been really amazing,” said Kwaronienhawi.

“And this year is going to be a better year than the last few years. They were very young, so the team coming now is a little bit more mature.”

That being said, the girls’ EDN Team is not made up of the 17 year olds that the other programs bring to EDN every year, instead opting for a more open approach that lets players grow year after year.

“They come every year trying to get better, and that means they’re trying harder to make sure they get on the team,” she said.

This does have some drawbacks, in terms of experience level for the players.

“But it also shows us how much drive they have to want to get to that place,” said Kwaronienhawi.

She’s hoping all that hard work will pay off on the ice, adding more wins to a team that has not had great records at the tournament, but has been getting better every year.

“Wins aren’t everything, but it’d be nice to show our girls that they are capable, and they can do anything they put their minds to,” said Kwaronienhawi.

On the boys’ side, all five members of the staff are returning from last year, including assistant coach Mike Stacey and trainer Dwaine White, both from Kahnawake.

Stacey said he is very happy to be a part of the same staff as last year at the NAHC.

“It’s very meaningful. Being able to be part of a coaching staff that works well together and represents your community while trying to build something for the youth,” said Stacey.

He said he is hoping the team can build from their play last year to have a breakthrough performance at the NAHC.

“We had a great bunch of guys last year. We hope some returning players from the group want to play again, and with adding players this year, I think we can build a solid team,” said Stacey.

Selection camp for both rosters of Team EDN will be held in Wendake right after New Years, on January 2, 3, and 4, 2026.

“Come back from Christmas break, go straight to your tryouts, and then there’s your team,” said Kwaronienhawi, who added that having the tryouts around the same time every year is useful in case some of the potential players travel during the holidays.

Stacey said it is valuable for everyone to have open tryouts for anyone from any community, not just bringing wholly made teams from one place.

“I think it’s like anything. The kids are meeting Natives from different parts of the province, they speak different languages, and this brings them together they see how other people live,” said Stacey.

The next NAHC will be in Regina, Saskatchewan in May 2026.

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