We have an exciting weekend of field hockey ahead of us as the U18 Boys and Girls Club Championships will take place May 10-12, 2019 at Tamanawis Park and Cloverdale Athletic Park in Surrey, BC.
There will be a total of 20 teams representing 13 clubs across BC competing in this tournament, hosted by India Field Hockey Club. For a full weekend schedule and more tournament details, visit the Club Championships page.
We will see you this weekend in Surrey for some sunny weather and great hockey!
Each time Nora Struchtrup stepped onto the pitch at the 2019 Train 2 Compete Regional Championship she was fully focused, ready to make an impact for her Island Stingrays team. That doesn’t mean you won’t catch her smiling away on the pitch as a result of her genuine love for the game.
The 16 year-old Victoria native played a huge role in the victory of the Island Stingrays at the Train 2 Compete Tournament. Her first quarter goal in the gold medal game led the Stingrays to a 1-0 win over the Northwest Jellyfish. As a natural forward with her speed and skill on display, Struchtrup’s standout performance has landed her a spot on the U18 BC Stags.
Struchtrup first played field hockey when she was 11 years old with the Victoria Rising Stars program and despite trying many other sports, nothing was ever quite the same.
“I’m a passionate player, I really love what I do,” explained Struchtrup. “I’m aggressive and I have fun while I play which I think is a good blend. I love the running and tipping, trying to beat other people’s speed. As soon as I tried field hockey I was stuck, there’s something about it I just love it.”
Her first experience with Field Hockey BC was in the Learn 2 Train program and she has continued with the high performance program ever since.
“It’s a lot of like-minded girls, we all work hard and push ourselves,” said Struchtrup. “It’s such a great program, it really brings the extra intensity that I love and I think it has played a huge role in my development and continued love for the game.”
In her first year of Train 2 Train, Struchtrup was selected to the reserve pool for Team BC and one week before the National Championships, she got the call inviting her up to the BC White team. She has since played for the U15 BC Stags and last summer, the U18 BC Lions. Her team turned some heads at the 2018 National Championships in Toronto where they came in and defeated one of the favourites in Ontario West on the first night of the tournament.
“That was a crazy game,” reflected Struchtrup. “Normally I remember most of the game, I do not remember a single thing that happened in that Ontario West game. I was so in the zone, we were all super intense and supporting each other, it was such a cool experience.”
After last year’s fourth place finish at Nationals and going into her fourth National Championships this coming summer, she sees the National Championships as a huge motivator to continue to improve and push for the next level.
“The Regional program is already a huge step up and then the Provincial program is amazing, it pushes you physically and mentally, you get to make some new friends and it’s just so much fun,” explained Struchtrup. “I just want to keep coming back and keep playing.”
Struchtrup will be taking another step in her field hockey development this summer, as she will have her first opportunity to play with the Field Hockey Canada NexGen Squad. She was recently invited to the U17 tour in Belgium and the Netherlands which will take place prior to her participation in the National Championships. This opportunity is extra special for Struchtrup as her extended family lives in Germany and will be traveling to the Netherlands to watch her play.
Beyond this summer, Struchtrup has her sight set on making the Canadian National team one day. She also aspires to go to UBC or the University of Victoria to study and play field hockey and with her German heritage, maybe even attend school there and play field hockey for a German club team.
“I think it’s going to be an exciting year coming up and seeing where these opportunities take me.”
The future certainly looks bright for this young athlete from Victoria and we can’t wait to follow her progress at the National Championships and beyond!
When the U18 boys took the pitch at the 2019 Regional Tournament, you could find Daniel Goodwin calling the shots for his team from the best view on the field. As a goalkeeper, Goodwin is constantly communicating with his teammates and trying to help them see the plays that might only be visible from his perspective.
“I try to be vocal and help the guys see everything,” explained Goodwin. “As a field player, you have to be very focused on what you’re doing and I can see a lot more from my position so I try to communicate that to my team.”
Goodwin has earned a spot on the U18 BC Rams who will compete at the 2019 National Championships in Surrey, BC July 3-8, 2019. His field hockey career started with the West Vancouver Field Hockey Club when he was 10 years old, who he still plays for today. He started as a field player, but the first time he tried goalkeeping he never looked back.
“I played goalkeeper once and got hooked,” said Goodwin. “I love it because you can be the hero. Everyone needs a goalkeeper and you’re really important to the team.”
His first year with the Regional program was the first year that the program was available for the boys. He was not selected to a BC team in his first year with the Program, but he kept going out and working hard because of the people and the training environment.
“At the start, I definitely stuck with it because of my friends. There are three of us that have been playing together since our first practice with West Van,” reflected Goodwin. “Now it’s more about seeing the opportunities and where you can go with the sport. The Regional Program allows athletes to connect with players at different clubs and to get more training from different coaches.”
As a grade 12 athlete, Goodwin is in his fifth and final year with the Regional Program and will be competing at Nationals for the last time at the Junior level. This will be Goodwin’s first time as the BC Rams goalkeeper after playing for the U18 BC Lions the past two years.
The U18 Rams will be looking to improve on their bronze medal from the 2018 National Championships in Toronto, Ontario. For Goodwin, the Provincial Program is an opportunity to build as a team and play at the highest level representing British Columbia.
“The Provincial Program is more about working well as a team and that’s a really fun process because you’re given a group of guys and you have a couple of months to get together and figure out how you want to play,” explained Goodwin. “Whenever you go to Nationals and see that’s the highest level you can play for your province, that’s what you really want to push for is getting to that next stage.”
With his Junior career coming to a close, Goodwin is excited to be starting his Psychology degree at SFU next year while playing for the West Vancouver Premier team. He plans to continue on with the Field Hockey BC U23 Program, available as a summer program for 19-23 year-old athletes.
“I trained with the U23’s last year before Nationals and I really enjoyed it, there were a lot of highly skilled players there so I would definitely like to try the U23 Program,” said Goodwin.
He will also continue training with the Junior Development Squad in hopes of making the Canadian National Team and ultimately competing at the Olympics. He also aspires to take his field hockey career overseas and play in Europe or the UK. With so much to look forward to, we are excited to watch this young goalkeeper as he competes at the National Championships in July and continues to develop in the years to come!
Eve Carrothers is the midfielder that every team needs. Her calm and collected strength is what makes her often the most reliable player on the field. In her grade 12 year, the Tsawwassen native will be competing for the U18 BC Rams for the third consecutive year after a strong showing at the 2019 Regional Tournament with the Southeast Killer Whales.
Coming from a family of soccer players, Carrothers started off playing field hockey for the Delta Falcons just as a fun sport in the off season. All of that changed when she joined the Field Hockey BC Regional Program and had her first opportunity to play at the National Championships.
“I wasn’t that serious about field hockey but I really started to enjoy it with this program,” explained Carrothers. “After grade 8 when I went to the Nationals in Brampton, Ontario after that it all switched, it just took over that this was my top priority. Getting to travel with the team and doing all the team bonding activities, it’s so much fun. Every year my coaches have been great at forming a family environment, that’s why I value all of the friendships I’ve made because the team really is a family.”
Carrothers has been training with the Southeast Regional program for the past five years and has been selected to a Provincial team every year. Last year, her U18 BC Rams team earned the elusive gold medal, which they had lost to Ontario for the past few years. For Carrothers, this was a huge accomplishment as it was her first ever gold medal in four years playing at the National Championships.
“I really felt with that team last year that everything just clicked,” said Carrothers. “Everyone was really comfortable with each other and you could tell that playing was a lot of fun because we really trusted each other. I think that’s what helped us win gold and reaching that goal was way more rewarding because it was with the people that we loved playing with the most.”
In her final year playing with at the U18 National Championships, Carrothers hopes to be a leader on her team and influence her younger teammates as they look to repeat last year’s gold medal victory. They will be up against some tough competition between their Ontario rivals and two other BC teams, as well as teams from Alberta, Quebec and PEI.
Carrothers plan to continue her field hockey career next year likely at the University of Toronto where she can take her field hockey to the next level while pursuing a degree in Geophysics.
“I’m really excited to play at the next level. It will be with a lot of girls who have gone through the Provincial program I’m sure, so it will be nice to see them on the field again and reach a new level of competition.”
We are excited to follow Carrothers and the rest of the U18 Team BC athletes as each team pursues the gold medal at the U18 National Championships in Surrey, BC July 3-8, 2019!
With junior leagues across the province getting set to be underway, a reminder that there are five key amendments to the 2019 International Hockey Federation (FIH) rules. A simplified description of these amendments is found below and the full 2019 rules are available at: http://www.fih.ch/media/13164482/fih-rules-of-hockey-2019-final-website.pdf
Upcoming Field Hockey BC tournaments will seek to fully adopt the new rules, dependent on field allotments and the appointment of technical officials to events. FHBC will release tournament regulations in advance of each event.
FHBC strongly recommends that each league in BC adopt the new rules to allow for clarity amongst the hockey community that includes athletes, coaches, officials, and spectators.
2019 Amendments
N.B. FIH has introduced a tournament regulation that includes the use of a 40-second clock to manage the time between the awarding and the taking of a penalty corner – this is a tournament regulation and may be used at specific events, rather than an amendment to the rules
The Vancouver Field Hockey League finals took place at Eric Hamber Field on Saturday, April 6th. There was great action across all three men’s divisions, including a shootout thriller in the Men’s Premier League. Congratulations to the Playoff Champions:
Thank you to all players, coaches, volunteers, administrators and officials for making this another successful season! Visit the VFHL Website for a list of results.
What better way to wrap up the month of March than with a beautiful weekend of playoff field hockey on Vancouver Island! The Vancouver Island Ladies’ Field Hockey Association held playoff finals across all three divisions last weekend. All teams played exciting hockey with a number of close and competitive games. Congratulations to the Playoff Champions:
Huge thanks to all players, coaches, volunteers, administrators and officials for making this another successful season! Visit the VILFHA Website for the list of standings and results.
On March 9, 2019, the day that John McBryde turns 80 years old, he will be out on the pitch playing for his men’s league Vancouver Hawks team. As one of Field Hockey BC’s longest active members, it seems fitting that his 80th will be spent playing the sport to which he has dedicated so much of his life!
John was born in Maryborough, Australia and was the captain of the first Australian National Field Hockey team to win an Olympic medal when they took bronze in Tokyo, 1964. In the late 1960’s, John came to Canada and became the Head Coach of the Canadian Men’s Field Hockey team. He also served 25 years on the FIH Equipment Committee and currently acts as an Advisor on the Canadian Masters Hockey Steering Committee.
John has dedicated himself to the growth and development of field hockey for over 60 years and throughout that time, he has never stopped playing. Field Hockey BC would like to invite our community to come out to John’s game on his 80th birthday in celebration of everything he has contributed to our sport. John’s Vancouver Hawks team plays at 3 pm at UBC Wright Field on Saturday March 9, 2019. We hope to see you all out there supporting one of Field Hockey BC’s most iconic players!
Information and images contributed by Don Paterson
Field Hockey BC is thrilled to announce the launch of our brand new Provincial Coach Education (PCE) Pathway! These courses will be run FREE OF CHARGE for all FHBC Club Coaches.In partnership with West Vancouver Field Hockey Club, Field Hockey BC is running three pilot courses over the next two weeks. Over 40 coaches attended the PCE FUNdamentals and Learn 2 Train classroom sessions this week and will be out on the pitch for practical training next weekend.
These courses are designed for community club coaches to improve their technical and tactical field hockey knowledge. By providing community coaches with these tools, our goal is to provide greater field hockey development opportunities for club teams. More information on the PCE Pathway can be found on the Field Hockey BC website.
Next week, Field Hockey BC will be inviting all clubs to get involved and take advantage of these free courses! Ready to get started right away? To browse the courses that will be offered, visit the PCE Courses page. If you would like to learn more about the different PCE courses offered by Field Hockey BC, please contact John Sacre or Julie King. If you are a club administrator interested in organizing a PCE course for your club, please contact Donna Cumming.
The Field Hockey BC Board of Directors is pleased to announce that the 2019 Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on February 9, 2019 in the City of Burnaby. The AGM venue is the Burnaby Lake West Complex (Meeting Room #1) and the meeting is slated to commence at 1pm PST.
All pertinent documentation will be uploaded in advance of the AGM to the ‘Documents’ section of the Field Hockey BC website. Please note that a Nominations Form (Board of Director Elections) has been added at this time with a deadline date of January 25, 2019.
