FHC athletes, past and present, took center stage Wednesday evening in Vancouver during the 2013 Big Block Athletic Banquet. The annual event showcases student athletes at The University of British Columbia (UBC) for their successes both in sport and in the classroom.
UBC Wright Field is the training center for both the Men’s and Women’s National Programs, so naturally many FHC athletes attend UBC while also competing for their respective national teams.
National Programs Well Represented
The Women’s and Men’s National Programs are deeply ingrained in UBC athletics with FHC athletes routinely on UBC’s rosters. This year is no different as the UBC Women’s Field Hockey Team has an impressive eight members from the Women’s National Program. These athletes enjoyed recognition for winning the CIS Championship and were also nominated for 2013 Team of the Year at UBC. Not to be outdone, the UBC Men’s Team boasts an impressive nine athletes from the Men’s National Program. The Men’s team also recently finished runner up in the Premier division of the Vancouver Field Hockey League.
FHC Alumni Inducted to Hall of Fame
In front of friends and family, two prominent FHC Alumni were inducted into the UBC Sports Hall of Fame: Penny Cooper and Victor Warren. Penny led UBC to great success from 1987 to 1992, including a CIS Championship in 1990. During her time at UBC, she concurrently competed with the Women’s National Team (WNT). She represented Canada at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, where Canada finished sixth.
Victor was a top Canadian player in his own right, leading the UBC Thunderbirds to three Vancouver Premier League Championships in 1958, ’60, and ’63. An impressive sniper, Victor still holds UBC’s goal scoring record with 114 goals in 92 games. Like Penny, Victor also represented Field Hockey Canada as a key member of the Men’s National Team (MNT) in the 1960’s. Along with other former UBC players: Peter Buckland, Lee Wright, and John Young, Victor played in the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Current Players Also Recognized
Rising WNT star Hannah Haughn took home a nice piece of hardware beating out stiff competition to win ‘Female Rookie of the Year.’ Not only is she a strong UBC Thunderbird athlete, she’s also a member of Canada’s Senior Team, and Junior Team which will compete in the Junior World Cup in Germany in June, 2013.
Big Block represents a great opportunity to celebrate outstanding athletic and scholarly achievements. FHC is proud to be so well represented this year with a particularly impressive crop of dedicated student athletes. It’s inspiring to see such great support from the field hockey community in Canada at all levels, and the alumni involvement continues to serve as a great model for our up and coming athletes.
FHC is excited to provide more coverage of community events around Canada – if you’ve got a story, we would love to hear about it. Please send us a Tweet @FieldHockeyCan or find FHC on Facebook to get in touch!
