Grift set to become a Lumberjack

A weight has been lifted off the shoulders of 17-year-old Kendra Grift.

The young forward from rural Brandon has committed to skate with the Dakota College at Bottineau Lumberjacks women’s hockey next season, joining a growing Westman contingent that’s making the jump.

“It feels a lot better than it would have if I didn’t have it settled,” said Grift, who turns 18 in October. “I’m not worrying about it or trying to figure it out still as the season goes on.”

Grift, who is also a terrific softball player, began skating around two or three, and playing hockey at six. Since she was skating outside of Brandon then, she got a taste of every position.

“I played in Alexander and the team was kind of short numbers so I moved around from playing net to D to forward,” Grift said. “I played everything growing up.”

The left-handed shot likes playing up front because there is so much movement involved and it keeps her in the game more. And while she may lack size at four-foot-10, she makes up for it in different ways.

“I try to race for pucks whenever I have the chance and if I see a play that I can make, I obviously step up and do it,” Grift said. “If there’s a pass I can easily make, then I make that pass so I can get a better scoring opportunity.”

Her parents are Corey and Amy, and the family also includes her brother Jason. She said her folks have always been supportive of her athletic career, which is a must when a youngster lives outside of town.

“I first learned to skate at our outdoor rink here at our house because we live outside the city so we had the opportunity to have that space,” Grift said. “They did that every year for my brother and I, and got me to Alexander early when I played there and kept it consistent.

“When I was getting up to Grade 8 I decided I wanted more competitive hockey and they let me switch over to Hockey Brandon to keep playing hockey at a more competitive level.”

She is also grateful for her coaches Drayson Cowan and Jeff Thompson, who helped improve her game an enormous amount.

Grift plays in the Rural Manitoba Female Hockey League with the Brandon Wheaties, who are in third place in the 10-team loop with a record of 10-6-3.

She is fourth in team scoring with six goals and four assists in 19 games, and has earned 14 penalty minutes.

“We’ve all somewhat played together when we were younger and all grew up together,” Grift said. “We’re all there to pick each other up and none of us have any negative feelings about the others.”

Dakota College at Bottineau’s head scout, Neil Franklin of Brandon — via Deloraine and Melita — said Grift is an impressive player.

“I began watching Kendra in her Grade 11 year playing with the U18 Brandon Wheaties,” Franklin said. “What got my attention the most was her skating, her speed, agility, foot speed and balance. Her Grade 12 year has shown me that although she may be small in stature, she has a hard shot and gets to the tough areas.”

DCB’s current recruiting class also includes Avery Fratinger of Elkhorn, Mya McDonald of Strathclair, Alyshia McKinnon and Brooke Facey of Hamiota, Shelby Brown of Nesbitt and Aubrey Skelton of Hartney.

“I know a few of them,” Grift said. “I’ve played against them and played AA with a couple of them but we only had four games in total so it wasn’t much. There will be a few familiar faces.”

“I’ll feel some comfort instead of going down there not knowing anybody,” she added.

Her post-secondary dream actually took flight courtesy of Dakota College at Bottineau’s rival in Division 2 of the American Collegiate Hockey Association, the Assiniboine College Cougars. She attended Cougars camps the last two years, but when Franklin reached out to her, the idea of continuing to play suddenly got very real.

“It changed my whole focus,” Grift said. “I wanted more of that college experience and not just be at home and playing for my hometown. I would rather go somewhere else.”

Bottineau, a community of about 2,200, is located 147 kilometres southwest of Brandon, tucked just over the border south of Deloraine. The school had an enrolment of 1,242 students last fall.

She visited campus with her parents, and in the end, it was the only school she considered.

“When we got there, everyone was really welcoming,” Grift said. “It didn’t seem like too big of a school to get lost. It seemed very do-able and something I could see in the future. The hockey coach, Reed (Loucks of Melita), invited me down for a skate so I went down and it was the same thing. Everybody was encouraging and very friendly. It just made it a lot easier.”

On the softball diamond, the outfielder is a speedy spark plug for the Westman Magic, and was part of the U15 team that hosted nationals in 2023. Grift, who plans to play with the under-19 Magic this summer, is a strong believer that one sport can help another.

“With playing Magic, it kept me in shape through the summer and kept me mobile,” Grift said. “It helped me more with speed probably too and my strength because I go from shooting a puck to swinging a bat. It just never stops, and that’s what I think helps me the most.”

The Grade 12 student at Vincent Massey has decided she’s going to stick to one varsity sport in Bottineau. She’s worried two could be a little ambitious while she’s also going to school.

“I’m just going to stick to hockey because I don’t want it to be too much,” Grift said. “I just want to get that full experience and not worry too much about grades on top of everything.”

While she still has to graduate high school before this next adventure takes flight, she’s ready for lift off.

“I’m extremely excited,” Grift said. “I’m happy for all the opportunities that are going to come for me. I’m going to embrace every single one of them.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com