Manitoba sisters score gold, make hockey history for Canada on international stage

Sara and Kate Manness stood atop the world stage with their teammates on Sunday after capturing gold at the women's under-18 hockey championship, but the Manitoba twins stand alone in setting another historic mark.

The 17-year-old Mannesses are the fifth set of sisters to represent Canada at the U18 women's worlds, but they're the first to do it together, according to Hockey Canada, which posted about the accomplishment on its Instagram page.

Canada went undefeated in six games at the tournament in Vantaa, Finland, capped by a 3-0 shutout of the United States for the championship. In that span, Sara collected six goals and two assists, while Kate added two assists.

"I'm just thrilled. They are such hard workers, they deserve this," said Michele Moore Davison, co-owner at the Burlington Pond, a hockey training centre in Ontario where the sisters have worked on their skills for the past two years.

"I love seeing when athletes are putting in the work behind the scenes … the days when it's not easy and they still show up and we push through and we fine tune what they need. The medal is the part that everybody sees, but I get to see the gruelling, the behind-the-scenes part.

"So you're just so, so thrilled for them, because that achievement is so well-deserved."

The Mannesses are from La Salle, a small community just south of Winnipeg, and started playing hockey on boys teams in Winnipeg before shifting to the team at Balmoral Hall, a private all-girls school in Winnipeg, and playing in the Manitoba Women's Junior Hockey League.

They moved to Burlington in 2023 to play for the Barracudas, a U22 team in the Ontario Women's Hockey Association, and have since committed to play for Clarkson University, an NCAA team in Potsdam, New York.

Sara, left, scored six goals and two assists during the tournament's six games, while Kate added two assists. (Hockey Canada/Instagram)

Davison, who is also part of the player development staff for the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs, said Sara and Kate take their development extremely serious and are focused, attentive learners.

"Personality-wise, they're there to work. We have fun, we joke around and whatnot, but they're very serious and they're, yeah, they're there to work," she said.

At the same time, they need to remember to have fun. And that's the last thing Davison recalls telling the girls before they headed off to Finland.

"I don't want them thinking about their skating when they're playing," she said.

"My job is to really work on the nervous system and the mechanics and the muscle memory, and then they need to just go. They need to go, they need to play, they need to just be free on the ice and go have fun and enjoy, enjoy these moments because they go by quick, and next thing you know, they're going to be back here working."

The successes of the national women's hockey teams and the popularity of the Professional Women's Hockey League — now in its sophomore season — has led to a surge of interest in the sport, Davison said.

"The amount of female, young females that are registered in our programs is phenomenal. It's going to explode. It already has a bit, but now it's just going to go even further," she said.

"That league [PWHL] is so overdue. Now these young girls have something to push towards, and it's going to get more competitive. It's super exciting to see in the next few years what's going to come up through the grassroots programs."

Clayton Manness watched with pride as his granddaughters captured Canada's eighth gold in U18 women's hockey history.

"This is really quite an achievement and we're so proud of them," he said Monday on Up to Speed.

A former Manitoba Progressive Conservative MLA, Manness's mind wandered to memories of Sara and Kate as young girls — starting off as gymnasts before moving to the hockey rink once they learned how to skate.

"They stood out with their ability to work their edges and really get into the play. So we just been watching it for the last number of years thereafter," he said.

"It's been a long but exciting development period."

Sara Manness readies herself for a faceoff during a game at the 2025 under-18 women's world hockey championships in Vantaa, Finland. (Hockey Canada/Instagram)

Manness has spoken with Sara and Kate about the future prospects of their playing hockey professionally once they've completed their post-secondary education.

He understands the explosion of professional women's hockey is long overdue, but worries pressures could arise from it that might have a negative impact on young girls.

Whatever their long-term hockey plans are, Maness will continue to support his granddaughters.

"The girls are very mature girls. They don't not driven for points, not driven for they're just driven to compete at the team level and very stable," he said.

"I've always told these girls throughout this 10-year period that if they're not having fun, let's quit. And so it had to be fun first and that's played its way right up till [Sunday]."