This post is an excerpt from article written by Cleeve Dheensaw in the Victoria Times Colonist. Read the full article here.
Of the two hockey players being inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame with the Class of 2015, former NHL star Paul Kariya will receive the lion’s share of attention.
But Olympian Shelley Winter Andrews of Victoria, the first field-hockey player to be enshrined in the 47-year-history of the B.C. Sports Hall, can more than hold her own in the resumé department.
“I am overwhelmed by this honour,” said Winter Andrews, as the Class of 2015 was unveiled Thursday at B.C. Place Stadium.
The Oak Bay High graduate spearheaded a halcyon era in co-captaining Canada to the silver medal at the 1983 World Cup, bronze at the 1986 World Cup and fifth place at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics.
“We took field hockey seriously. It was not a once-a-week or twice-a-week thing for us. It became our lives,” said the 61-year-old retired Lansdowne Middle School teacher.
That attitude coincided with a revolution in Canadian sport preparation.
“Suddenly, sports psychologists, weight training and top-level coaching became available to us. The national team soccer girls are all together now but those sort of ideas [such as centralization] were all new to us.”
And they made the most of it, rising to heights never before imagined for Canadian field hockey.
Winter Andrews led the way, holding down the back line as national team captain, and becoming the first Canadian player to reach 100 career caps.
“You have to have a competitive nature, which I do. But I was not a big gung-ho type captain. I led by example,” said Winter Andrews. “I just loved the sport”
She still does, playing in the Island Third Division for the Oak Bay Field Hockey Club.
