Matthew Sarmento came to the University of Victoria to study and play soccer for the Vikes. He ended up heading to the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics in field hockey.
He failed the fitness test for Vikes soccer. He vowed he would never fail another and tried out for the UVic field hockey squad.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the story: One door closes and another opens,鈥� he said.
The Vikes men鈥檚 field hockey team has produced Sarmento, Brenden Bissett and Keegan Pereira for the Rio Olympics and may just be the best-kept sports secret on the Island. The three Vikes were back on their old UVic pitch Thursday for a youth clinic conducted by the Canadian Olympic team players. It followed a clinic conducted Wednesday at Shawnigan Lake School.
鈥淭here was a lot in pride in playing for UVic and now to be representing the school in the Rio Olympics,鈥� said Bissett, who like Sarmento played four years for the Vikes.
鈥淥f course, I really excited, proud and thrilled to be representing sa国际传媒.鈥�
It took a lot of commitment with all three having to make twice-a-week trips during their Vikes careers to Vancouver, where the world No. 15 national team is centralized.
But it all turned out to be worth all the sacrifice. It took the recent qualifying misses by the Canadian men鈥檚 basketball team and Langford-based men鈥檚 rugby sevens to again hit home just how hard it is to get to a Summer Olympics.
鈥淲hat we did to qualify for Rio was amazing. We had a hard path with not a lot of funding,鈥� said Bissett, who plans on returning to UVic this fall for his fifth season with the Vikes and to complete his economics degree.
鈥淥nly two Canadian teams qualified for the London 2012 Olympics and five have qualified for Rio this year. We鈥檙e proud to be part of that group. But we鈥檙e not satisfied with just qualifying. The goal is to succeed at the Olympics. We are the lowest seed in our pool but we believe we have the group here that can get it done and to advance to the knockout stage.鈥�
Pereira, who played his freshman season at UVic directly out of high school in Toronto, was happy to be back among 80 young players who hung on every word the Olympians uttered Thursday.
鈥淭his pitch is sill the best I鈥檝e ever played on,鈥� he said.
It helped a launch a trajectory to Rio.
鈥淚t鈥檚 still surreal and not hit home that I am an Olympian,鈥� said Pereira.
