Tewehshon takes the gold
Tewehshon Nelson and her team after taking the gold medal at the Défi Ringuette Championships last weekend. Courtesy Jeffrey Nelson
Tewehshon Nelson can’t spend enough time in the ringette net, this time joining forces with other promising young players who were hand-picked to take part in the Défi Ringuette Championships, a multi-day tournament hosted at the Batisseurs arena in Sainte-Julie last weekend.
“It’s a big tournament, and it was really fun to play it,” said Nelson, who was invited to play for the team back in January, alongside a number of other athletes selected from multiple teams in the area.
They made up the New Snipers U14AA team, who took home the gold medal at last weekend’s tournament, after deftly showing opposing teams the best they had to offer on the ice.
Despite having never played with some of her teammates, Nelson said that the group locked in once the tournament started, winning their first game against the Ottawa Riptides 8-1.
“They were all really good, and at the same time we all shared the same mind,” said Nelson, who is a goaltender.
She was a wall in the net, deflecting the opposition’s efforts to score on the New Snipers at almost every turn, ultimately celebrating their gold medal finish with an 8-1 victory against the East Coast Selects in the semifinals and a 5-1 victory against Capital United in the finals.
“Everything was fun, we kept smiles on our faces, we got a lot of goals, made some good plays and nice shots,” Nelson said. “I saved some nice ones, though I let in some bad ones too. But there were some really hard shots and I was able to still get to them quickly.”
Nelson was accompanied by her father, Jeffrey Nelson, who has supported her throughout the season, coaching her in her time with the Blainville Cavaliers.
He said it was exciting to be able to take in the tournament from the stands, instead of being behind the bench as a coach.
“I always push my kids to play sports because I believe it’s something every kid should do. It’s great for them to grow up and learn a sport, and it’s just been nice to see that she’s there, playing a high level,” he said.
“The main thing is, she’s absolutely loving it.”
He said that he’s been proud of Tewehshon who has continued to stay motivated in her sport despite facing some tough losses throughout the season.
“We’ve been losing games 3-1 or 2-1, but after every game, one or two parents would come up to us and say how good she is, and tell her to keep her head up,” Jeffrey said. “A lot of times towards the end of the season she was frustrated about not winning, but she just continued to this tournament and enjoyed it.”
It was the first time Tewehshon participated in the tournament, making the gold medal win extra special.
“It was my first year and the first year for some other girls there, so getting a gold medal on your first year there is pretty honourable,” Tewehshon said.
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Tewehshon is already looking forward to another tournament in a few short weeks, perhaps the last of the season before she breaks for the summer and focuses on strength and conditioning training ahead of next season.
