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!