The field hockey hotbed on the North Shore is about to get even hotter as a new club is set to begin play at the start of September.
The Sea-to-Sky Field Hockey Club will offer year-round play that caters to young girls who are interested in committing themselves to twice-a-week practices, said co-founder and president Ronald Prins.
“Everyone involved with the club, we just want to see passion on the field,” said Prins. “It’s not going to be high performance, or something only for the best players. The only ones we want to see are the committed players, who really want to play. It doesn’t matter what skill level you are as long as you try your best.”
The new club joins a North Shore scene that already boasts the West Vancouver Field Hockey Club, one of the largest clubs in North America. Founded in 1968, WVFHC has produced numerous national team players, including Taylor Curran who just suited up for Canada at the Olympic Games in Rio.
Starting a new North Shore club is not meant to be a shot at the WVFHC, said Prins, adding that his wife and son still play in the West Van club. Gary Boddington, another Sea-to-Sky co-founder and the new club’s technical director, said they are not trying to compete against the West Van Field Hockey Club but rather grow the sport even bigger on the North Shore and offer more opportunities for players.
“I just see us as wanting to make a contribution to the game locally and, frankly, augmenting the community as a whole,” he said. “North Shore hockey, B.C. hockey, Canadian hockey is better off if we have more teams playing against each other more regularly and everybody contributing to the community. What’s a better situation? Having one club with 1,700 players, or four clubs with 500 players and all with good coaching, good solid skills and all competing more regularly. I think I’d go for the latter because I think it’s better for the game.”
Having a smaller membership base as well as the use of a private field – Sea-to-Sky will hold their practices and games at Mulgrave School – allows them to schedule more practice times for their teams, said Prins. They’re also intent on using high-level, paid coaches with all of their teams. The goal is to give players a chance to develop strong basic skills at a young age.
“Like in any sport, it’s really hard to learn a sport really well if you only train one hour a week throughout the year,” he said. “What we have seen is if you don’t practice year-round … the basic skills are not well developed and there are some bad habits that are so hard to get rid of. We try to focus on the basic skills from the start, from a young age. Good basic skills to get better.”
The club has an international flavour to it. Ronald and his wife Stefanie, another club founder, grew up playing field hockey in the Netherlands, while Boddington was an elite player in his home country of South Africa and played in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
Boddington said field hockey has given him so much in his life and he wants to pay it forward by sharing his love of the game with a new generation of players.
“We have a passion for field hockey in much the same way many Canadians have a passion for ice hockey,” he said. “I’m just passionate about the game and see an opportunity to grow a stronger base on the North Shore.”
Prins, who joked that he loves the sport but was never very good at it, said his passion for field hockey was sparked when as a boy he watched live as his home country beat India in the Hockey World Cup final played in 1973 in Amsterdam.
“I was only eight at the time and I saw these guys playing at their best,” he said. “That’s what we’re looking for – girls who are committed, who really want to play well and do their best.”
The club has already filled a team of U16 girls that will compete in a Lower Mainland adult league. They’re looking for players to join up in the age 8-12 range. Younger teams will play in internal leagues while the club is hoping to get older teams into a league that will see them play against teams from around Vancouver.
Priority No. 1, however, is creating a fun and social club atmosphere, said Prins.
“We try to get the same social interaction between parents and the girls and everybody involved,” he said.
“A big part of the game of field hockey globally is the social element,” added Boddington. “I’d really like to be involved in a club which is really good hockey, really good talent, a lot of educated coaches and organization, and all along the way just creating a really cool social and fun environment for the players and the parents.”
For more information on the club visit seatoskyfhc.com.
