Originally posted on the Vancouver Island Ladies Field Hockey Association  website

On Sept. 17, a small group of the Vancouver Island field hockey community gathered to have a belated celebration of Pat Hall’s 2020 induction into the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame.

Read more: https://gvshof.ca/inductees-2/all-inductees/11-builders/336-pat-hall-2020.html

The evening featured an impressive display of articles, photos and memorabilia spanning Pat’s involvement in field hockey. Long time friend Shelley Andrews, who was coached by Hall at Oak Bay High, emceed the event in entertaining fashion, while an impromptu open mic followed.

Kind words followed from former VILFHA president Denise McGeachy, current Umpires Association President Alison Sweeten, as well as remarks from Anne Batey, Denise Hall and players who have been coached by or played with Pat. It was truly a community evening with representation from all current clubs as well as past members including Craig Wilson, Liz Munn and Ev Sigalet.

VILFHA hosted the event so that all donations and ticket contributions could support the FHBC Pat Hall Officials Development Award. This award is designed to promote the development of Vancouver Island umpires and technical officials. An award of up to $500 will be allocated each year to successful applicants. In order to be eligible for this award, applicants must be a member in good standing with Field Hockey BC and an active official within National, Provincial or Club based programming.

The award was created by VILFHA when Pat retired from a long, long-standing term on the executive.

VILFHA is pleased to announce that $1,160 was raised last night.

Thank you to everyone who contributed in congratulations to Pat!

See photos from the event last night on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/vancouverislandladiesfieldhockey

Indy Sehmbi has played a huge role in the development of young field hockey athletes in the Lower Mainland and throughout Canada.

Indy started coaching provincially in 2000 and continued to coach BC Provincial teams until 2013.

In 2009, Indy join the Men’s National Team as a video analyst and toured with the team to Australia, Argentina, India (Commonwealth Games and World Cup), Mexico (Pan American Games) and South Africa for the next two years.

As Indy increased his knowledge the game though his international experience, he decided it was time to put this knowledge to work and joined the Canadian Junior National Team in 2011 as an assistant coach alongside Aaron Guest.

Indy continued as an assistant Canadian Junior National Team coach until 2013 when we took a more leadership role in the Junior National Program.

In 2014, Indy coached the Youth National team to the U18 Youth Olympics where they won the silver medal.

From 2015-2021 Indy was the Junior Head Coach.  Indy led the Junior National program and took the team to two Junior Pan American Games (Silver and Fourth Place finishes) and to two Junior World Cups (both in India)

Indy has been such a positive coach and role model for so many athletes on both the Junior National and Club programs. Throughout his involvement with the National and Junior National Team Indy was a driving force with the Burnaby Lake Field Hockey Club promoting the development of young players and solidifying the Burnaby Club as contenders in the Vancouver league year in and year out.

After taking the Junior National Team to the Junior World Cup in December of 2021 Indy mad the tough decision to step aside and take some time away from coaching at the National level.

Indy has helped to develop so many local players and is a coach and person who truly believes in each individual and their potential. Indy can be described as a Coach and Community Builder – one Athlete at a time.

We would like to wish Indy well in which ever challenge he takes on next and thank him for all of his amazing contributions to Field Hockey in Canada.

From proud friends and supports of coach Indhi

FHBC is pleased to announce that we are now accepting applications for the Athlete Assistance Bursary and the Judy Broom High Performance Bursary. The application deadline for both of these bursaries is July 29, 2022, and the recipients will be announced by the end of August.

The Athlete Assistance Bursary is designed to support both male and female athlete participation in FHBC Regional Programming. FHBC Regional Programs allow for athletes to train in their local region whilst developing their field hockey skills. Included within Regional Programming is the FHBC Technical Development Program, the FHBC Elite Program, the FHBC Talent Identification Program, and the FHBC Regional Representative Team Program.

The Judy Broom High Performance Bursary is presented annually by Field Hockey BC to assist a female athlete or athletes who can show a need for financial assistance in order to access program development opportunities within the Field Hockey BC Team BC Program. It is awarded to an individual or individuals who have participated in the Field Hockey BC Regional High Performance Program and have been selected to represent BC as part of the Field Hockey BC Team BC Program. The Award is designed to contribute towards the cost of the summer Team BC Provincial Program.

Go to www.fhbcfoundation.com for more information and to download the application forms.

You may download the PDF version of this communique here.

Field Hockey BC (FHBC) is delighted to announce a new Membership Registration System Partnership with our National Sport Organization (NSO), Field Hockey Canada for 2022-23. Over the course of the last few weeks, Field Hockey BC has completed an assessment as to whether the Society should remain autonomous to its BC Membership Registration process and re-build the custom FHBC Registration platform or look to partner directly with the NSO – Field Hockey Canada.

This Community Communique acts as the first of three scheduled communiques that will be released over the course of the next five weeks informing the BC Membership of:

1. The intent to Partner with Field Hockey Canada in the provision of a new Membership Registration Platform for 2022-23 (July 8, 2022 – Communique #1)
2. A Step-by-Step Guide to Members on “How To” Register a Membership in 2022-23 (August 1, 2022 – Communique #2)
3. Notice confirming that the 2022-23 Membership Registration is Open (August 15, 2022 – Communique #3)

Field Hockey BC appreciates that any change to a Membership Registration process has the ability to impact the time taken by the BC Membership to navigate such change. FHBC is extremely appreciative in advance of the BC memberships patience as we move through this collective change together. As this is a partnership between FHBC and Field Hockey Canada, this means that BC members will have the opportunity to receive customer support through both organizations and both organizations are currently planning to articulate how you may connect and contact each organization should you require assistance with the new Membership Registration process for 2022-23.

As a polite reminder, the 2022-23 season begins on September 1, 2022 with the intent to open Online Membership Registration for the 2022-23 season through the new registration platform effective August 15, 2022. The Membership Registration Platform will thereafter remain open throughout the seasonal year until such time as a new registration cycle begins ahead of the 2023-24 season.

This project collaboration with Field Hockey Canada is intended to enable both FHBC and Field Hockey Canada to effectively and efficiently manage Field Hockey Participant Data and in doing so assist field hockey planning, assist member communication, and provide transparency and accountability in data reporting (to the Membership, as well as to the Federal and Provincial Government). The FHBC team looks forward to building on this communique in the days to come with the most important “How To Register” Communique #2 scheduled for release on August 1, 2022.

Yours in sport,

Mark Saunders
Executive Director
Field Hockey BC July 8, 2022