With its strong connections to the field version of the sport, and having produced numerous Olympians, the Island may be one of the few places in sa国际传媒 where the other version is sometimes heard to be referred to as “ice hockey.”
sa国际传媒’s national team field-hockey programs, and also clubs, will be active this week at the University Victoria. The women’s national team will hold a training camp beginning Wednesday and culminating with intra-squad games at 2 p.m. on Friday and 10:30 a.m. on Saturday as high-profile new head coach Danny Kerry looks to put his stamp on the program ahead of qualifying play for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Kerry coached the Great Britain women’s team to the bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics and to gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics and was hired to end a drought in which sa国际传媒 has not qualified for the Olympics in women’s play since Barcelona in 1992 with a team composed mostly of players from Victoria, Duncan and Vancouver.
The first qualification window is the 2023 Pan Am Games this fall in Santiago, Chile, out of which the women’s and men’s gold medallists will advance to the Paris Olympics.
“The short-term campaign is the preparation to the Pan American Games and arriving there with a strong identity of how we play, and purpose about our play,” said Kerry, in a statement.
“In developing and bringing these qualities, we will be giving ourselves the best chance of progressing in that tournament. We will also be setting ourselves up for future and continued growth.”
The Canadian men’s national team has had more qualifying success and has played in the last two Olympics at Tokyo and Rio, and also at Beijing in 2008 and Sydney in 2000, and is now also preparing for Paris 2024 Olympic qualification.
“We want to keep it going and maintaining that identity [as a reliable Olympic-qualifying national side], but it’s never easy,” said veteran Canadian team player and Olympian James Kirkpatrick of Victoria.
“This week represents a milestone for us as a ramp-up. The camp will be intense,” Kirkpatrick told the sa国际传媒.
The Canadian men’s team camp also begins Wednesday at UVic. The players on the national team will conclude on Saturday by playing the Metro Vancouver Pro League semifinals here at 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. The MVPL was established in 2022 and represents the highest level of club play in sa国际传媒. Admission will be free.
“The pro league is an exciting initiative and gives us more high-quality games in which to play and that benefits both the national team players and the rising junior players,” said Kirkpatrick, an Oak Bay High grad and former star player with the UVic Vikes.
