That\u2019s how much distance it is between small town Nova Scotia and the journey to big dreams being realized for Callie McKay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The goaltender from Enfield has just signed her commitment papers to join Aquinas College for the 2024-2025 hockey season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aquinas College, known better as the Saints, play in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McKay, who was between the pipes for the Hants East rural High Lady Tigers and played boys with the Cole Harbour Red Wings, is excited about the opportunity that awaits. She\u2019s ready to make the most of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt all came about super fast,\u201d said McKay. \u201cI went to a few of the classes with some of the girls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe whole team was there when I signed. It felt amazing to have that amount of support, and the excitement was just so overwhelming.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ADVERTISEMENT:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”78″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate group=”8″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n She sent in a video as part of the recruitment process, and it was one the coach liked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe wanted to sign me, but he wanted to make sure I was a good fit for the tea and the team was a good fit for me,\u201d said McKay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That led to some fundraising and gathering community support, through best friend Kassidy Manning who put it out to the community about McKay\u2019s opportunity and the community stepped up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was absolutely amazed at the support because the grand in the hand fundraiser was started and done within a week,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was super cool to see all the support in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n McKay said she had a practice with he team, then went to a breakfast with Bland and had her questions about priorities, what they expect, and scholarship info, plus all the basics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI talked to mom a little bit, then after that I signed with the team,\u201d said McKay, who will be studying Kinesiology or Applied Sports Science, as she described it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ADVERTISEMENT:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”67″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”92″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n She said when she signed they livestreamed it so family and friends back home in East Hants could watch it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, she said, they had to stop in at the athletic store to get some swag for friends and family back home to wear and show their support for the team and her for when she hits the ice with the team next September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n McKay said Grand Rapids size is one thing that drew her to Aquinas College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt reminds me a lot of East Hants,\u201d said McKay during the interview at an Elmsdale coffee shop. \u201cThat\u2019s one reason I picked it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, it\u2019s far away, but it reminds me a lot of here in the sense that it\u2019s a close community, and everyone was saying good, positive stuff about it as we were out in Grand Rapids.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n McKay, who trained with Finn Goalie, was 4-1 with a 1.00 Goals Against Average with the Lady Tigers this season in Metro High School hockey league play, during which there were games she played out at forward with HERH.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There were no stats available for the Red Wings, however McKay and her teammates there won the Red Wings won the Quebec Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ADVERTISEMENT:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate group=”2″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”87″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n She talked about the reaction from her friends about signing, especially one friend, Kassidy Manning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Manning family, and Kassidy immensely, have helped me out a lot in this journey to get to Aquinas College,\u201d she said. \u201cKim and Kassidy have done a lot. They go to my games, they\u2019re always there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMe and Kassidy have been through a lot together, so we have a great bond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI feel okay in leaving her to go to Aquinas College because I know it\u2019s only a short time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy other friends and family have been really supportive too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n ADVERTISEMENT:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”192″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”169″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before concluding her interview, McKay wanted to give a huge thank you to her mom,.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe has done a lot for me. My brother played hockey and my sister volleyball, so mom did this as a single mom,\u201d said McKay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe\u2019s been my ear as I spent many nights up talking hockey with her, and all the ups and downs going from boys to girls hockey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe\u2019s my support system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI would not be going to Aquinas College without her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”93″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n [adrotate banner=”105″]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [adrotate banner=”111″] [adrotate banner=”115″] ELMSDALE: 2,325 kilometres. That\u2019s how much distance it is between small town Nova Scotia and the journey to big dreams being realized for Callie McKay. The goaltender from Enfield has just signed her commitment papers to join Aquinas College for the 2024-2025 hockey season. Aquinas College, known better as the Saints, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42983,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,21],"tags":[6085,6086,6190,196,390,3482,6191,1199,6192],"class_list":["post-42979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-sports","tag-aquinas-college","tag-callie-mckay","tag-coleharbour-red-wings","tag-east-hants","tag-enfield","tag-herh-tigers-girls-hockey","tag-hnats-east-rural-high","tag-milford","tag-naia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42979\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/426728293_891622626094464_4701279538444665102_n-1024x768.jpg\")
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