Canada’s senior women’s field hockey team will be spending the better part of January on a training tour in Queensland, Australia to kick off a very busy 2017.
The Canadian women arrive in Gold Coast on Tuesday, January 17th and will remain in Australia until February 6th.
The Women’s National Team has selected twenty athletes to take part in the tour which will include a training camp and eight matches against the Queensland state team, a team which features several players with experience on Australia senior Women’s National Team that is ranked 4th in the world.
The first match of the trip will be played don January 23 with the remaining games to be played on the 24th, 26th, 28th, 30th, 31st, February 4th and 5th.
With World League Round 2 in West Vancouver and the quest for 2018 World Cup qualification fast approaching at the start of April, the tour provides an opportunity for game action after the Canadian women spent majority of the latter part of 2016 focused on training in Vancouver.
“The next three weeks is more about adding the competition block to what we did prior to Christmas,” says Women’s National Team head coach Ian Rutledge. “The schedule is more match intensive than more training intensive, and gives us an opportunity to test our new on field systems.
“I think we’re in a good place technically, tactically, and physically. Now it’s just about finding the on-field performance.”
All matches to be played in Gold Coast are exhibition matches will not be capped internationally.
In addition to a core of senior players with extensive experience such as team captains Kate Wright and Danielle Hennig, and forward Hannah Haughn, as he did last year, Rutledge has selected a handful of junior athletes – Hannah Eborall, Jordyn Faiczak, Margaret Pham, Sam McCrory, and Thora Rae – to take part on the tour.
“Those five young girls have the opportunity to be merged into the larger squad,” he says. “It’s a good way to integrate some of the junior program which has been really hard working.”
Women's National Team - 2017 Gold Coast Tour
| Name | Position | Hometown |
|---|---|---|
| Alex Thicke | Midfielder | North Vancouver, BC |
| Alexis DeArmond | Defender | Victoria, BC |
| Amanda Woodcroft | Defender | Waterloo, ON |
| Brienne Stairs | Midfielder | Kitchener, ON |
| Dani Hennig* | Defender | Kelowna, BC |
| Hannah Eborall | Defender | Beamsville, ON |
| Hannah Haughn | Forward | North Vancouver, BC |
| Holly Stewart | Forward | North Vancouver, BC |
| Jordyn Faiczak | Forward | Waterloo, ON |
| Kaitlyn Williams | Goalkeeper | White Rock, BC |
| Karli Johansen | Defender | North Vancouver, BC |
| Kate Wright* | Forward | Kingston, ON |
| Margaret Pham | Forward | Mississauga, ON |
| Rowan Harris | Goalkeeper | Ottawa, ON |
| Sam McCrory | Forward | Waterloo, ON |
| Sara McManus | Defender | Tsawwassen, BC |
| Shanlee Johnston | Defender | Vancouver, BC |
| Shannon Pereira | Defender | Toronto, ON |
| Stephanie Norlander | Forward | North Vancouver, BC |
| Thora Rae | Forward | Vancouver, BC |
Touring Staff
Head Coach – Ian Rutledge
Assistant Coach – Steph Andrews
Manager – Nancy Mollenhauer
Athletic Therapist – Rachelle O’Brien
Nutritionist – Joanna Irving
NOTE: Kathleen Leahy, Maddie Secco, Nikki Woodcroft, Rosie Beale, and Rachel Donohoe are currently recovering from injury.
