Four teams, three days and a gold medal on the line. The U23 women’s division kicked off on Friday night in Toronto with a pair of games. Squads from Alberta, BC and two from Ontario met to play out the final stage of the 2018 Field Hockey Canada National Championships that had already seen the U15 and U18 division come to a close.
Jaslan Stirling, a member of Ontario Red, the eventual tournament winners, said that the U23 division is a step up from university play and that she really appreciates the competition level at this tournament. Stirling, last year’s OUA MVP and rookie of the year and a huge contributor to York’s Canadian USPORTS silver medal, said the community aspect of this event is also a real draw.
“I personally really enjoy it because I know a lot of the players in the division,” Stirling said. “The competition is really intense. And because of the small division, every game really matters.”
Stirling’s Ontario Red advanced to the finals with a comfortable win over Alberta. On the other field, the whole facility gathered to watch as Ontario White’s Alison Lee scored three late goals to force a shootout against BC. When the dust had settled, Ontario White punched their ticket in a heroic comeback and shootout performance. They couldn’t keep the streak going though, as Ontario Red defeated White in the finals with the only goal of the game coming off of the stick of — you guessed it — Jaslan Stirling.
Stirling, the tournament’s high scorer and a member of the Tournament-11 All-Star team, said that bringing the top university-aged players in the country together for a tournament in the summer has a great training and developmental aspect to it as well. She said it prepares her and the other USPORTS and NCAA athletes in the division.
“This is huge. It’s a level up from the OUA. This event trains you against really good competition to prepares us for the university season,” she said.
Louis Mendonca, head coach of the title-winning Ontario Red team, was proud to see his players come together over the three-day competition and put up the positive results.
“It’s a short competition so there’s not that much time to improve as a team,” he said. “we really packed a lot in. We are trying to learn as we go, and we tick off boxes along the way. They played really well today and it’s a great feeling to see them win.”
Mendonca, the current coach of the Indoor National Team echoed a lot of Stirling’s sentiments and spoke of the value of the U23 competition.
“I think the U23 division is really valuable,” he said. “There is always a group of players who have passed the U18 age group but are still trying to make the senior team. They can continue to play and continue to train in this division. It’s good, healthy competition.”
Stirling, 19, took part in the U18 and U15 competitions as well, but not as a player. Stirling got her first major exposure to umpiring last week during the previous two divisions. Admittedly, Stirling said she used to get pretty emotional and even give the umpires a hard time during matches. Her experience now as an umpire has put the game into perspective. She said it has also helped her learn the game inside and out which has helped her playing career
“Now I’m also on that side of the game, I’ve really come to appreciate how hard it is to always be in the right position, to always get the call perfect,” Stirling said. “Now, I don’t question the umps because I know how hard it is and I really appreciate them.”
The sun sets on another Field Hockey Canada National Championships. The amazing competition took place over two weeks with 700 athletes, coaches and officials. For photo galleries, tournament recaps and more information on this year’s championships, please visit the event page.
So long from Toronto.
