Kanjee gains bonus title
Mcmanus scores hat trick and UBC wins national championship
Hash Kanjee doesn’t have any plans of coming out of retirement for a second time, although the first time he did, the end result was pretty fantastic for the UBC women’s field hockey team.
The Thunderbirds repeated as national champions, completing an undefeated (12-0-1) season Sunday by beating the host Toronto Varsity Blues 3-0 in the CIS national championship final to claim their record-setting 14th McCrae Cup national crown, and the ninth title under the tutelage of the veteran skipper Kanjee.
“My last game at the CIS level, absolutely, I am done,” a satisfied Kanjee said after the victory, which saw all three of the team’s goals come off the stick of Sara McManus. “The kids coming up these days, they are so talented. I feel a little bit of a disconnect with them. I don’t feel like I am on the cutting edge of the new skills and tactics. The reason I came back this year was more in a caretaker’s role.”
Kanjee had retired after leading UBC to the national title last season, but when the school couldn’t find a suitable replacement, he resurfaced as an 11th-hour sub ready to coach his 20th campaign. Sunday’s title was his ninth, and his players, including senior national team members like CIS Player of the Year Katherine Gillis and CIS Rookie of the Year Hannah Haughn, helped him fashion one of his most dominant seasons in two decades.
“I can’t say enough about Hash,” said Haughn, moments after The Province’s 2012 Head of the Class honouree was named the tournament’s MVP. “He has been an awesome mentor and coach. It’s sad to see him go, but I know that whatever
“I don’t feel like I am on the cutting edge of the new skills and tactics.”
— UBC coach Hash Kanjee
coach he finds for us will be awesome.”
And nothing about Kanjee’s mission this week in Toronto suggested a disconnect. Never a fan of the slower field turf surfaces played on out east, including this week at U of T’s Varsity Centre, and never afraid to bring it up, it was at Kanjee’s prodding that the Birds were able to take the best parts of their diverse skill set and reinvent themselves over the course of five tourney matches.
“I think the most satisfying thing was to beat Toronto on their own field,” he explained, as UBC built on its 1-0 halftime lead. “All week the kids bought into the game plan, to learn more about the field and what to do to nullify some of the bad parts and to capitalize on the things that worked for us.”
For McManus, a second-year defender who scored two goals during the regular season, Sunday’s finale was incredibly gratifying.
“That was pretty unusual,” said McManus, who scored twice during the regular season. “I’m not really a goal scorer. But it was a nice feeling.”
Added Haughn: “All of the teams here are unbelievable, and they all bring different skills. Coming out from the west, the turf is different, the umpires are different, so it was such a big team effort to come out and play well.”