Published: Wednesday, 12 January 2022 12:00
Written by David Zammit

It will be a homecoming this fall for a Swift Current Innovation Credit Union U18 Female AAA Wildcats player that’s off to university.

Third-year Wildcats forward Samantha Thompson committed to her hometown’s University of Regina just days before Christmas.

“[I was] pretty determined to play hockey after AAA,” she said regarding the commitment. “I talked to Sarah [Hodges, the Cougars head coach] and I was pretty excited to go back home, I’ve been gone for four years. I will be able to watch my sister play AAA next year if she decides to play at home. I’m just pretty excited to go back to my family.”

Aside from the family factor and it being her hometown, she’ll be joining a current teammate in Wildcats defenceman Shelby Rublee and a former teammate from the Melville Prairie Fire in Heather Fiske.

“It will be good to know some people,” she said. “It’s definitely going to be a benefit, I’m really excited to play with her [Rublee] again, we’re pretty close so it will be good to go there together.”

Hodges was impressed by Thompson’s two-way play as a centre, her skating, and her shooting.

The 18-year-old will be enrolling in the school’s pre-nutrition and pharmacy program with future ambitions of becoming a dietician.

This season with the Wildcats, Thompson has scored four goals and tallied 13 assists in 20 regular-season games.