Successful siblings: Erika and Bobby Lipsett are prominent figures in local sports.

The name Lipsett is a prominent one on the Salmon Arm sport scene.

Whether it's on a ringette, hockey, soccer or baseball lineup representing Salmon Arm and the Shuswap, the name has often been entered in the players' and coaches' lists.

This winter, siblings Erika and Bobby are playing important roles with their respective ringette and hockey squads.

Erika, now in Grade 12, has always been a force on the ringette ice and has three national tournament experiences to show for her abilities. She talked about how the sport has been a family affair, with her mom Cathy often coaching her team as well as the fact her cousins and sister, Alex, played and enjoyed plenty of success.

"I'm pretty sure my aunt started something up in Enderby and my oldest cousin played and then all my female cousins played from then on," she said. "Two of my cousins have gone to the Canada Games, as has my sister and so have I. As well as two nationals and westerns."

Erika counts the Canada Games as one of her ringette highlights as well as the fact she won a most valuable player award at one of the western championship tournaments.

Earlier this fall, she was awarded a 2008 Canada Games Fast Track grant of $2,000 from the Canada Games Council and Foundation for Athletes and Sport Training.

Her plan upon graduation is to pursue a post-secondary education, although she hasn't singled out a particular school. Wherever it is, she hopes to be able to continue on in ringette and her other significant sport, soccer, as she pursues her academic goals.

As for the rest of this season, which is still in the early stages, she would like to see to see her Thompson Okanagan Ringette League advance to the nationals in P.E.I where she would get a chance to share with her closest teammates an experience she has been fortunate and good enough, to have taken in as a player picked-up by the provincial representatives.

"That would be really cool," she said.

A trip to the nationals this season for Bobby would mean going west to Victoria.

The BCHL Grizzlies are hosting the Royal Bank Cup, which is the tournament that crowns the Canadian champions of junior A hockey.

While it's still early, Bobby and his Salmon Arm SilverBacks teammates have risen to the top of the league standings with equal amounts of strong defensive play and explosive offensive performances.

Bobby, now in his third year with the 'Backs, has played a significant role in that rise with strong physical play and key defensive contributions, especially in shorthanded situations and against the other teams' best players.

It's a gratifying feeling for the forward who dealt with inconsistent playing time in his first two seasons.

"I have been working really hard the last two years and it's starting to pay off," he said. "I'm starting to get some recognition for what I've done and what I'm capable of doing."

He talked about what he gained from his first two years and how that has helped him grow as a player.

"As you get older, you get smarter," he said. "You see the game better, start to make better plays, move quicker, faster... basically you grow up."

During his three years, Bobby has seen a score of teammates, as well as a management team, come and go. He said you try to put the thought that you could be one of the players moved out of your mind and just focus on playing hard and getting better. Asked if he's found playing in his hometown to be a help or, perhaps a detriment due to added expectations, he answered it's all positive from his perspective.

"I don't know about there being added expectations," he said. "It's nice playing in front of family and friends and, as far as pressure, you bring that upon yourself to push yourself to that next level. I'm happy playing here and have been fortunate to stay here."

A hockey highlight for the 19-year-old took place just down the road, when he won a KIJHL championship in 2005-06 with the Sicamous Eagles. His other sport is baseball which, as he notes, he has also been fortunate enough to be part of some pretty good Salmon Arm teams.

Beyond his days with the SilverBacks, Bobby would like to secure a university scholarship, so he could combine his hockey and academic goals for a few more seasons, and then just see how far he can go in the sport.

"I want to play hockey at as high a level as I can," he said.