Canadian Women’s National Program member and Ktichener, Ontario native Tegan Stairs has been named the 2015 Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) field hockey player of the year.
Stairs, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues forward, follows in the footsteps of her sister Brienne, who also won the Liz Hoffman Award for CIS Player of the Year as a Guelph Gryphon in 2009 and 2010. Stairs’ win also makes it back-to-back winners from Toronto’s Varsity Blues as her teammates and fellow Canadian Senior Development Squad (SDS) member Amanda Woodcroft was the winner last year.
In winning the award, Stairs puts the cap on one of the most decorated careers in CIS field hockey history. A former Guelph Grypon of two years before joining the Varisty Blues won rookie of the year honours in her first season, is a four-time All-Canadian and has been an OUA all-star in every season she has played.
This season, in 10 regular seasons games, Stairs led the Blues with 13 goals and helped them to an 11-1 record en route to taking part in the Championship tournament this week.
UBC’s Hannah Haughn, a member of the Canadian Women’s National Team, was the Canada West nominee for CIS most valuable player.
The winners of all the 2015 CIS women’s field hockey awards were announced at the All-Canadian Banquet held at the Harbour Towers Hotel in Victoria ahead of the 2015 Women’s Field Hockey Championship, set to take place in Victoria from November 5-8.
READ: National Team talent on display at CIS Women’s Field Hockey Championship
Canadian SDS and University of Victoria Vikes defender Kathleen Leahy has also been recognized. For her outstanding contribution on and off the field, Leahy wins the Gail Wilson Award.
Denise Pelletier, who represented Canada when umpiring at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto this past summer, was named the CIS Field Hockey Official of the Year.
Stairs, Leahy, and Pelletier are joined by Victoria head coach Lynne Beecroft, who receives the Marina van der Merwe Award for coach of the year, and Calgary midfield Sabrina Wong who takes home the Joyce Slipp Award for rookie of the year.
The all-Canadian team was also announced on Wednesday
Joining Stairs, Haughn and Leahy, as All-Canadians were three more Canadian National Program athletes. Calgary keeper Beckett Frisch, Waterloo midfielder Stephanie Snyder, and Toronto midfielder Amanda Woodcroft, all members of the canadian Senior Development Squad, join defender Jessica Britton and midfielder/forward Janelle Rice of Calgary, midfielder Erin Houle and forward Allison Chute of Guelph, midfielder Kylie Nabata of McGill on the 11-member unit.
Like Stairs, Woodcroft (2011-2012, 2014-2015) and Haughn (2012-2015) became four-time all-Canadians. For their part, Frisch (2014, 2015), Snyder (2014, 2015), Chutte (2014, 2015), Houle (2013, 2015) and Leahy (2013, 2015) were all honoured at the national level for the second time.
The 2015 CIS – Field Hockey Canada championship gets underway Thursday at the University of Victoria and culminates Sunday at 3 p.m. Pacific Time with the gold-medal final. All eight matches from the four-team tournament will be webcast live on CIS-SIC.tv.
