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Four local hockey players, Keyana Bert, Taya Christie, Riley Gramlich and Keira Grant will suit up at the U18 women's nationals held in Quispamsis, N.B. from Nov. 3-9. Bert, Christie and Grant will represent Alberta and Gramlich will represent Saskatchewan.
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A quartet of local hockey players will represent the area at the provincial level in the next week.
Taya Christie of Medicine Hat, Keyana Bert of Desert Blume, Keira Grant from Dunmore and Riley Gramlich of Burstall, Sask., will all represent their respective provinces at the 2024 national women’s U18 championship held in Quispamsis, N.B. from Nov. 3-9.
Bert and Gramlich play for the South Alberta Hockey Academy’s U18 women’s team and both Christie and Grant play for the U18AAA Edmonton Jr. Oilers White in the Alberta Female Hockey League.
“It’s been pretty cool that I grew up with these girls and now I get to play with them at the highest level,” Grant said. “I grew up playing with Taya and Keyana but then now I get to share the big moment with them, that’s pretty cool.”
All four have either played on the same team with one another or against one another growing up in the sport. Bert says she grew up playing ringette alongside Christie and Grant before making the switch to hockey around the age of 10. She’s looking forward to her first chance at playing for Alberta alongside them.
“I’m ecstatic about it, it’s an honour and I’m incredibly proud to be representing my community and southern Alberta,” Bert said.
Alberta opens the tournament Nov. 3 against Ontario Red, Saskatchewan faces the Atlantic team. The two teams will swap opponents the next day before facing off on Nov. 5, pitting Gramlich and Saskatchewan against Bert, Christie and Grant with Alberta.
“It’s going to be really competitive,” Gramlich said. “Especially knowing girls going into there and having one of my teammates on there and previous teammates, it’s going to be a fun battle.”
“It’s going to be really fun,” Bert said. “It’s definitely a higher level of hockey, so it’s going to have some good compete there and will definitely be fun playing against one of my teammates who I’ve also started out hockey with.”
Bert is in her second year with SAHA, totalling four goals and 11 points in seven games. The 17-year-old forward is committed to Mount Royal University next season, following Hatter Kaitlyn Ross who won a national championship with MRU in 2023. Gramlich is in her fourth year on the SAHA blue line, with a goal and three points in six games. She’s committed to Rochester IOT at the NCAA level next season.
The 2024 nationals is a first-time for Bert and Gramlich representing their provinces. For Christie and Grant, both were on Team Alberta for the 2023 tournament held in Dawson Creek, B.C. They were both honoured for a second selection and another shot at winning for Alberta.
“It’s super cool I get another opportunity to represent Alberta and get another shot at it for this year,” Christie said. “We should have a good team this year, so I’m excited to see how we do.”
They both agreed going into a second tournament brings less nerves, having experienced the tournament once. Grant says she learned a lot from her roommate Makayla Watson at last year’s tournament and she hopes to be that veteran presence for someone on this year’s team.
Both Christie and Grant are committed to the University of New Brunswick for next season and are enjoying their first year with the Jr. Oilers.
“The coaches are amazing and it’s just a different experience being away from home but I’m really enjoying it,” Grant said.
Grant has two assists in four games in her first season at the AFHL level. The forward played the last two seasons with SAHA, totalling 11 goals and 28 points in 30 games last season. Christie is in her second season at the AFHL level, playing between the pipes for the Red Deer Chiefs last year.
Through two games in Edmonton she has a pair of wins, with a 1.44 goals against average and a .944 save percentage.
The Alberta, Saskatchewan matchup is the last day of round-robin action with the quarterfinals starting Nov. 7, playoffs continuing the next day and medals handed out Nov. 9. Christie says they’re looking to avenge a fourth-place finish at last year’s tournament and she expects a competitive event.
“There’ll be a lot of tough teams there, so I feel like we’ll compare good against lots of them but I’m excited to see how we compare,” Christie said.
