Canada looks for top-two placement at FIH Series Finals in Valencia

Team Canada departs for next step towards Olympic qualification

The long-awaited time has arrived. Field Hockey Canada’s Women’s National Team departs next week for Valencia, Spain for the FIH Hockey Series Finals. The goal: simple. Finish in the top two at this tournament and move one step closer to the Olympics. Getting here: not so simple.

The team started their journey with a tournament victory last year in the Hockey Series Open. They then took off to Belgium for eight months of centralized training and competition. Successful test tours to Spain, China and most recently Scotland has the team in peak form heading into Valencia. The top two finishers from next week’s tournament will advance to the final stage of Olympic qualification.

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Dani Hennig, veteran defender for Canada said the team feels prepared and very ready to tackle next week’s challenge.

“This past year we spent in Belgium, the focus has been about this tournament, Pan Ams and hopefully the two-game qualifier,” Hennig said. “Now we get to the fun part. We get to actually put all our hard work to the test. We’ve been playing really well, and we know we have to bring it on the day.”

According to head coach, Giles Bonnet, the team has made tremendous progress in the past 12 months and have put themselves in the best position heading off to Spain.

“Our objectives over the past year was skill acquisition and getting our players to play in more competitive games,” Bonnet said. “I think we’ve made the steps we’ve needed in those areas and the team is feeling very confident.”

The team wrapped up a week-long training camp in Victoria, BC this week. According to Hennig, it was refreshing to be on home soil, training for the first time in many months.

“There’s little things about being at home in Canada, it’s really refreshing,” she said. “It’s a perfect reset after a long-hard training block away. It’s good for us to come home, get in a good place mentally so we can take the next step.”

UVic’s own Anna Mollenhauer, daughter of FHC Hall of Fame inductee, Nancy Mollenhauer, was selected for the final roster heading to Valencia. This tour will be her first major competition for the senior national team. She said, at this stage in her career, she’s doing her best to absorb everything and improve every time she hits the field.

“Between university and the national team, the level a huge step up,” Mollenhauer said. “It’s definitely nerve-wracking. I just try to learn as much as I can. I like to focus on the basics; just trying to make sure my receptions and passes are good, then I can elevate from there.”

View the full touring roster below for the 2019 Hockey Series Final Valencia. For recaps, results, photos and live streaming information, keep checking in on our event page. Canada’s first match is against Spain on June 19.

ROSTER

The Women’s National Team finished a week-long training camp at UVic in preparation for the Hockey Series Finals.