Women’s and Men’s youth movement on full display in Santiago
This is an exciting time for our Canadian National Teams as a flow of young, hungry and talented youngsters graduate out of the junior ranks into the senior national teams. As they do, they bring considerable junior and youth world level experience which will complement the established players and bring an exciting brand of hockey to our teams.
Women’s pipeline delivering valuable contributors
Of the 20-player roster participating in this week’s World Cup Qualifier, nine athletes enter with junior caps in the last three years. On the women’s side, the most recent 2025 junior graduates include Nicole Poulakis, Katie Gibb, Kenzie Girgis and Rylie Novak, all of whom participated at the 2025 Junior World Cup and/or the 2025 Junior Pan American Games.
Novak is an example of one of the many players benefiting from the extended athlete pathway. Having gained training experience through the Canadian NextGen system, she first played international matches during FHC U16 and U18 youth tours, before being selected to the Junior National Team. With the world junior cycle on a 2-year plan, this enabled Novak to play two years’ worth of U21 Junior National Team experience before making her senior national team debut this season.
Gibb, Poulakis and Novak have all played in the NCAA and Girgis plays in the Canadian USPORTS environment.
A year ahead of them, Mikayla Stelling, Laine Delmotte and Brooke McCusker all represented Canada at the 2024 Junior Pan American Championship on home soil in Surrey, BC before making their senior debuts following that junior cycle. This injection of youth has bolstered the women’s program, who enter the World Cup Qualifier looking to earn back-t0-back World Cup qualification for the first time since the early 1990s.
Players to Watch
Nicole Poulakis: Hailing from Ajax, Ontario, Poulakis has excelled at every level. She is a young prospect who has traveled for youth tours with Field Hockey Canada’s NextGen system, before graduating to the U21 team for two cycles and, most recently, debuting for the senior national team in 2025. Poulakis has been a goal-scoring machine for the University of New Hamphire Wildcats in the NCAA, notching 25 goals in her last two seasons. Her debut for Team Canada was last year at the Pan American Cup, where she scored a hattrick against Paraguay. Watch for Nicole’s goal-scoring prowess to be on display in Santiago this week.
Kenzie Girgis: Ottawa’s Kenzie Girgis is one of the most experienced youngsters, making her senior debut in 2023, despite being only 19 years old. Since then, she’s amassed 24 senior caps and played full time with the both the Senior and Junior National Teams. Pair that with her all-Canadian performances with UBC for the past two seasons, and you have a well-developed young star in the making. She is a full-field player who supports attack and protects the defensive end.
Men’s young core adds skill and goal-scoring depth to Team Canada
In a similar vein, our men’s program has a core of young talent, with 10 players receiving their first senior caps since 2023 and the junior-to-senior pathway supporting strong forward momentum, including a standout 1-1 draw with Belgium this fall at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia. The core cohort of the team is primarily made up of players aged 24-28, a strong sign of things to come.
Adding to that cohort this week in Santiago are four players who all have junior caps within the last two years. Robin Thind, Jude Nicholson, Kirin Robinson and Hudson Loh were all a part of the Junior Pan American silver medal winning team on home soil in Surrey, BC. Robinson, who will get his first senior international cap this week in Chile, and Thind both have 2025 Junior Caps as well at the Junior World and/or Junior Pan American Games.
This striking cohort of players are all offensively gifted, adding to the Red Caribou’s attacking punch. Nicholson made his senior debut in 2024 and only turns 20 this year. He’s young but has experience at senior and junior events. Robinson and Nicholson are adding to their resume by also competing domestically with the UBC Thunderbirds.
Players to Watch
Robin Thind: Thind has already proven himself to be a great Canadian goal-scorer of the present and future. He was a tournament leader in goals at the 2024 Junior Pan American Championships in Surrey and was getting almost all his work done from the field as opposed to PC set piece routines. He’s a creative and dynamic playmaker with soft hands and great finishing ability. In his senior national team debut at the Pan American Cup, he scored a hattrick against Mexico. He also had the highlight of the tournament at the Junior World Cup with this insane piece of finishing work.
Hudson Loh: Loh is a steady downhill force for the Canadian attack. He plays club hockey in Vancouver for the Hawks. He always finds himself in the right spot. He’s got great hands (no doubt thanks to his extensive ice hockey career) and is a powerful player who earns himself time and space in the circle. Loh has scored at all levels including notching a goal at his debut tournament, the 2024 Nations Cup in Poland.
Donate to the National Teams now and double your dollars
Field Hockey Canada is proud to announce the launch of our Double Your Dollars Matching Campaign, a national fundraising initiative supporting our Senior and Junior National Teams as they prepare for another busy season of major international competitions. Thanks to generous donor support, all eligible donations made during the designated campaign window will be matched dollar-for-dollar, allowing supporters across the country to double their impact and support the athletes representing Canada on the world stage.
Field Hockey Canada is committed to elevating Canada’s Senior Women’s and Men’s National Teams in this World Cup year. As the Wolf Pack and Red Caribou head to Chile for the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers, what better time to wrap your support around them.
For the next four weeks, all donations made through the Back the Pack (WNT) and Back the Bou (MNT) online hubs will be matched.
Every dollar donated to either team will be matched up to $10,000 per team. All fundraising will be securely tracked through Field Hockey Canada’s trusted donation partner, Canada Helps.
