Longboat winners in Alberta

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One star hockey player, as well as a pair of coaches have been named as this year's recipients of the regional Tom Longboat awards for their efforts in 2004.

Patti Wolroth, 17, is the Alberta winner as the top Aboriginal female athlete-there was no male Alberta winner named this year-and Leiha Crier and Danny Buffalo are both regional winners of the Tom Longboat coaching awards. Crier and Buffalo guided the Alberta girls and boys teams, respectively, at last year's National Aboriginal Hockey Championships in Prince George, B.C.

All three Alberta recipients are now eligible for the national Tom Longboat Awards to be presented on April 21 at a ceremony in Miramichi, N.B.

The ceremony will be held in conjunction with this year's national hockey championship, which is running from April 17 to 23 in Miramichi.

Wolroth, a centre, is a member of the Rocky Mountain House midget girls team. Last year Wolroth was also a member of the Alberta girls' squad that made its debut at the Native nationals.

She helped the team place fifth at the tournament, which featured seven girls' clubs. Wolroth was named to the tournament all-star squad and earned an invitation to a week-long Aboriginal high performance training camp held in Ottawa this past July.

"It means a lot to me," Wolroth said of her Tom Longboat Award. "I was very excited to win it."

As for Crier, 29, she's into her fifth season of coaching hockey. And this will mark the second straight year at the helm of the Alberta girls' entry at nationals.

During the previous four years she coached girls' clubs in the Hobbema Minor Hockey Association.

Hockey though is not the only sport she coaches. For the past 10 years she's been a player/coach in the Edmonton Ladies Softball Association.

Being recognized for her coaching efforts with a Tom Longboat Award is a huge thrill for Crier.

"It is really good," she said. "I am very excited about getting the award."

So too is Buffalo, a 50-year-old who lives in Hobbema. Buffalo has coached minor hockey teams in the community off and on since 1990.

Last year he was the coach of the Alberta boys' entry at the nationals. His side placed fifth out of eight teams.

"I was really surprised I was even considered," he said. "There are a lot of other people in my situation where they give up their time to coach."

Besides coaching minor hockey in Hobbema, during the past 15 years Buffalo has served as a referee.