Kimmirut, Nunavut, kids lace up skates for hockey camp

Around 100 young people in Kimmirut laced up their skates for hockey camp this week. It was a special activity for the remotecommunity of 455, located on the south end of Baffin Island.

The event was the brainchild of Julie Matthews and her husband Robert who have been teaching music at Qaqqalik school in Kimmirut for the past three years.

"We wanted to reach into the community and help lift the community up by offering something that would have a positive impact for the kids of Qaqqalik school," she said.

The pair is from Penobsquis, N.B. The Penobsquis Baptist Church gathered enough donations so that all the youth had a complete set of hockey gear and sent up five coaches as instructors.

The camp was supposed to start March 18 but the coaches got stuck in Iqaluitduring last week'sblizzard.

"They were storm-stayed in Iqaluit for four days before they could get here, so they ended up starting a little bit later."

St. Paul's Anglican Church in Kimmirut helped organize the event. First Air assisted with airfare and freight costs. The hamlet of Kimmirut supplied accommodations and ice time at the arena.

This is the first time the facility has hosted a hockey camp. Organizers hope it won't be the last.