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DEH CHO - The sport of hockey is being used as a vehicle for a deeper message this week in the Deh Cho as a sports program tours four communities.

The Fun on Ice program, run by the Aboriginal Sports Circle of the Northwest Territories, is back by popular demand.

Dalton Simba moves a ball down a snow-covered street in Kakisa during a hockey drill that was part of the Fun on Ice program delivered by the Aboriginal Sports Circle of the Northwest Territories. - photo courtesy of Greg Hopf

The program started last year and was delivered in nine communities in the territory that do not have arenas.

The response to the program was very positive, said Greg Hopf, the assistant director for the Sports Circle.

"Community leaders have said this program is really good and we want you to come back year, after year, after year," Hopf said.

This year the program is revisiting nine communities, including Kakisa, Jean Marie River and Nahanni Butte.

The program has also expanded to include Fort Liard and Lutsel K'e, which have arenas but heard about the program and asked for it to come, Hopf said.

The program, which lasts for an afternoon, starts with a hockey game but ends in the classroom.

"We're using hockey as a vehicle to get into the community and deliver a much more powerful message," he said.

In each community, program staff teach students basic hockey skills and play some games with them.

The hockey allows the kids to have fun and establishes a level of trust, said Hopf.

Later in the classrooms, staff talk about a variety of messages related to sports. As part of living a healthy lifestyle students are warned about the dangers of energy drinks, fatty foods and sugars and the benefits of traditional foods.

The message also encompasses the lessons that can be learned through sports including how to win and lose and the value of being part of a team. A short video on the Firth sisters from Aklavik also shows students that even if they come from a small community they can do great things, said Hopf, whether it's going to the Olympics or to university.

The program also draws in community members. In the evening staff set up floodlights to illuminate the community's outdoor rink and invite parents and relatives to play a hockey game with the youth.

The outdoor games started last year in Trout Lake where they shut down the main street and played street hockey for two hours.

"It was really neat. Parents were playing with their kids," said Hopf.

Afterwards, the father of a young girl thanked the staff for the game. He said he hadn't done anything like that with his daughter before and that it had helped them bond.

Right then Hopf said he decided the evening games would be held at every stop.

"It's much more powerful that just the sport of hockey," he said.

This year the first stop in the Deh Cho was in Kakisa on Jan. 12. All six students at the Kakisa Lake school participated.

"It was great," said Sheila Hilliard, the school's teacher.

The students played road hockey outside and did some races to build hockey skills. The community's outdoor rink hasn't been set up yet, but the program has encouraged students to use it when it does open, said Hilliard.

The program was a lot of fun, said Dalton Simba.

Simba, 12, said he enjoyed playing street hockey and also learned a few lessons from Greg Hopf.

"He taught us just to have fun. That's the number one rule he said," said Simba.