On the eve of the World League Semifinals in Valencia, Spain, the goal for the Canadian Women’s Field Hockey Team is clear: it’s all about Olympic qualification.
But for Canada, despite the high stakes of qualifying for the Olympics, a feat the Canadian women haven’t accomplished since 1992, the process remains the same, down to what the team spends its time talking about.
“While we don’t overtly spend a lot of time talking about it, the girls know the outcome; they know what is required,” says Women’s National Team head coach Ian Rutledge. “That takes five percent of the conversation we have with the players. The other 95 percent is about being the best that we can be.”
Trusting in preparation and process is a cliché in sport, but it’s one in which the Canadians have complete belief..
As one of the youngest – and often lower ranked – teams competing in any given tournament, Canada has been able to manage respectable results. A recent second place finish World League Round 2 in Ireland was in an indicator of progress.
But more importantly, having played many of the world’s top teams over the last twenty-four months, including the United States, England, New Zealand, India and South Africa, the Canadian women now know what is required of them to have success when they take the field.
“We talk about being Canada focused and opposition aware,” adds Rutledge, who has been at the helm of Women’s Program for just over two years.
“I think we’re a very good place going to into World League but in saying that we know the opposition we face in World League 3 won’t be the opposition we face in World League 2.”
In Pool A, Canada faces perennial field hockey powerhouse and Pan American rival Argentina, which is ranked third in the world. They also will be asked to go through 2008 Olympic silver medalist China, now ranked seventh, and Great Britain, ranked eighth. The host team, fifteenth ranked Spain rounds on Canada’s Pool A competitors.
The level of competition across the board at the World League Semifinals makes this Canada’s toughest test yet. But it is what they have been preparing for and in the end, it is all still a part of the process for a young team looking to improve with each match played.
And for Canada, it’s less about whom they are playing and where they are ranked. It’s more about another old sports adage.
“At the end of the day we just need to make sure we can control our game,” says Rutledge. “That’s the real focus for us. Making sure we enter each game playing the best way we can and being the best Canada we can be.”
And eventually, the results will take care of themselves.
Click here for Canada’s full World League Semifinals schedule and results.