St. Thomas University Tommies women's hockey captain Kelty Apperson was one of two players from the Atlantic University Sport conference selected to represent Canada at the 2017 FISU Winter Universiade in Kazakhstan.

Apperson, a fifth-year forward from New Hamburg, ON, has had much success throughout her career—including being named AUS MVP last season—but said this opportunity will top off her university hockey experience. 

"It means a lot to me and it's very humbling to be doing something like this," she said. "This is something that any one on my teammates would love the opportunity to do, so I definitely want to work hard for them and have success while doing so."

The Tommies captain was relieved when she got the call confirming her selection to the FISU team and is looking forward to representing her country and the Tommies in international competition.

"What I'm most looking forward to is probably competing for Canada and wearing that logo for the first time," she said. "Also, just being over there, because it's like a mini Olympics for university athletes. Just taking that all in will be exciting."

Apperson has been around the game a long time—she started playing hockey when she was five and has four siblings who share her love for the sport. With her fifth and final AUS season beginning October 15, she plans to build on last year's success, which she said has been the highlight of her time as a Tommie.

"To set the team records we did in beating McGill at nationals, beating Moncton to qualify for nationals, and beating Dalhousie for our first-ever playoff series win meant so much. Just to see the results of all the hard work has been a highlight."

Apperson will miss a small stretch of the regular season while she competes with team Canada from January 29 to February 8, but she has no doubt in her team's ability to close out the season and make a strong playoff push.

"When I come back it will be the very end of our season, so I hope to carry this experience into playoffs," she said.

"I have no doubt our team is going to be good when I'm gone. This year, I expect nothing less than the AUS banner. I know we can accomplish that."