On Saturday, August 27, the team and staff of the University of Windsor Lancers hockey team, along with representatives of Unifor Canada and First Nations Emergency Services Society, were present at Shulus Arbor for a welcoming ceremony. The ceremony welcomes the visitors to the Nicola Valley as they begin their humanitarian mission of helping rebuild four properties throughout the surrounding First Nations communities. The mission will assist some members of the indigenous community recover from the disastrous fires and floods of 2021.

As the Lancers began their 10-day humanitarian mission, they were welcomed by people from the five surrounding First Nations communities:

Upper Nicola Indian Band

Lower Nicola Indian Band

Shackan Indian Band

Nooaitch Indian Band

Coldwater Indian Band

The event was emceed by Scw’exmx Tribal Council Chair, Lenny Joe. The team were welcomed with prayer, hand drumming, and songs. Afterwards, they were able to hear from different speakers:

Larry Price, FNESS Mitigation Specialist

Dave Cassidy, Unifor Local 444 President

Dr. Beverly Jacobs, U of W Indigenous Relations and Outreach Senior Advisor

Kevin Hamlin, Lancers Head Coach

Mason Kohn, Lancers Team Captain

“We’re looking forward to giving back to the community and also help rebuild the relationship between Canadians and the First Nations communities in B.C,” said Kohn.

“We’re so thankful for the Nicola Valley First Nations communities for letting us visit their lands. We get a chance to build together as a team, grow our hearts and give back to a community that has faced hardships with last year’s fires and floods.”

Kohn also mentioned that the group had visited the recently uncovered graves underneath the Kamloops residential schools prior to arriving in Lower Nicola.

“To listen to the survivor speak about her experiences at the school is very eye opening,” he said.

“Seeing the devastation and hearing about everything was very difficult for us but we are lucky to have done it.”

The idea for the mission was born out of a personal trip taken by the Lancers head coach in B.C. last year.

“My wife and I drove through this area last year, my son plays junior hockey in Coquitlam and the Friday before the floods he played here and they were evacuated shortly after, so that hit home for us,” Hamlin recalled.

“Also, when we drove through Kamloops, past the residential schools, we became so emotional and felt like we have to do something to help.”
Soon after, Hamlin reached out to FNESS, connecting him to Price to make this trip possible a year later. Unifor Local 444 have partnered with the
Lancers once again, providing tradesmen and $50,000 as monetary support to the mission.

“Having developed a relationship with the Lancer men’s hockey team over the last few years, we are once again excited to partner with the program on this great initiative,” said Unifor Local 444 President David Cassidy in a press release.

“We learned early on in our association with the blue and gold that Coach Hamlin and his staff were not just about teaching their athletes the art of hockey but building young men of character and decency. We are again proud to work together at a Unifor National level with the Lancers on this fantastic cause in helping to rebuild infrastructure for First Nations communities in BC that have been devasted by fire and floods the past two years.”

The highlight of the ceremony was the presentation of custom Lancers hockey jerseys that had the five bands’ names printed on the back. There were also presentation of caps for the Unifor representatives and blankets for Dr. Jacobs and her staff. The evening concluded with a dinner for the attendees.


Welcoming Ceremony at Shulus Arbor by Izaiah Reyes

The Lancers rebuilt four properties throughout the surrounding Indigenous communities, such as a 1000-foot corral at the Shackan reserve. Along with the construction work, the team also partnered up with the Merritt Centennials, spending three days running their Lancers Hockey Academy followed up by the Lancers Against Bullying presentation. During the night, the team used the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena to run their training camp, in preparation for the 2022-2023 season.