A Sturgeon County hockey player is defying the odds.
12-year-old Haiden Currie has been playing hockey since she was just five despite being declared legally blind.
"Haiden was born with vision impairment because she has albinism," said Jodi Currie, Haiden's mom. "We knew right away when she was born that she would have some form of vision impairment."
"She has no clarity [in her vision]. Everything that she would see would be like if you or I were squinting constantly."
Growing up in a family of hockey players, Haiden quickly wanted to get into the sport.
"Haiden grew up in arenas because she has two older siblings that play hockey and so she just thought that was what you do in our family," said Jodi. "She just fell in love with the sport and loves being a part of a team."
Haiden now plays as an underage player on the U15 Sturgeon Fillies women's hockey team. She says that the team has treated her wonderfully.
"I like skating on the ice and being with my team," said Haiden. "I'm playing as an underage but when I'm playing it's not like I'm underage because they treat me the same."
Jodi says that every team has welcomed Haiden in with open arms, especially her current team.
"They embraced it and just accepted her as one of the teammates."
Obviously, being legally blind will pose some problems when it comes to playing hockey. Haiden says there are a few things she has to overcome when she hits the ice.
"Sometimes it's harder if there are more sponsors [on the rink boards] or if there is different lighting," said Haiden. "Rinks with not a lot of sponsors are better."
There are some other obvious workarounds such as being front-and-centre when drills are being explained at practice.
The plan right now is to keep Haiden playing the sport she loves for as long as she can.
"Some people actually don't believe me when I tell them she has vision impairment because of how she adapts to the sport," said Jodi.
"Eventually I'm sure she will have so many opportunities come her way but, for now, she is happy to be where she is."