Family helped spark a love for hockey in Northeastern University's Morgan Jackson, and even though she's thousands of miles away from her family, they're still finding a way to support her journey today.
Family helped spark a love for hockey in Northeastern University's Morgan Jackson, and even though she's thousands of miles away from her family, they're still finding a way to support her journey today.
Morgan Jackson discovered her passion for the game of hockey from a young age through watching her older brother play, and then lacing up the skates for herself to play alongside her twin brother at the encouragement of her parents.
“My oldest brother Nick, he started playing hockey,” Jackson said. “My parents kind of just threw me in the sport with my twin brother and we would play just for fun when I was around four years old.”
From those first moments in the cold, crisp air, skating on the frozen water, listening to the cracks of the ice, Jackson never looked back for a second and family, as they did early on, continues to play an important role in her life.
Jackson, a forward and Courtenay, BC native, most recently graduated from Shawnigan Lake School of the CSSHL U18 and finished with 119 points in just 49 games. During her time with Shawnigan, Jackson also had the opportunity to represent British Columbia in the National Women’s U18 Championships, scoring 10 points in 6 games. Along with representing her home province, she also had the opportunity to represent her country on two occasions, and at no point did any of these experiences stop family from making sure they were right there, in the stands, cheering the loudest.
“When I was at Worlds, my mom flew out to Sweden and to Switzerland to support me,” said Jackson, “It was amazing. Seeing her in the stands and her standing up and cheering. I don’t know, it can’t get any better than that.”
She is now set to embark on the next chapter of her career, as she enters her first year at Northeastern University, and it isn’t lost on her how important the support she’s received from her family has been, both on and off the ice.
“To be honest, they’ve been my stepping stones and they’re what pushed me to be better,” recalls Jackson. “They’re the ones who pushed me to get out of bed, to go do those workouts. They’re the ones who I can talk to and they’re the people I trust the most.”
And as Morgan Jackson walks through the hallowed halls of Boston’s Northeastern University and into her first season with the club, she will look to continue her incredible play on the ice, all while knowing that her family remains right by her side, every step of the way, cheering her on.
“No matter how far they are away from me, I still know that they’re just one phone call away.”