Sixteen-year-old Kylie Ipeelie-Dunphy wasn’t even alive the last time Nunavut’s U19 girls hockey team won a game at the Arctic Winter Games. That’s how long ago it was.  

Now, the team hasn’t just won a game; it’s won several games and earned its first-ever ulu – a bronze. 

“I don’t know what to say. I’m just really shocked and really happy,” Ipeelie-Dunphy said. 

She said she never doubted her team for a second and knew the players were walking away with an ulu. 

But, according to head coach Max Joy, the team has never medalled at the Games and hadn’t won a game since 2006. 

Joy said this team is different and was able to win because of the bond the girls have with each other. 

WATCH | Team Nunavut girls hockey team wins first ulu at Arctic Winter Games:

Team Nunavut girls hockey team wins first ulu at Arctic Winter Games

Nunavut’s girls hockey team hasn’t won a single game at the Arctic Winter Games in more than 20 years. This week, that changed. The girls are now walking away with the team’s first ever ulu. Bianca McKeown reports.

“The biggest thing is just the buy-in,” he said. “The girls have created a family here, and just that trust that they’ve instilled within each other and within the coaches and with the culture we are trying to create — I think it just comes down to that.”

Joy said he hopes this ulu is the first of many for the territory.  

“What these girls did here — they proved to the rest of Nunavut and all those young girls at home that if you set your mind to something you can do it,” he said. “The momentum from this is really going to inspire those girls back home and really show them that girls belong, and that we can do it.”   

Hockey player Lana Lindell, 17, said she feels “honoured” to be a part of the team and to get the ulu for Nunavut. 

“We proved ourselves, and I think that’s what really matters because we proved we can be here, and we are paving the way for other people to hopefully get to the finals,” Lindell said. 

For hockey parents David Kilabuk and Nick Dunphy, it’s been special watching their daughters, Jordyn and Kylie, play hockey at the tournament, they said.

“I’ve always told her, like, she can do really well and have success and whatever, but I told her, no matter what, I’ll always be proud of her. Always,” Kilabuk said. 

Dunphy said he cried tears of joy after the team’s first win of the Games.

“I was just so proud of them,” Dunphy said. “I have no words to describe how I feel [about] these girls. They’re such a big family, and they all connect with each other.” 

At every game, Nunavut’s cheer squad was proudly and loudly supporting the team, showing up with territorial flags and special custom-made parkas. 

Ipeelie-Dunphy said the support has made all the difference.

“It’s been emotional,” she said. “They’ve been here for me and when I needed them, especially. This feeling like winning, it’s something that you can’t forget.”