Hometown support bleeds red, white and blue in the Sault, as the city's very own Abby Roque flew to Beijing overnight to become Team USA’s first Indigenous women’s ice hockey Olympian in history.
Students at Sault Area Public Schools have already started coloring hockey pictures, businesses have painted store windows and some homeowners have decorated to cheer for their local sports hero.
Roque’s sixth grade history teacher, Heather Hopkins, jump started community support by creating the Facebook pages: #turnthesooredwhiteandblue and #roquethesoo.
On Wednesday morning, Hopkins interviewed with Tim Ellis on Eagle Radio 95.1 to help spread the word to listeners.
“It’s not everyday a community gets to root for a hometown athlete competing at the level of the Olympics,” said Lindsay Ellis of Eagle Radio. “At one time or another, we’ve seen these dreams come true for individuals on competitive televisions shows, and the opportunity they created for communities to come together with support. Now it’s our turn to revel in the moments to come for Abby!”
“We are going to watch the games in the classroom,” said Hopkins. “We are dressing up across the district. Teachers are making signs. One class made red, white and blue hearts with the number eleven on them. We have little jersey cut outs to post on social media. Teachers will make messages and videos. They are just things she can look at to know we are supporting her. We have asked businesses to decorate and dress-up on game days.”
But this is not the first time Hopikns has risen to support her former student and family friend.
“My class made signs for her during the national championships,” said Hopkins. “We made a video and sent it to her. After they won, she came in and talked to my kids. They were really surprised that she would take the time to do that. She is a superstar to them. She talked about how important it was to be a student and athlete. They asked her questions.”
The students asked Roque what her goal was, to which she responded, “Someday, I want to play for the US Olympic team.”
But the highly decorated athlete had a question of her own.
“She asked me ahead of time, ‘How many girl hockey players do you have?’” Hopkins explained. “I said, ‘Four.’ She brought the girls an autographed poster of the Badgers championship team. She is a role model for young girls who want to play hockey and Indigenous people.”
According to the University of Wisconsin website, Roque was a member of the 2019 National Championship team. The center played in all 41 games to finish with 32 assists and 11 goals, including the game-winning goal.
“The bigger the game, the bigger her game got,” said mother Julia Roque. “She thrives in those environments.”
“I think that is bigger than her,” said Hopkins of the influence she will have on the sport and young fans. To realize she is a forerunner and that this is bigger than her says a lot.
No other Indigenous female has competed in U.S. Olympic hockey until now. Roque is a member of the Wahnapitae First Nation Tribe out of Ontario, Canada. Her father is Jim Roque.
“We moved to the Soo when Abby was four or five, where my husband coached at Lake Superior State University until 2014,” said Julia Roque.
Nothing could have prepared Roque’s parents for the journey ahead. Imagine picking up Sports Illustrated to find your daughter geared up in hockey equipment on its cover.
“I was thinking it was going to be an online article,” said Julia Roque. “When it came out she was on the cover, we had no idea.”
In addition to taking over the cover of America’s most famous sports magazine, Roque has interviewed on NBC’s The Today Show and ESPN.
“This has all been very surreal,” Julia Roque said. “I just think it is really cool to have all these people cheering for your kid. She could have easily moved away from the Sault to play at a prep school. She had a lot of offers but wanted to play in the Sault. She had a lot of good friends and teammates growing up. Everyone was always super supportive. She had a great inner-circle.”
Whether it be a coach, family member or former teacher, the adjectives “confident,” “friendly,” and “humble” have commonly been used to describe the 24-year-old sports influencer.
“My son played hockey when he was little and she would go out on the ice to help out without being asked,” said Hopkins.
She described Roque as a great student, even better hockey player and all-around wonderful person.
“She is a role model for young girls who want to play hockey and Indegnous people who want to play,” said Hopkins. She is the first one. She wants to show them that they can do it too.”
USA Hockey has announced its complete schedule online. The U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team will compete against Finland on Feb. 3 at 8:10 a.m. ET and the Sault will be watching.
“If there’s one thing I’m sure of when it comes to the community of Sault Ste. Marie, it’s members always show up with support, from fundraisers to lending a hand to everything in between,” said Ellis. “Celebrating Abby Roque’s road to the Olympics will be no different!”
