Ringette player returns with bronze

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This article was published 09/04/2018 (2987 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A young St. James athlete has returned from the Western Canadian Ringette Championships with some extra hardware.

Nyja Bond, who plays defence for Team Manitoba U16A, recently won a bronze medal at the competition in Saskatoon, Sask.

Bond is just 14 and it was her first time at the tournament. Her mother, Toni, said Team Manitoba’s girls were ready to play hard.

“They knew they would be ready to compete but they weren’t sure how stiff the competition would be, so they went there hoping to win a medal,” Toni said.

Toni is the co-founder of Keira’s Krusade, which began when her other daughter, Keira, was diagnosed with an aggressive brainstem tumor. Because Keira loved to play ringette, Krusade events include ringette fundraisers. When the girls were younger, Nyja and Keira used to play on the same team.

“Keira was four, turning five, and Nyja was seven, so because they were both young, they were able to play together,” Toni said.

“They played together for two years, so that was special, because as they got older, and once they started to categorize them based on their age, they had to play apart.”

Keira died at the age of 10 in 2017.

“Whenever I’m on the ice, I kind of feel like she would be watching me, and cheering me on,” Nyja said. “When we played together, we both passed a lot — we were close on the ice. I kind of feel like she’s there with me, almost like helping me out.”

Nyja said that she and her teammates were motivated to go as far as they could.

“This was actually my first time coming to Westerns, and there were a few girls on my team who had been there, so it was great to have them kind of knowing what to do there more than us. All the people who hadn’t been there before all wanted a medal really bad, so more motivation helped.”

Toni describes her older daughter as a “strong, silent type” out on the ice.

“She lets her actions speak for herself, and she plays defence, and she’s just very hard on the ring,” she said. “She’s just a very strong player, and plays by the rules.”

With ringette season over, Nyja will be taking some time to relax and rest before getting back on the ice.

“More or less relaxing — maybe some yoga, things like that,” she said.

For more information on Keira’s Krusade, visit keiraskrusade.com