Photo Credit: Armando Tura

The Annual UVic Indoor Field Hockey Tournament took place on January 18-19 in the McKinnon gym in Victoria and was won by the Island Wildcats’ Black team, who defeated the UVic White team 5-1. The indoor tournament saw the Wildcats name on the trophy for the first time since 2013, following six-straight victories by the Vikes.

The Wildcats went undefeated in pool play scoring 19 goals in round-robin alone to top Pool A that included UVic White, UBC and the Rebels. Pool B was a grid lock with West Vancouver, Duncan and Wildcats White pushing for the Top 2 in their pool based on goal differential. West Vancouver ended up topping their pool, while Duncan took second by one goal. Duncan defeated West Vancouver in the third-place game, while Wildcats White defeated UBC for 5th and UVic Royal defeated Rebels for 7th.

There was a lot of experience on the floor as stalwart keeper Burgundy Biletski backstopped the 8th-placed Rebels, while the UBC Thunderbirds looked for their leadership through defender Hannah Eborall. On the UVic team, the back-to-back U SPORTS National champions split their outdoor side into two teams and had leadership from Judy Cristante on the UVic Royal team and Mel Robertson and Emily Wong on the UVic White team.

Duncan had an impressive return of athletes, all back on the team in honour of former coach and Cowichan contributor Les Mann, including Caitlin Erickson (Evans), Miranda Mann, Mary Nielsen and Crystal Poland. The Duncan team got a boost from mainland talents Anna Kozniuk, from West Vancouver, and Poonam Sandhu, from Vancouver.

The visiting West Van team was hosted by Georgia McGillivray and alongside her was a talented line up including former indoor national team member Kri Shier, as well as the skills of Paige Norris and Kaela Barker and the talented Sam Lyzun in goal.

The Wildcats also had their outdoor team split into two. The 5th-placed Wildcats White team featured the defensive experience of Kyla Kirby and Heather Wheatley, as well as the speed of Kira Starr in the middle. The Wildcats black team totalled over 30 goals in the tournament thanks to the teamwork of sisters Chloe and Stefanie Langkammer, while defensive anchors Ali Baggott, Meggan Oliver, Jenna Goodman and Birkley Anderson helped to minimize the efforts for keeper Theresa Kennedy who was outstanding in her first appearance on the hard wood.

Up next, most of the teams will regroup for the BC Senior Indoor Tournament, Feb. 1-2, in Duncan.

Final standings:
1. Wildcats Black
2. UVic White
3. Duncan
4. West Vancouver
5. Wildcats White
6. UBC
7. UVic Royal
8. Rebels

Registration is now open for the 2020 Women’s Senior Indoor Championship that will happen in Duncan, BC, on Vancouver Island.

WHEN: February 1-2, 2020
ENTRY DEADLINE: January 17, 2020
FEE: $300 per team
WHERE: Cowichan Community Centre, Duncan, BC

Download the Entry Form for more information and follow the instructions to register.

Registration is now open for the U18 Girls Indoor Field Hockey Tournament 2020.

ENTRY DEADLINE: January 15, 2020
FEE: $400 per team after December 31, 2019.
EARLY BIRD FEE: $350 per team if registered by December 31, 2019.
WHERE: Cowichan Community Centre, Duncan, BC
WHEN: January 25-26, 2020
FORMAT: Round Robin games finish by 3:30 pm on Sunday.

Also accepting players looking for teams or teams looking for players. $50 per individual player. Maximum of 12 players per team.

To register or for more information, please contact Brenda at u18indoor@gmail.com.

Here is the Registration Form.

Registration is now open for the U16 Girls Indoor Field Hockey Tournament 2020.

ENTRY DEADLINE: December 20, 2019
FEE: $350 per team after December 15, 2019.
EARLY BIRD FEE: $300 per team if registered by December 15, 2019.
WHERE: Cowichan Community Centre, Duncan, BC
WHEN: January 4-5, 2020
FORMAT: Round Robin games finish by 3:30 pm on Sunday.

To register or for more information, please contact Brenda at u18indoor@gmail.com.

Here is the Registration Form.

The U15 Nationals came to an end this Sunday, July 28, in Calgary. The tournament was a success, extremely exciting and with all the provinces displaying promising teams and players for the years to come. As for BC, we have brought home gold medals among the girls and the silver ones from the boys division.

After a tough game against Ontario West yesterday, in the semi-final, the girls of the BC Rams faced Ontario Central for the gold medal. The Rams managed to score after just eight minutes played, but the encounter stayed pretty even after that. Only in the final 10 minutes of the match the BC girls were able to increase their advantage and scored three times in a roll, ending with a 4-0 win, as gold medallists.

The BC Lions also played today. They faced Ontario West for the bronze medal in another very tight game. Unfortunately, the BC girls were not able to win this one, as Ontario scored with 11 minutes to go and the Lions couldn’t find the net after. Still, the girls were all proud with the 4^th place in the U15 Nationals. The Stags had wrapped up their participation Saturday, guaranteeing the 5^th place overall with a 7-0 win over Alberta.

We would also like to congratulate our boys who are returning as silver medallists. They faced Quebec in an amazing final, and these teams had already played in the round robin, with BC winning by 2-0. Today, however, the story was different, with Quebec coming out victorious with a 2-1. It was a great tournament for the BC boys; in the end, they have beat every adversary in the National at least once, which shows how balanced everything was.

And that is it for our 2018-19 season. Membership registration for the 2019-20 period is now open. For more information, access http://tiny.cc/6zqeaz.

Day 5 of the Field Hockey Canada U15 National Championships was full of emotions and excitement. BC will have teams playing the finals in both boys and girls divisions, but it wasn’t without tension.

The BC boys opened up the day with a great win over Alberta in the semifinals: 7-0. With that, they will play the great final versus Quebec filled with confidence. The match will be at noon, as Alberta and Ontario play for the bronze medal at 8:30 am.

Among the girls, the Stags secured 5th place in the National by beating Alberta, 7-0. The true drama was reserved for the two semifinals.

The BC Rams went to the pitch first to face Ontario West. The game was pretty even and no one wer able to alter the scoreboard until two minutes were left on the clock. After a short corner, the Rams managed to find their winning goal and secure a spot in the final.

On the other semi-final, the BC Lions had a great challenge against Ontario Central. After the first half, there was a crazy 3-hour delay because of the weather.

The girls came back and played the second half late in the afternoon and fought to the end. However, Ontario Central managed to score in the 3rd quarter and won by 1-0. It was a tough day, but the Lions were remarkably resilient and never gave up!

The U15 Nationals will wrap up this Sunday, with all gold medal and bronze medal games happening from 8:30 am onwards. The BC Lions girls will play Ontario West for the bronze at 10:15 am; the BC boys will face Quebec at noon; and the Rams girls will battle for the gold against Ontario Central.

To follow the live score of the Nationals and see the full standings, schedule and statistics, access fhc.altiusrt.com. For more detailed information on the event, visit the Field Hockey Canada National Championship Event Page.

The fourth day of the U15 Nationals was a decisive one for our boys and girls. The round robin came to an end and the semifinals will take place in Calgary with three BC teams representing.

On the boys’ National, only BC and Alberta stepped on the field this Friday, as the final game in the pool. The BC boys won by 2-0 and secured first place in the group. Now, they will face Alberta again Saturday morning, at 8:30 am, in the playoffs. Whoever wins, will face the winner between Quebec and Ontario in the final.

Stags and Rams started in the Day 4 Battle of BC. The Islanders needed a win to get a spot in the playoffs, but, after a very even game and a 1-1 tie until the 4^th quarter, the Rams managed to score three times in the final period and win by 4-1.

The BC Rams will now play Ontario West in the semifinals. The Stags played again later in the day in the crossover against Ontario East and put on a show, winning by 8-0. Now, they will fight for the 5^th place of the Nationals against Alberta, this Saturday.

And last but not least, the BC Lions won their game against PEI by 7-0 and ended as leaders of Pool B with 9 points in 9 possible. In the semifinals, they will clash with Ontario Central. Will we have another BC Battle in the grand final? Hopefully.

To follow the live score of the Nationals and see the full standings, schedule and statistics, access fhc.altiusrt.com. For more detailed information on the event, visit the Field Hockey Canada National Championship Event Page.