In September 2026, Huskie Women's Hockey player
Jacquelyne Chief was selected as one of 22 student-athletes across the country to participate in the Creating Coaches program, a year-long program from Hockey Canada and U SPORTS, designed to increase the number of women coaching hockey in Canada.
Through training, mentorship and education, selected players spend the season as an assistant coach with a U13, U15 or U18 girls' hockey team in their community.
For Chief, that team is the U15 AA Comet Chargers, coincidentally enough, coached by Huskie Women's Hockey alumna Kori Herner.
"You attend a certain number of practices and games in a month. You have to be around the team, watch how they coach, their process and everything like that. It's very much a mentee- mentor relationship," Chief said.
Completing the program will contribute to Chief securing her Hockey Canada NCPP Development 1 coaching certification, something that will add to an already growing resume that includes Huskie Prospects and Saskatoon Comets camps.
"I was excited when I found out. I thought this is great for me, because I want to coach. If I do this, I'm sure it will give me multiple pathways to coaching wherever."
Chief, third from left, on the official U SPORTS and Hockey Canada social media announcement.
Though she grew up outside Saskatoon, Chief spent every weekend and holiday in her home community of Onion Lake Cree Nation.
"That's what I call my home. All my family is there. We went to Onion Lake almost every weekend. I cannot even remember a weekend where we didn't go out there."
Playing hockey was part of that and was just something you did as a kid growing up and spending time on the reserve, Chief said.
"I started playing organized hockey around four or five, but I was skating well before that. I got into it because my dad played and all of my uncles. Everybody on the reserve plays hockey. That's just what everybody does. It was kind of a no-brainer that I was probably going to play hockey."
Around nine or ten Chief started playing spring hockey, which took her on a more competitive path.
"When you're little, that's kind of the way you can continue to grow as a hockey player. I would say that's probably when I realized, this is what I want to do all the time."
Then and now. Chief as a little girl and now as a member of the Huskie Women's Hockey team.
From there she went on to play with the Saskatoon Comets, but eventually transitioned to playing in Warman.
"I got weeded out of the Comets because I didn't live within city limits," Chief said.
She was the only Indigenous player on the team, and as an already shy and introverted kid, the transition was challenging.
"I was in Grade 9 and I was playing on a new team with new girls, for the first time in a while and I was playing in a small town. That was hard because it was all new faces and I didn't know anybody. And when you're 13, it's such an awkward stage of your life already."
In hindsight, Chief said that time in her life built a lot of resilience and ultimately prepared her to leave home to play AAA in Prince Albert, an experience she looks back on fondly.
"I loved billeting and living in PA. I liked the billet family that I had. Without them, I don't know how easy it would have been. I still talk to them to this day. My old billet mom - I look at her as my mom and my old billet sisters, I still see all the time."
Chief also cites the independence she gained living away from home at such a young age.
"It gave me great skills in taking care of myself. Some of those skills people learn when they're in their 20s, but I was learning it when I was 16."
Chief's journey from AAA to the Huskies was a winding one that almost took her away from Saskatchewan to a school in Missouri.
Chief on the ice at Merlis Belsher Place.
"It's not a regular recruit story at all. I was actually committed to a different university in the states."
A week and a half before she was supposed to move, Huskies Women's Hockey Head Coach
Steve Kook called her up.
"Steve reached out to me and said they had a spot open and asked if I wanted to meet."
The rest is history because as it turns out, Chief's goal had always been to play for U SPORTS.
"When Steve reached out, I was like, yes. Because this is where I wanted to end up. Playing at this level."
As any student-athlete knows, balancing athletics and academics is not easy, but Chief said her upbringing keeps her grounded through everything.
"When things are tough because of hockey or school, reminding myself of where I come from and the way I was taught helps me stay level-headed. My dad has always told me and my siblings, never forget where you come from and who you are. My parents' efforts have one-hundred percent shaped me into who I am today."
From left: Chief's dad, Chief, her sister and mother.
Both Cree and Métis, Chief grew up up surrounded by her culture, family and ceremony, something that has played a major role in her endeavors off the rink as well.
Currently in her third year of Indigenous Studies, Chief hopes to ultimately get her teaching degree from University of Saskatchewan, through ITEP (Indian Teacher Education Program) or SUNTEP (Saskatchewan Urban Native Teacher Education Program).
"Both my parents are teachers, and my grandma was a teacher. I was always learning, always being taught and learning how to teach others. I also grew up in a very traditional home. My Cree teachings have been a huge influence and I think that translated into what I wanted to study in university. I found it interesting to learn more about the academic side of it, but also thought it would be a good way to incorporate my home life into what I wanted to do as a career. I thought being an Indigenous Studies teacher would be a good way to do it."
Chief's passion for coaching and teaching are directly linked and both fueled by her desire to make an impact and pass on her knowledge of hockey and Indigenous ways of knowing to future generations.
"That's what fuels it. Even with my coaching. It's the same mindset."
Chief also sees an opportunity to incorporate Cree teachings and ways of knowing into coaching.
"I think humility is huge. Seeing yourself as equal to who you're coaching. Showing the kids I coach that I'm just a regular person. I'm just a regular Native girl. I'm no different than them. I want to show them that it's as simple as working hard. I want to show them what hockey can bring them. That yes, hockey is good for you, but it can also lead to other things."
Another big piece of Chief's story and how she hopes to inspire the next generation, is through her choice to live a sober life.
Showing kids they can make that choice and play hockey at a high level.
"That's one thing that I always tell kids, is that I live a sober life. That's my dad and mom's doing for sure."
Chief also emphasized the importance of having Indigenous athletes coach Indigenous youth.
Chief signing autographs at Huskie Women's Hockey's World Girls' Ice Hockey Weekend 2025.
There is an understanding, relatability, connection and respect that comes with having that same lived experience, Chief said.
Delivering that representation and access to kids in Onion Lake is important to her.
"It's definitely something I want to do. I would love to go live there and run minor hockey. That intrigues me a lot."
As of right now, Chief said, Indigenous kids often have to leave home in order to move to that next level of hockey, taking them away from family, culture, ceremony and their way of life.
She wants to change that and said her and her dad often have conversations about how to do it.
It's evident that for Chief, being accepted into the Hockey Canada and U SPORTS Creating Coaches program is less about what it can do for her, and more about what she can do for her community with the knowledge, training and opportunity it provides.
Giving her the tools to not only inspire Indigenous youth, but making real change in terms of accessibility, resources and opportunity.
"These huge sacrifices need to be made in order to get to that next level versus a kid who grows up in the city and can play and live at home. I just want kids on the reserve, especially those that play hockey, because that's my forte, to succeed if they want to and to have those resources available for them if that's what they choose to do."
