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Kingstone Invitational Marks a New Era
It was the dawn of a new era on the ice at Shawnigan as the School hosted and won the inaugural Kingstone Invitational Girls’ Hockey Tournament last weekend.
Named in honour of Jo-Anne Kingstone, who worked at Shawnigan from 2004 to 2013 and served as the first female Deputy Head in the history of the School, the tournament is a significant step in the development of girls’ hockey at Shawnigan, and complements the Robertson Invitational which was introduced for the boys’ Prep program in January 2018.
“I am thrilled that the School has introduced this tournament to celebrate the accomplishments of our female Prep team and our commitment to maintaining and developing an even playing field in our sports programming,” Head of School Mr. Richard (Larry) Lamont said.
Jo-Anne Kingstone is remembered with great admiration and respect for her promotion and support of female voice in the student and staff communities, her dedication to delivering a genuine co-educational model at Shawnigan, and for her inspiring leadership. Her husband, Jim, also taught at the School from 2004 to 2014, serving as Head of English and Head of University Counselling. Her two children graduated from Shawnigan, Sarah in 2007 and Ben in 2008.
Mrs. Kingstone was on hand for the opening game last Friday and presented the trophy to Shawnigan’s U18 girls’ Prep team following their 3-1 win over Ridley College from St. Catharines, Ontario in the tournament final. Shawnigan, Ridley, and the Greater Vancouver Comets U18 AAA of the BC Elite Hockey League played a double round-robin before the top two teams squared off for the title.
“For a preseason tournament, we had a really strong performance,” Shawnigan head coach Ms. Carly Haggard said. “We have eight new girls on the team, so it was nice to get everyone experience early in the year. That will be good for us when we start league games.”
The teams were competing for a beautiful, one-of-a-kind eagle trophy carved by Kwakiutl artist Trevor Hunt (Tlalis). Mr. Hunt, who has been painting original graphic representations of Kwakiutl myths and stories since he was 10 years old, comes from a long line of hereditary carvers who have been instrumental in keeping the survival of the Kwakiutl art form on the Northwest Coast. In Kwakiutl culture, the eagle signifies intense focus, great strength, enduring wisdom and strong leadership. Mr. Hunt’s vision for this trophy was to capture those symbolic qualities of the eagle as it looks skyward: focus, strength, wisdom and leadership. The carving is made of yellow cedar with a red cedar base; he includes copper, abalone and mother of pearl in his design.
This year’s inaugural tournament will serve as a strong foundation for future editions, and more teams from across North American will be invited, helping improve the quality of competition for Shawnigan’s girls’ team. Under Head Coach Carly Haggard, Shawnigan’s U18 girls’ Prep team has become one of the top teams in the Canadian Sports School Hockey League, reaching the CSSHL finals in each of the last two years.
Following the tournament, it was announced that two Shawnigan players – forward Taya L. and defender Cassandra K. – have been named to Team BC for the 2024 National Women’s Under-18 Championship that will take place in Quispamsis, New Brunswick on November 3-9. Both players were on the BC team that won the bronze medal at the 2023 championships in Dawson Creek last year, along with Morgan Jackson ’24, who has gone on to play at Northeastern University this year. Current Shawnigan assistant coach Ms. Megan Price will be the head coach of Team BC at the U18 tournament.
The Shawnigan girls will open the 2024-25 regular season this weekend when they travel to Penticton to play three league games.
We acknowledge with respect the Coast Salish Peoples on whose traditional lands and waterways we live, learn and play. We are grateful for the opportunity to share in this beautiful region, and we aspire to healthy and respectful relationships with those who have lived on and cared for these lands for millennia.
Shawnigan Lake School is an independent co-educational boarding school for ages 13 –18 on Canada’s beautiful West Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
