Game On Magazine 2017 Nov Game On low res | Page 131

ALWAYS
ON THE
ROAD
B Y S C O T T TAY L O R
Photos by Laurie Anderson
K
ennesha Miswaggon used to get homesick quite
often. Winnipeg is a long way from Cross Lake
especially when you come from a closely knit family
and you’re involved in almost every sport in your
tiny Northern Manitoba community. But, like so
many young women before her, missing home is
just a natural response to being away at school. For Miswaggon,
boarding life at Balmoral Hall combined with her love of
hockey, makes time away from her family and friends a
lot easier to handle.
It’s not perfect. When you’re 16-years-old, it never is.
But Miswaggon is such an outstanding hockey player and
playing for the Blazers in the internationally-regarded
Junior Women’s Hockey League is such a tremendous op-
portunity, that sometimes you just have make the best of
it. And at BH, that’s pretty good. “From time to time liv-
ing in boarding and being away from home does get hard,”
Miswaggon said. “But it’s a lot better now. I always miss
home, but my dad tells me, ‘Home will always be there.’”
Make no mistake, having the chance to play high-level
international women’s hockey at an even more highly-
recognized educational setting like Balmoral Hall is a
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but it often means leav-
ing friends and family for long wintery stretches.
Nobody knows that better than one of Miswaggon’s
coaches, Blazers assistant Regan Boulton. Not long ago,
she was boarding at BH just as Kennesha is now. And for
Boulton, the situation could not have been better.
“I was fortunate enough to come to Balmoral Hall and stay
in boarding for my two years as a Blazer,” said Blazers as-
sistant coach Regan Boulton. “Living in boarding with both
teammates and other international students allotted me a
wealth of support; which was definitely needed after mov-
ing away from my home town of Brandon at the age of 16.
“I was able to play hockey, go to school and live with some
of my best friends. Boarders came to our home games with
signs and noise makers and would cheer like crazy, even if they
didn’t fully understand the game of hockey. I loved my time
in Boarding, and really felt it made a difference for when I was
ready to make the bigger moves of my life; first to Quinnipiac
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