Nunavut futsal goes national

Two Nunavut teams are headed to Regina to compete in the Futsal Canadian Championship, Canadian Soccer’s highest domestic club competition for futsal.

The national tournament runs April 10 to 13.

The Prospects, a team with players representing Rankin Inlet, Coral Harbour, Baker Lake, and Iqaluit, will compete in the women’s division.

Futsal is a fast-paced, pared-down version of soccer, played indoors with five players on each side compared to 11 players a side in soccer.

The Prospects was created by team captain Maiya Twerdin of Iqaluit and goalkeeper Amber Graham, who is from Rankin Inlet but is currently based in Baker Lake for her studies with the Nunavut teacher education program at Nunavut Arctic College.

“We knew we wanted to compete together. We just had to figure out who to get on our team and how they would fit our dynamic that we wanted,” Graham said.

Three players on the Prospects futsal team received awards at the end of the 2nd Annual National Qualifiers that took place from March 7 to 9 in Rankin Inlet: Maiya Twerdin, left, was named most valuable player, Amber Graham was named top goalkeeper and Kelsie Kaludjak won for top defence. (Photo courtesy of Maiya Twerdin)

Graham and Twerdin had competed against each other in futsal and hockey for the past six years, and they played together at last year’s nationals with Team Nunavut.

They formed The Prospects in January in anticipation of this year’s national qualifiers, held March 7 to 9 in Rankin Inlet.

The women cherry-picked a roster of their past teammates and opponents from around the territory, including past national championship teammates Kelsie Kaludjak of Rankin Inlet, Kiah Hachey of Iqaluit, and Christa Emiktowt of Coral Harbour.

“We nurtured this team the whole way,” Graham said.

Eleven of the 12 teammates on the Prospects are Inuit, Twerdin said.

The Prospects members had a chance to practise together in Rankin Inlet before going undefeated in the three-day qualifiers tournament. The Prospects beat Whale Cove in the women’s final.

“I think we’re more prepared for nationals this year than we were last year,” Twerdin said.

Beyond gelling on the futsal court, the Prospects have had to focus on fundraising in order to reach their goal of competing in Regina this month. After four weeks of bake sales and 50/50 draws, the women have raised close to $20,000 of their $25,000 goal.

The Rankin Inlet FC is competing in the men’s division.

The Rankin Inlet FC won both of their group matches before beating Team Arctic in the men’s final at the national qualifying games in Rankin Inlet last month.

This is not the Rankin Inlet men’s team’s first appearance at the national championships. They placed eighth in 2018 and 2019.

Representatives from the men’s team were not available for comment for this story.