Taking the next step
Chisholm, Aiken looking forward to making the jump to university
SUMMERSIDE – Two friends and teammates with identical goals have taken similar paths to the next step in their hockey careers.
That’s the story of Mya Chisholm and Rory Aiken, who will join the Mount Allison Mounties’ blue-line for the 2019-20 Atlantic University Sport (AUS) women’s hockey season.
“It’s always been a goal of mine to play university hockey,” said Chisholm, who will study sciences. “I am super excited and it will be different being away from home.
“(The Mounties) are kind of in a rebuild, so it will be nice to kind of come up with the team.”
Aiken acknowledged she is excited to entering university life.
“It’s going to be a bit of a change, but I’m looking forward to it,” said Aiken, who will major in biology. “I have trained pretty hard this summer to make the transition as smooth as possible.
“I am definitely looking forward to the opportunity ahead and hope to make the most of it.”
The 18-year-old daughters of Dave and Julie Chisholm of Summerside and Chris and Jane Aiken of Charlottetown completed Grade 12 at The Mount Academy, a private school in Charlottetown, last year. There they played as over-agers with the 16-and-under Saints’ team.
“We were thrilled to have both girls come join us in their senior year,” said Saints’ head coach Kenny MacDougall. “It’s a big decision to leave public school in Grade 12.
“They came in and embraced a leadership role right away; Rory was our captain and Mya was an assistant captain. The girls had a goal to play college hockey and they put in the work and effort
on a daily basis and both improved their game tremendously over the course of the year.
“It’s awesome that they have this opportunity to play university hockey, because I know it was a dream for both of them.”
Both players say their experience at The Mount playing in the Junior Women’s Hockey
League (JWHL) was a big factor in preparing for the AUS.
“It was a really good experience to play on that travel team and to get to play against a bunch of girls we haven’t really faced before,” said Aiken. “That was also a really good step towards university prep and without that experience I probably wouldn’t be as prepared as I feel now.”
Chisholm relished the opportunity to play in the JWHL against teams in Nova Scotia and northeastern United States.
“There are lots of girls on those teams in the States who have gone to Team USA camps,” said Chisholm. “It was very high calibre.”
CANADA GAMES
Chisholm and Aiken, who were teammates with Team P.E.I. at the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer, Alta., and multiple times during the last few years at the Atlantic Challenge Cup in Moncton, N.B., are thrilled to be on this journey together.
“It was nice to have someone that had the same goal as me and we got to share the Canada Games together, which was a really cool experience,” said Aiken. “There were a lot of times throughout the whole year where we could lean on each other for support on the next chapter of our lives and what was going to be happening.
“It was nice to have someone to talk to about what is going to be going on.”
Chisholm feels it will be a benefit to join a new team with a familiar face.
“It will definitely be a good experience going over there with someone that I know right off the bat,” said Chisholm. “It will make me feel a little bit more comfortable and it will be nice because I know how she plays and we’ll be able to compete ourselves against each other while we are on the same team to help us get better.”