September 17, 2009
From Ian Batey
Victoria will once again play host to high caliber international field hockey when the Canadian Men’s National Field Hockey Team undertakes a series of important test matches against the national men’s field hockey team from India. The matches will be held at the Vikes Field Hockey Turf at the University of Victoria on Friday, October 09 (7:00 pm start) and Sunday, October 11 (3:30 pm start).
As an added bonus for Victoria field hockey fans, the regular CIS Canada West Women’s Field Hockey games between the University of Victoria Vikes and the University of Alberta Pandas and the 2009 Bridgman Cup invitational field hockey tournament for high school women will take place at Vikes Field Hockey Turf over the same weekend.
The Canadian Men’s Field Hockey Team, fresh from their first place overall victory at the Pan American Cup tournament in Santiago Chile, are the first team to qualify for the World Cup finals to be held in New Dehli, India in March 2010. In combination with the Beijing Olympics results, the Canadian’s are now ranked 11th in the world, one ahead of team India.
The team from India arrives in Victoria on October 3 for training camp at Uvic in advance of the test matches against Canada. The Canadian Men’s National Field Hockey Team arrives in Victoria on October 07. After the competing in Victoria, both teams travel to the Lower Mainland for additional training and test matches.
“This is a timely opportunity for Canada in our World Cup preparation. The last time we played India was in May 2008 at the Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia. We are virtually ranked the same with only a few points separating us, so we anticipate spirited matches played at a high level and with plenty of intensity from both sides. It will be interesting to analyze the consistency of India’s and Canada’s performance over a 7 test match series. Victoria and the University of Victoria played host to our 2008 Men’s Olympic Team last August 2008 and I know the team looks forward to playing at their very best before an enthusiastic Victoria crowd. Overall, I think it will be a tremendous show for the Canadian Field Hockey community and we are extremely pleased to have India as our guests over a 3 week period." said national team coach Alan Brahmst.
In Victoria, both teams will train at the Vikes Field Hockey Turf at the University of Victoria, site of the successful 2008 Worldhockey Olympic Qualifier. Members of the general public are welcome to attend team practice sessions. Further information regarding access to the test matches will be provided in the near future.
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For more information, contact Communication Liaisons Ian Batey (Victoria),
at 250-216-1429 (ipb@shaw.ca) or Anna Grimes (Lower Mainland) at 1-604-787-7699 (annagrimes@yahoo.ca)