Headrick heads East: Garden River forward commits to UNB Reds
Article content
The 20-year-old forward, who spent the past three years playing NCAA Division I hockey at Bemidji State University in Minnesota, is following in the footsteps of her biggest inspiration, her older sister, who spent two seasons at the Fredericton university.
Article content
Article content
Mya is currently studying kinesiology, with hopes of going to medical school to become a doctor. She told the Sault Star she thinks that going to UNB will support her aspirations in hockey and academics.
Article content
Article content
But, no matter how far Mya's hockey career takes her from Garden River, her ultimate goal is to return to her community.
Article content
'If I do end up getting into med school, I'd want to come back and give back to my community, make it more accessible,' said Mya. Her 'big picture goal' is to open a doctor's office in Garden River.
Article content
Her path has taken her from Northern Ontario to Toronto, the U.S., and now the Maritimes. At just 14, she moved from Sault Ste. Marie to Sudbury to join a travel team and gain more game experience. She later played for the Etobicoke Junior Dolphins, helping them win Ontario's Provincial Women's Hockey League title in 2022, then earned gold with Team Ontario U16 at the 2018 Ontario Summer Games.
Article content
In Grade 11, she committed to Bemidji State University (NCAA Div. 1), where she has played for the last three years.
Article content
Article content
This past season, Headrick scored one goal and one assist as the Beavers went 6-30-1 (W-L-T) in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.
Article content
The year prior, she served as one of the Beavers' alternate captains and was named to the WCHA's All-Academic Team for a second straight season.
Article content
Mya describes herself on the ice as a power forward who goes to the hard areas and can score goals.
Article content
'I always give my 110%. I'm a very hard worker. I'm very dedicated and passionate. I also think I bring a good, positive attitude, and I'm a pretty good teammate,' said Mya.
Article content
Moving away at a young age was the catalyst to Mya's success, but also her biggest challenge.
Article content
'I had a dream, and that's what had to be done,' said Mya about leaving her friends and family in Garden River and Sault Ste. Marie to pursue hockey at a higher level.
Article content
Now, Mya looks to the East Coast of Canada to see what she can accomplish next.
Article content
'I just felt like UNB was the right fit for me,' she said. 'It's a great academic school. I'm studying kinesiology and I want to go to med school in the future. I think it's a better fit for me to increase my odds of getting in.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Ottawa Citizen
22-07-2025
- Ottawa Citizen
Goaltender the first UNB alum to earn a shot at PWHL
Article content When Kendra Woodland's collegiate hockey career at the University of New Brunswick ended in 2024, the next step was in the direction of the newly founded Professional Women's Hockey League. Article content But that path took a turn when she was not selected in either the 2024 or 2025 PWHL drafts. But now, she has her shot. Article content Article content Woodland has been invited to the Ottawa Charge training camp in November. She said in an interview Thursday she spent the past year and a half staying ready. Just months away from training camp, that patience has paid off. Article content Article content 'Getting that call was awesome. Working with my agents and making sure that this is the best opportunity moving forward was important,' said the Kamloops, B.C. native, who has been training with junior and pro players at home for the offseason. Article content Article content 'It was rewarding to just get an opportunity to get my foot in the door, and (I'm) just really excited.' Article content The 25-year-old netminder's invite to Ottawa is a historic one for UNB's women's hockey program, which was revived in 2018 following a decade-long absence from varsity status. During her time at UNB, Woodland helped rebuild the women's hockey program, backstopping the team to back-to-back Atlantic University Sport titles in 2022 and 2023. Article content Hilworth said Woodland was a key piece in the revival. Article content 'She definitely gave us just a strong backbone right from the start,' the coach said. 'I'm not surprised just knowing how dedicated and determined she is, and I'm really excited for her to get that opportunity at the highest level.' Article content Article content In 2023, Woodland won the Brodrick Trophy as USPORTS' player of the year in women's hockey. Internationally, she won bronze at the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation U18 Women's World Championship and gold with Canada at the 2023 FISU World University Games. Article content Woodland's plan for her hockey career didn't originally include a stop in Fredericton. In high school, she committed to playing NCAA hockey for the University of North Dakota, a program that was disbanded in 2017 before she could even step on the ice. Article content 'There's not a lot of goalies that can say they could come in and in their rookie year start, ultimately, for five years of their eligibility,' said Woodland. 'I was really lucky that opportunity came knocking on my door.'
CTV News
20-06-2025
- CTV News
Ted Nolan, first Indigenous head coach in the NHL, talks perseverance
Ted Nolan, former NHLer and the first Indigenous person to be an NHL head coach, spoke in Sudbury on Friday ahead of National Indigenous Peoples Day. On Friday at Laurentian University, there was an event to celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day, which is being celebrated on Saturday. The keynote speaker was Ted Nolan, a former NHL player and the first Indigenous person to be an NHL head coach. Nolan, who is from the Garden River First Nation, shared stories about resilience and perseverance. Ted Nolan, Dominic Beaudry Ted Nolan, left, is seen Friday with Dominic Beaudry, LU's vice-president of Academic and Indigenous Programs. (Alana Everson/CTV News) The former NHL coach of the year shared a story about how his father, who died when he was just 16, taught him to 'work with what you got.' 'Hardships that I faced in growing up with a lack of materialistic things in order to play and then the lack of acceptance when you tried to play,' Nolan said. He shared stories about challenges he's faced, including racism, discrimination and battling multiple myeloma. His mother was killed by a drunk driver when he was 20 years old. Nolan said he hit a dark place in his life when his pro coaching career came to an abrupt end. Ted Nolan Ted Nolan, who is from the Garden River First Nation, shared stories about resilience and perseverance at a ceremony Friday at Laurentian University in Sudbury. (Alana Everson/CTV News) 'The rumours started percolating and a lot of them were derogatory statements about our people -- drinking and lazy and those types of things that probably hurt the most versus losing the job,' said Nolan. Key principles Through it all, he said he follows some key principles. 'Perseverance word always sticks with me,' Nolan said. 'We gotta' learn to fight through it and eventually you are gonna' find that one person and that's all you need sometimes. Just that one person who believes in you.' Laurentian University presented Nolan with an Anishnaabe medallion for his message about resilience. 'It's not always right to just share our trauma,' said Dominic Beaudry, LU's vice-president of Academic and Indigenous Programs. 'We also need to begin to share some of the success stories and some of the leaders in our community and I believe Ted Nolan is an exceptional leader and wanted to ensure his story was shared here.' Nolan said his coaching philosophy is that everyone deserves equal respect. It's a message he hopes resonates with people on National Indigenous Peoples Day -- and every day.
CBC
16-06-2025
- CBC
How Pascal Siakam supports the dreams of fellow Cameroonians attending UNB
Erick Mbianda wasn't planning to attend university this past year because his family in Cameroon couldn't afford to send him. They had endured a decade of disruption due to the armed conflict that began in 2016, forcing them from their home in the northwest to the more centrally located capital Yaoundé. Then Mbianda received an email from the University of New Brunswick offering him a scholarship through the River Philip Foundation and the PS43 Foundation, operated by fellow Cameroonian and former Toronto Raptors star Pascal Siakam, who's now playing with the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. "I pray I can meet him one day to thank him. It was a life-changer," Mbianda said. "My dad wasn't in the country when I got the news. I called him and he started crying, saying, 'God bless Pascal Siakam' over and over again." Last fall, Mbianda arrived at UNB to study chemical engineering on an $8,000 entrance scholarship. He is the second Cameroonian student to receive the scholarship since the program began in 2023. Cedrick Tahmo, the first recipient, is now entering his fourth year studying computer science. At the time, UNB flew him to Toronto to meet Siakam on the court after a Raptors game. "After they won the game, they told us to wait on the court for him to come out. Just seeing him was just so amazing," Tahmo said. "He is a great guy, he was very chill. We have a colloquial language in my country. It's like a modified English or French. He spoke that with me and it was just an amazing experience. Just seeing someone at that level who still holds tight to his roots was so amazing for me to see." Tahmo says Siakam made him feel like he wasn't alone in his experience of building a life in a new country. "He told me he came here as a student as well," said Tahmo. "He knows my struggles. He knows how it is to be in a different country without your family around. Just sharing that experience with me made me realize that I'm not alone here." The partnership between UNB and Siakam's foundation began after a meeting in Toronto between Siakam and Frank McKenna, deputy chair of TD Bank and a former New Brunswick premier. "Frank had heard about his passion for education and particularly the digital [skills component]," said Adrienne Oldford, the executive director of the McKenna Institute. "So they met for lunch and really found they had this shared connection to make a difference." Oldford said the scholarship could be a first step in a broader partnership. The McKenna Institute has committed $1.3 million to digital education programs in New Brunswick schools. The PS43 Foundation, based in Ontario, runs programs like Coding for Champions, which provides digital literacy and technology training for under-served youth, said executive director Dakota Whyte. "[Our] mission is all around advancing youth education," she said. "We do this through the lens of digital technology, STEAM learning [science, technology, engineering, art and math], life skills and mentorship for underrepresented and marginalized groups." 'We're all driven by education' Siakam's foundation has remained based in Ontario even after he left Toronto in a trade to the Pacers shortly after the UNB partnership was announced. Vanessa Siakam is his sister and manager of programs with PS43. She said their father, who died in 2014, always told them education was important, even as her brother pursued his dream to be a basketball player. "We're all driven by education because that was the only speech that my father would give you every day," she said. "That was the main inspiration [for the foundation]. We knew he loved everything about education." PS43 has two core programs that have educational and sport components — an annual basketball camp in Cameroon where they're also taught lessons in leadership, resilience and personal growth, and a program in Canada called Data Dunkers where students in grades 5 through 12 learn data science skills through studying and analyzing basketball statistics. "Our father loved sport and the fact that Pascal was drafted in the NBA and my father wasn't able to witness that dream of his, I think it's just a normal thing for Pascal to join everything that he loved," Vanessa said. "We're going to help [realize] my father's dream since he wasn't there to experience it." Siakam wants to help UNB students pursue their dreams Whyte said Siakam was well supported as he pursued his dreams through programs like Basketball Without Borders, so it's natural for him to want to support others. "We look at Erick and we look at Cedrick and we want to feel a part of their development of anything that they are able to achieve," Whyte said. "It has started off with one opportunity and hopefully Pascal could be an inspiration to them that they can make any of their dreams happen." Mbianda is studying chemical engineering and his dream is to return to Cameroon and help the country move from fossil fuels to renewables like solar power, which can also help people suffering from "energy poverty" in rural areas that aren't connected to existing power grids.
