(Photo: Yan Huckendubler)
Canada’s men’s field hockey team is now officially less than six months away from competing in the 2016 Olympic Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the journey to Rio brings them back home to Vancouver for a block of training beginning next week.
After spending the better part of the last month training and competing in Cape Town, South Africa, the Men’s National Team returns to its regular daily training environment next week, beginning with fitness testing on Monday. After testing is compete, the team will begin an intense period of training on-field four times a week at West Vancouver’s Rutledge Field and UBC’s Wright Field.
The training block will lead into the team’s biggest competition prior to the Olympics: the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia.
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Sultan Azlan Shah Cup – April 6-16, 2016
The Azlan Shah tournament is set to take place in Ipoh, Malaysia from April 6-16. The tournament is an annual invite only competition and typically features many of the top teams. The Canadians have been invited for the last two years and, this year, join a host of top nations from around the world, many of which are preparing for the 2016 Olympics.
After the Azlan Shah tournament, the Canadian men will return to Vancouver and training for the remainder of April and May before embarking on their final training our prior to the Olympics.
European Tour – June 10-27, 2016
A two-country European trip will serve as the final tour in preparation for the 2016 Olympic Games. By this time, the Canadian Men’s National Team roster should closely resemble the final Olympic roster, with this trip and the games therein serving as one last chance for athletes to impress the coaching staff and earn a spot in Rio.
The men will first visit Belfast, Ireland for a set of matches against the Irish and Spanish, both teams which will also be in Brazil for the Olympics, with Ireland being in the same pool as Canada.
The Canadians will then travel to Bisham Abbey for training and matches against England before returning home to Vancouver.
2016 Olympic Summer Games
The men will spend the better part of July in Vancouver for their final period of training before heading to Rio for the Games. The final Olympic roster will be announced in early July and the team will then train until leaving for Rio late in the month and arriving there on July 25.
The first match of the Olympic field hockey competition is expected to be played on August 6th. Canada is in a pool with the Netherlands, Germany, Argentina, India, and Ireland and will play each of its pool-mates once. The top four teams in each pool advance to the tournament semifinal.
