Hockey hits home for Santos family
For many Canadian families, the passion for hockey traditionally gets passed down to younger generations. But for the Santos family, their love for hockey was ignited by the kids.
For Arturo and Rachelle Santos, hockey wasn’t a sport that ran deep in their Filipino roots, but that all changed when their three children took up the game.
They’ve become one big hockey family. Their 14-year-old daughter Rian was honoured as one of the 2018 Wayne Gretzky Award recipients during a ceremony Wednesday to kick off the 55th annual Quikcard Edmonton Minor Hockey Week.
Over 8,500 minor hockey players from novice to midget age levels will play in 23 arenas around the city from Friday to Jan. 21.
Rian is one of only a handful of female hockey players to win the award in its 29-year history. Rian, Brian Crossman and Nathan Trombley were recognized for their sportsmanship, scholastic achievements and community involvement.
“Hockey and Filipino (culture) don’t really mix, but we’ve fallen in love with the game through our kids,” said Arturo, sharing an amusing story about their introduction to the sport when their oldest son first wanted to play.
“We signed him up the day before tryouts and we got him the box with all of his equipment from Canadian Tire and bought his skates. Tryouts came and he didn’t do well at all.
“After the tryout, the coach told us that we should get him into skating lessons. Shortly afterwards, we heard one of the parents say they needed to get their son’s skates sharpened. I go, 'Sharpened? What is that?' I had no idea I had to get the skates sharpened.”
Arturo may not have displayed razor-sharp hockey smarts in the beginning, but through their kids’ love for the game, he and his wife have developed a strong passion, too. And they’ve supported their children every step of the way.
Rian followed her two older brothers Reece and Hunter on to the ice. All three found ways to make an impact on and off the ice. Rian has always played hockey with boys since she started at age five.
This year, she is the alternate captain of her Southside Athletic Club Bantam AA team and is among the team’s leading scorers.
Off the ice, she’s played a pivotal role helping out the Coats for Kids campaign, supplying underprivileged kids and their families with warm clothing throughout the winter months.
It was one of her ways to give back to the community.
“When we put our kids in team sports, we want them to learn the value of hard work, teamwork and never-give-up attitude,” said Arturo. “We’ve asked her and all our kids to do something philanthropic. She took this opportunity on to do the Coats for Kids campaign and we all got behind her.
“To see her win this award and be recognized for all three pillars that we want our kids to strive for makes us very proud.”
Rian has big goals both on and off the ice. Next year, she plans to make the switch to women’s hockey and start pursuing an NCAA scholarship.
“I’ve always loved playing hockey against the boys because it makes me work and compete harder. I always want to be better than them,” said Rian. “I’ve set out goals I want to pursue in the next few years. I have aspirations to play for Team Alberta’s U-18 team. I’m aiming for an NCAA scholarship and one day I would love to represent Canada at the Olympics.
“Hockey has brought us close as a family. I want to be a role model for younger girls who want to play the game. If you work hard and you dedicate yourself to the sport, you can go a long way.”