You have to admire the Canadian men鈥檚 national team鈥檚 response to the $900,000 in OTP cuts to their sport.
鈥淲e鈥檙e now 25 guys, two coaches and a bag of balls,鈥� said national team captain Scott Tupper, a veteran of sa国际传媒鈥檚 top-10 finish in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a significant funding cut and we鈥檝e had to weed out a lot of stuff, especially at the technical support level. We鈥檙e on our own. OTP doesn鈥檛 believe we鈥檙e going to get to where we want to go. We disagree. But it forces you to focus on getting as good as you can under the circumstances you face. It [funding cut] is not quite fair. But there鈥檚 no point complaining about it. We have to get on with it.鈥�
It has pushed the national side into fundraising mode at a time when training should be paramount as the 2013 Pan Am Cup looms this summer, the 2014 World Cup in The Hague and 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year and the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto and 2016 Rio Summer Olympics down the road.
But the field hockey Nats are turning a bad thing into a positive 鈥� using what is being labelled the Big Push fundraising campaign as a way of connecting to the grass-roots of the sport.
A series of national team clinics for youth players are being held, with the Victoria camp today from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the UVic turf field and the Duncan session Saturday from 2:30 to 4 p.m. at the Cowichan Sportsplex. A minimum donation of $25 for clinic participants is suggested. No registration is required.
鈥淭his is less of an 鈥榓sk鈥� than it is a way to connect and engage with the community and give back,鈥� said national team veteran Phil Wright.
鈥淭he Island community has a much greater appreciation of amateur sport and has always come out to support it. In Vancouver, there is so much else happening, no one seems to care as much about it.鈥�
The national team roster features UVic Vikes products James Kirkpatrick, Sam Jones, Matt Sarmento and Beijing Olympian and former Victoria junior standout Mark Pearson.
Donations to the national team program, fully tax-receipted, can be made at http://bit.ly/MNT-BigPush.
