For former Virden resident Karissa Kirkup, the 2022-2023 hockey season will be one to remember.
After coaching at the prestigious Canada Winter Games, the daughter of Kary and Suzanne Kirkup guided the Brandon Wheat Kings to a provincial championship as it won the inaugural U15 AAA Manitoba Female Hockey League playoffs. The team beat Pembina Valley 2-0 in the best-of-three championship series. The Wheat Kings led the league in the regular season with a 19-9 record.
“It means a lot to our team to have won the league and become provincial champions during the 2022-2023 season,” said Kirkup, the team’s head coach. “Our team has worked unbelievably hard since day one to try to accomplish what we did on (March 18) and I could not be more proud of them.”
In round one of the playoffs, the Wheat Kings swept Parkland, 2-0. They then beat Norman in two games.
In 2021-2022 - her first season as head coach and in the debut campaign of the U15 AAA Wheat Kings - Kirkup led the squad to a rural provincial championship. She was pleased to be back for year two. Amanda Coey and Sheridan Oswald served as assistant coaches for both seasons. Kirkup praised manager Greg Beckwith for being outstanding in the team’s first two campaigns. She said, “Darcy Bell has been a first-class person to work with in terms of management and parent-liaison responsibilities this year.”
“Amanda Coey, Sheridan Oswald and I could not have asked for a better group of girls to work with this year,” Kirkup said. “They are extremely passionate, hard working and always come to the rink with a great attitude. We faced a lot of adversity throughout the season, but we always stuck together as a team and pushed forward. The team bonding we did off the ice, such as Christmas hampers, helping at the soup kitchen, or just spending time together at the rink, all helped our journey to becoming a better team. It is a really exciting time to be a part of growing the female hockey game.”
Kirkup was an assistant coach for Manitoba’s women’s hockey team at the multi-sport Canada Winter Games, which was held in Prince Edward Island Feb. 18-March 5. She was a member of the first all-female staff to lead a Team Manitoba women’s hockey program. The squad competed in the second week of the Winter Games. It beat New Brunswick, 10-2, in its final contest to finish seventh overall.
“Being a coach at the 2023 Canada Winter Games was an unbelievable experience,” said Kirkup, a Brandon resident who teaches at Riverview School in that city. “I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the coaching staff of Team Manitoba. The players on the team were a great group to work with on and off the ice. The camaraderie at the Games was amazing, getting to meet a lot of people from across the country and having the chance to watch a variety of different sports.”
At the Winter Games, Kirkup ran the forward end of the bench for Team Manitoba. Head coach Ashley van Aggelen praised Kirkup for bringing a wealth of knowledge from her experiences as both a coach and a player. Before coaching, she played at various levels – including four seasons with the University of Manitoba.
For Team Manitoba, van Aggelen said Kirkup was able to connect with players as a younger coach. The head coach also said Kirkup brought valuable experience as a former provincial team athlete. At the National Women's Under-18 Hockey Championship, Kirkup helped Team Manitoba win bronze in 2011 in Saguenay, Que. and silver a year later in Dawson Creek, B.C. Van Aggelen coached Kirkup on the latter team.
“She was able to talk to players about the role they play on the team and how to accept those roles,” van Aggelen said. “She was able to connect with players in terms of she’s been there, she’s been through it, she understands the pressure and the nerves … how to cope with that kind of thing and rise above.”
In pool play, Team Manitoba fell to Ontario, 7-0; 3-0 to Nova Scotia in spite of outshooting its opponent; and Alberta, 3-0, in a contest that was 1-0 with about six minutes remaining and included an empty net goal. Team Manitoba romped past Prince Edward Island 13-1 in the qualification round before beating New Brunswick for seventh.
“It was a great group of girls,” van Aggelen said. “Got along really well. Everyone was there for each other and really supporting each other. We obviously would have liked to have more wins.”
Kirkup emphasized that the caliber of play was the event was very competitive.
“It is difficult to match up to a variety of provinces due to higher or lower populations to choose players from, however, it was impressive to see the elite players from across the country compete in a short-term competition. I was very pleased with our team's play overall. Both goalies played unbelievable in the games they were put in, which helped the rest of the team take a deep breath and try to play their game. I was most impressed with our team dynamic and how they battled through adversity with a positive attitude, grit and scoring in bunches.”
Kirkup believes her Canada Winter Games experience will benefit her greatly as a coach.
“I was excited to get back to the U15 AAA Brandon Wheat Kings to share my experience … The experience gained from the pressure of different game situations in short term competition was very valuable heading into playoffs and in the future. It was amazing to see how much female hockey has grown since I was at the U18 Nationals as a player and how I can help players back home get to that level in the next few years.”
