Canada and Chile to square off in junior field hockey series at UVic
The past intersects with the present when the Canadian women’s junior field hockey team takes on Chile in a six-game exhibition series, beginning Friday at 4 p.m. on the University of Victoria turf pitch.
Featured on the Canadian team is defender Anna Mollenhauer of Victoria, whose mother Nancy Mollenhauer played for Canada in the 1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul Olympics, and is now co-manager of Canadian national teams.
The other Islanders on the Canadian squad, Lexi De Armond of Victoria and Sara Goodman of Cowichan, are also defenders.
Goodman, along with Samantha McCrory of Waterloo, Ont., were called up to the Canadian senior team that earlier this month gained Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualifying points by winning the Hockey Series Open in Salamanca, Mexico. McCrory scored six goals during the tournament in a spectacular senior national team debut.
“The senior national team is obviously gearing to 2020 and we want the junior national players to be pushing those senior players,” said newly appointed junior national team head coach Shiaz Virjee.
The national team comes into the Chile series after a two-week training camp held at Shawnigan Lake School.
“It was a tremendous camp at one of the best facilities on the Island,” Virjee said.
“The facilities are so good that all the focus can be on training.”
Virjee brings ample international experience to his task of building up the next generation of Canadian women’s players. He coached the Canadian men’s senior national team for seven years, including in the 1998 World Cup and 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games. Virjee guided the Canadian men to the gold medal in the 1999 Pan-Am Games, which qualified them for the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics.
“Canada has a lot of talent and it’s time to get this junior women’s group to the next stage [of development],” he said.
“Limited funding is a challenge, but this group is so hard working, and up to the challenge. There is no give in them.”
The senior and junior women’s national teams have recently centralized at UVic, bringing to 11 the number of Canadian sports that have their national teams based in Greater Victoria.
“It’s been amazing,” said Virjee, who coached the UBC Thunderbirds men’s team the past 13 years.
The national team program has received so much support from UVic and the Island community.”
The Canadian junior women’s team is preparing for the Six Nations U-21 Tournament from July 9-22 in Antwerp, Belgium.
The Canada-Chile series runs Friday through July 6 with the games starting at 4 p.m. each day at UVic. Virjee has selected a 24-player roster for the series. Admission is by donation and fans and young players can meet the junior national team players on the pitch following each of the six matches.