This is the first of many articles on CIHA’s players profiling their unique and interesting grounds. Hisham Barayan’s four-year journey at CIHA started on the Varsity team and led him to captain the Voyageurs Midget AAA White team.
He’s the Academy’s first player to come from Saudi Arabia. Born to a Saudi Arabian father and a Canadian mother from Montreal, who is a die-hard Habs fan, Hisham was first introduced to hockey at age three, where he skated and played at the only arena in the country. Hisham continued playing hockey in Saudi Arabia until he enrolled at the Canadian International Hockey Academy in Grade 9, where he played for the Varsity team. Thanks to Coach Alain Raymond and Hisham’s incredible drive to improve, his hockey skills progress very quickly. In his second year at CIHA, Hisham made the Bantam AAA team but saw limited ice in the first half of the season. Due to his hard work and dedication, he kept improving and earned a regular shift in the second half of the season.  After a year with the Minor Midget AAA team in grade 11, Hisham was named the captain of the Voyageurs Midget AAA White team in his final year. As Coach, Andre Savage explained “Hisham is a player that has made tremendous strides in his game since his first day at the Academy.  As a captain and as a leader of his team he exemplifies the meaning of commitment and dedication.  Hisham always demands the best of himself through his hockey and his education which in itself it is a quality of a leader that leads by example.  Hisham was chosen by his peers to be the captain and he has certainly welcomed this opportunity and he is making the best out of his new responsibility.”He credits all his coaches and his daily access to ice for his accelerated progression to AAA hockey. His next goal is to play Junior A then University hockey after graduation.We have total confidence in him and know that, once again, he will defy the odds to achieve his goals