Gliding Ahead – Hockey Hero & Mentor Charles Pokiak

You would probably never notice that Charles Pokiak, hockey player on the Special ‘O’s team, has only one arm. At the IRC Hockey Tournament, Charles plays with as much speed and agility as others on his team, and the hockey stick that is taped onto his arm is like an extension of himself. He is part of the minor hockey association, plays recreation hockey and says he feels “pretty natural” on the ice.

“Growing up in Tuktoyaktuk, we only had one TV channel then. Every Saturday, I would watch the hockey game on the CBC. I wanted to be Peter Mahovlich from the Montreal Canadians,” laughed Charles Pokiak. “I’ve played hockey ever since I was seven years old. I lost my arm close to twenty years ago. But I’ve been back in the game with my buddies’ encouragement for the past twelve years.”

“I learnt how to play as a young boy from Pat Kuptana. The Kuptana boys, David Krengnekterk, and Rex Cockney coached us. They had learnt to play hockey because they were at Grollier Hall. Father Lyon taught them. Every chance we had, we would be out on the ice. When we grew up, we only had a small back pond to play on. Nowadays youth are lucky with all these facilities.”

Charles now coaches young players in Tuktoyaktuk, including the bantam teams, children and part of the midget team. “Hockey is great for young kids,” he said, “when they fall down, I tell them they are tough, just like Sydney Crosby (Pittsburg Penguins star player), and they get right up again. It’s really cute.”

“I really like to push hockey, because my motto is to keep the kids in school.”

Charles dedicates more than three evenings a week to coach and organize activities for budding hockey players in his hometown.

“The ice didn’t freeze here until after new year. I brought six players down south for the Arctic Winter Games trials, but because they had only been on the ice about five times before they went, they were unable to get in.”

Nevertheless, Charles does whatever is in his power to get the Tuktoyaktuk players into tournaments. “I talked Donny Hendrick (IRC Hockey Tournament organizer) to lower the age requirement by a year, so the younger boys could play hockey too.”

There was a darker time in Charles’ life, when he attempted to end his own life and thus lost his arm. “It’s not easy to grow up in the isolation. I was already lucky, I had a big family and lots of friends, but it was still hard for me. I didn’t know how to get everything out in the open, to talk about the darkness I felt. I am glad I got beyond it, and now I have a positive attitude, I am doing everything I can to give back.”

Charles is now forty five years old. “Now I want to help others prevent it [suicide], I get calls from teenagers sometimes. They’ve got to let it out. I might not work with the Social Service department, but you don’t have to in order to help somebody.”

Besides hockey, Charles is now also sharing his love of the land with young people. Last year, he brought them whale hunting with the Brighter Futures program funding, and spent a week showing youth the traditional skills of butchering and preparing the beluga maktak. “Hockey is a good sport for winter, when it’s too cold for activities on the land,” he said. “It keeps the modern and traditional activities in balance.”

Charles is organizing a Fire on Ice hockey tournament for March, where players from other communities will be invited to Tuktoyaktuk for a face off. “Watch out for the Tuk Puck Chuckers,” he chuckles.

We would like to thank Charles for his courage and generosity in sharing his story. Young people who feel they need counseling can contact an adult/ social worker they trust, or go to www.kidshelpphone.ca (tel: 1800 668 6868.)