Women’s, girls’ hockey organization to debut in Iqaluit
Nunavut Ukpiit is a reboot of the Iqaluit Fury Hockey Association
Kendall Blanchette, left, and Ava Dunphy-Ipeelie celebrate the launch of the new Nunavut Ukpiit hockey development organization for girls and women during an event at Iqaluit’s Arctic Winter Game Arena on June 5. (Photo courtesy of Sara Falconer)
An Iqaluit girls and women’s hockey organization is preparing to offer opportunities for youth to develop skills on and off the ice.
Nunavut Ukpiit, a reboot of the Nunavut Fury Hockey Association that was introduced in 2025 by many of the same organizers, seeks to build confidence through sport and to build player skills, recruit coaches and eventually host tournaments.
“Hockey created so many avenues for myself as an adult, in my career — confidence that I’ve been able to have outside of hockey,” said board president Jesse Mike during a phone interview Thursday.
“So, in the future it is about creating strong women in leadership in any form of career that they choose. Ultimately, we’re not trying to bring people to the PWHL here, we’re just trying to create an opportunity that helps growth and confidence and physical activity and competition and making friends.”
This summer, Nunavut Ukpiit plans to offer skills training on the turf at the Arctic Winter Games Arena. Some time over the winter, organizers plan to host one on-ice camp in Iqaluit and one in Rankin Inlet.
Organizers launched their new logo, created by Iqaluit graphic designer Pangniq, at an event at the Arctic Winter Games arena on June 5. It’s of a snowy owl in front of crossed hockey sticks.
The name pays homage to the Iqaluit Okpiks, a women’s hockey team that has been active, on and off, since the 1990s. Okpiks is an anglicized spelling of the plural form of Ukpik, which means snowy owl in Inuktitut.
“We’ve corrected that and are using the Inuktitut pluralized word,” Mike said.
On Wednesday evening, they held an information meeting for players and parents. On Thursday evening, they met with potential coaches and coach trainees.
The three-member board is looking to add two more positions and hire an executive director. In the future, they’d like to be able to pay for coaching and officiating and host camps across the territory, Mike said.
“The sky’s the limit,” she said. “But it all depends on funding.”
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