Calgary United wins ball hockey gold at nationals
United they stand proud and joyful.
That’s because they’ve come home with a national title for the second time in three years.
Calgary United returned from the Canadian ball hockey championships with the women’s crown — an honour they earned in 2016 at the same tournament.
“It truly feels amazing,” said United head coach Erwin Staniszewski of this summer’s championship run in Winnipeg. “Calgary has only achieved three bronze medals since 1978 in any open category, so it’s truly special to be the first to win gold twice at the highest level of play.”
The team’s first gold-medal achievement came in Vancouver, where United lost just once en route to the title.
This year in Winnipeg, Staniszewski & Co. did one better by running the table at nationals. In the playoffs, United shut out its foes in both the semifinal and final — the latter a 1-0 victory in overtime over a solid side from Ottawa.
“We have a strong core of dedicated and talented athletes that play for one another,” Staniszewski said. “They have been committed to the sport and to success since Day 1 and all the way through until the end of both nationals tournaments. These female athletes have a strong background in ice hockey and just needed to understand what works in ball hockey from a high-level perspective.
“We came together very well on and off the bench — talent doesn’t win you games. It’s everyone being on the same page together and believing that you will do it through systems, not necessarily through personal skill itself.”
Two years ago, a half-dozen United players were chosen to play for Team Canada at the world ball hockey championships, which kept Staniszewski from entering the club in the 2017 nationals. Otherwise, United might well be celebrating a national three-peat.
The worlds run every two years, with organizers and athletes hoping it becomes an Olympic sport.
“Ball hockey is a growing sport — it’s very popular in Europe and Canada,” said Staniszewski, an assistant coach on Jamie Lee Ratray ’s Canadian women’s team two years ago in the Czech Republic. “It all starts with street hockey, and the level of competition goes up to world level where countries play against one another at the worlds.
“Many of our players are on the
We have a strong core of dedicated and talented athletes that play for one another.
radar to be selected for next year’s worlds from this year’s nationals,” Staniszewski continued. “It is an honour and a privilege to see this happen and represent our country on an international stage where we compete against other countries, with 6,000-plus (fans) and (the sport) is locally televised. I am hopeful that the sport will grow to that level here in Canada.”
It’s already growing, especially in Alberta, where United stands proud on the women’s side and the Edmonton men’s side reigns as two-time champs after last week’s nationals.
In the 40 years prior to 2016, Calgary had never won gold in any category at nationals. Staniszewski said the best performance by a Calgary team was bronze twice for men in 1991 and 2012 and bronze once for women in 2014 as an Alberta team.
“Our province is starting to get noticed as, in the past 50 years of competition, the east has been primarily the dominant side winning in this sport,” Staniszewski said. “It’s growing because it’s fun and competitive and there’s a great culture here in Calgary and Edmonton. Leagues representing the province do a great job in creating tournaments and events. It’s not an easy sport, but those that get into it tend to stick with it for years, and many look for higher competition, which is available through provincials, nationals and even worlds.”