Chopras and Nepean Nighthawks Recognized at the Ottawa Sports Awards
Field Hockey Canada is delighted to celebrate the recognition of service by Maureen and Sandeep Chopra, from the Nepean Nighthawks Hockey Club. The Chopras were awarded the Mayor’s Cup this week at the Ottawa Sports Award ceremony for their many years of dedication and service to the Ottawa sporting community. Nepean Nighthawks were also awarded the Ottawa Sports Endowment for their Stick Together program, providing free access to hockey for indigenous peoples.
Maureen was a member of the Women’s National Team in the 1980s (during an era where the women’s national team was consistently a top-ranked nation in the world). She co-founded the Nepean Nighthawks in 2002 with her husband Sandeep. Sandeep is a member of the Men’s Masters Team and has been coaching hockey for 40 years. For the two of them, hockey has always been a family affair, as all their children play and coach hockey as well.
“Hockey has been a part of my family my whole life. My father started the first club in Ottawa in 1975. And now, with our kids, for many years, the kitchen was always full of jerseys and gear,” Sandeep said. “Even today, I was still playing with my kids on the top team as I prepared for the Masters World Cup.”
For Maureen, seeing her kids take over as administrators and coaches, giving back to the community, is what really makes her heart sing.
“Halley is taking over, much to my surprise, I wasn’t sure she was really going to go for it, but she really loves it. Her and I go to women’s night, together. The boys go to pick up. We’re not forcing anyone to be there. To play with my own kids and the community kids of many ages, it’s incredible,” Maureen said. “Hockey is something we can do as a family. We can all play, at the same time at the same place. Fast forward 15 years. Sandeep and I are training for the Masters World Cup – training and playing all together. Because we can. It’s amazing. It’s a bonus feeling. Everyone can play for life.”
The Chopras said that the Nighthawks club focuses on fun and participation and they believe in the power of sport as a community inclusion tool. Focused on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action on sport, (specifically #87-91), the Nighthawks Stick Together program has been providing barrier-free access to Ottawa-area indigenous youth, including providing transportation, equipment, and coaches who have completed the Aboriginal Coaching Modules. For Sandeep, he said he felt compelled to make this program happen and said it’s been extremely rewarding for him and his family to lead this initiative.
“I can’t imagine being involved in something more rewarding. At the beginning, we jotted down what we wanted to do. When we saw the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, the coaches and program coordinators came back with this program and their ideas for what would this work,” Sandeep said. “We need to make this barrier free — including providing equipment, transportation, free access, sticks and more. Our goal was to fill that bus. We see the kids and families that come, and I can’t describe the rewarding feeling. Here are people who have never played the sport, some don’t have shoes to play in. We realised as we were doing this, that we ‘had’ to do this. This goes beyond hockey. This is young people wanting to effect change in their community and finding a vehicle to do it”
Maureen and Sandeep attended the Ottawa Sports Award ceremony this week to receive their award. The Mayor’s Cup which celebrates outstanding individuals who have a long-standing association with the City of Ottawa and have contributed many years of direct support and dedication to amateur sport in a variety of contexts. For the Chopras, they never intended on being recognized this way but were thankful for the award. They also said that their reception of the award brings wider recognition to field hockey in the Ottawa sports community and for that, they are grateful.
Maureen said, “we’ve been working and playing and contributing to the hockey community in Ottawa for many years. We go about our daily business, and we play and do this because we enjoy it. It’s great to be acknowledged and it’s nice that the sport is being recognized.”
“We’ve been in it for so long,” Sandeep said. “Field hockey has a relatively low profile compared to some other sports. So, it was really nice to have this acknowledgement and be associated with the other prominent people and sports that have won the award. It’s a lifetime of work and it’s nice to take a second to sit and enjoy it.”
STICK TOGETHER
According to Sandeep, the Nepean Nighthawks club has intentionally acted upon the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s 94 Calls to Action by developing the Stick Together Program, along with community partners. Their program began in January 2023, joining a Candian network of FHC Stick Together projects funded through FHC’s involvement in the national Community Sport for All Initiative. It has been running successfully since, with Nepean receiving further local and private support to continue to fund their program. Stick Together offers free field hockey programming and equipment to local Indigenous youth from ages 8-14 and also covers the cost of transportation to attend all sessions. The full Nighthawks coaching team of 18 recently completed the Aboriginal Coaching Modules.
Sandeep particularly appreciates how the younger generation has embraced this project and has contributed on the administrative and coaching side. He said he wants the program to take a step every year and expand to give more access to sport to more kids in the Ottawa area. For that, he knows more work is ahead, but it’s all worth it.
The Nepean Nighthawks Stick Together program was also recognized at the Ottawa Sports Awards with the Ottawa Sports Endowment, an achievement that the Chopras were equally as proud to be a part of.
HOCKEY FOR LIFE
On top of playing in the local league, coaching and giving back administratively, both Maureen and Sandeep continue to play and pursue field hockey at a high level. Both represented Canada at the 2024 WMH Masters World Cup in New Zealand. For them, playing sport forever doesn’t even feel like a choice, it’s just natural. And although there is lots to gain by leading and mentoring in the local community, they have also learned and enjoyed being a part of the global hockey community through masters tournaments all over the world.
Maureen said, “age is a number and doesn’t mean anything. Playing hockey for life is not a new concept or anything. It’s a continuum of playing sports. The next step is to get more men and women my age to come out and play.” She added that “it’s super cool to play at these international tournaments. There’s 20 teams of your age group and the skill is so high. Men and women who have been playing forever. We’ve been fortunate, finding the global hockey community and it shows how much more work we can do to build the masters hockey community in Canada.”
Sandeep played in his fourth Masters World Cup in the fall and said when he first went it was an eye opener for how much masters hockey opportunity there is.
“I believe last year in Auckland, with over 3000 players, it was one of the biggest hockey gatherings ever. For me, I love having a fitness goal to work towards. When I have a goal, it spurs me on. Hopefully other people around us, they see the inspiration.”
Stick Together is a project funded through the Government of Canada’s Community Sport for All Initiative (CSAI). Its purpose is to remove barriers and increase participation rates for underserved groups, as defined by the Government of Canada: Indigenous peoples, Black, 2SLGBTQQIA+, Low income, Newcomers, Racialized or Persons with a Disability.
The Government of Canada’s continued support to FHC’s work in this area enables field hockey communities across Canada to Stick Together and build on the work started last year in offering sport to underserved groups. Learn more on our website.
