North Vancouver Olympian Taylor Curran had a fervour for field hockey coursing through his veins at a young age, inherited from his mother.
His mom Wendy played varsity field hockey and was inducted into UBC’s Sports Hall of Fame along with her 1982-83 teammates who went undefeated en route to winning the national championship. Naturally, she introduced her son to the sport and taught Taylor the basics of field hockey.
At eight years old, Curran took to the grass fields at Hugo Ray Park with the West Vancouver Field Hockey Club and never looked back. Curran’s younger brother Spencer played field hockey alongside him and they were both coached by their mom until Curran was 16.
In those days, before West Vancouver had a dedicated field hockey turf, mother and son made countless hour-long drives to Surrey or UBC for games. Those were priceless moments for the two of them to talk field hockey, not so much about the fundamentals of the sport, but rather some standard motherly advice.
“She’s just really supportive and put a lot of things into perspective because it’s easy to get inside your own head and stress over mistakes. But even at the highest level in field hockey there’s dozens and dozens of mistakes every game. … She helped me put that in perspective so I could play more freely,” says Curran, 24, who sat down with the North Shore News a couple of days before leaving for the Rio Games.
The Olympic dream came into focus for Curran, a midfielder, when he hit his teenage years and a couple of coaches saw some early potential in him.
“I think any kid that plays a lot of sports dreams of going to the Olympics,” he says. “The dream focused in on field hockey when I was 13 or 14 and I was making provincial teams.”
The drive to step up his game started with Sean Campbell, a former national team player, who took a 12-year-old Curran under his wing and onto the U16 WVFHC team. Playing against older, better players was so beneficial for his development, says Curran.
The following year, Indy Sehmbi, Curran’s first field hockey camp coach, took a chance on Curran, picking him as the final reserve player for his U18 provincial team. As fate would have it, some players withdrew their spot in the national championships, so Curran stepped in as a 13-year-old competing against 17- and 18-year-olds.
“A prospect my mom probably wasn’t terribly excited about,” says Curran.
From there his star kept rising. Curran was invited to play for the Burnaby Lakers in the Vancouver Men’s Field Hockey League’s Premier division – the highest level of club competition in Canada.
“I wasn’t there as a token youngster,” explains Curran. “Indy gave me major playing time in the midfield, where I played against many of the best players in Canada.”
After graduating from Argyle secondary, Curran, following in his mother’s footsteps, played field hockey for UBC while studying for his civil engineering degree.
“If you want to go far in field hockey and have the grades to get in, you go to UBC because that’s the place to be,” says Curran.
He also did a field hockey stint in Belgium, where Curran says they take the sport to a whole other level and there is great competition.
“There’s a lot of fans. You don’t get paid well, but you do get paid to play there,” explains Curran, who went to Europe in 2014 to improve his game.
A seven-year vet of the Canadian men’s national team, Curran’s most memorable moment came last year when his teammates wrote their own epic Olympic story.
Canada was competing against New Zealand in a fingernail-biting, 30-minute, 14-round shootout in the World League field hockey semifinal. The winner would be Rio bound.
Canada was down 3-1 and their goalie had to make two saves in a row against “probably two of the best players in the world.”
“Guys that you would think would never miss in that situation, and he saved both of them,” recalls Curran with a wide grin.
The shootout went to sudden death and the goalie had to make two or three more saves to keep Canada in Olympic contention. Success.
“We were just so hyped up and just shaking with adrenaline and pretty much hyperventilating,” says Curran, recalling the moment the team qualified for Rio. “Guys were covering their eyes. Guys were crying. It was the craziest emotional roller coaster that I’ve ever been on.”
Serendipitous timing allowed Curran to finish his classes at UBC in December 2015 and concentrate on field hockey full time and training for a spot on the Olympic roster. “It just makes a difference in terms of sleep and nutrition,” says Curran, of how late-night studying sessions can interfere with field hockey performance.
Curran could also take the time to cook nutritious meals to fuel him on the field. So how many calories can a pro field hockey player burn through? Curran was putting away 5,000 calories a day during his heaviest training period earlier this year. A lot of pasta would get him there.
Fortunately for Curran, who grew up in the Parkgate area, training with the men’s national team on home turf at Rutledge Field didn’t take him too far from home. Passersby in the Ambleside area may have spotted a sign saying “Going to Rio” on the Rutledge Field fence.
“Having the partnership with the men’s national team and West Vancouver Field Hockey Club in the build-up to Rio has really inspired the next generation of field hockey players on the North Shore,” states Geoff Matthews, WVFHC technical director, in an email.
The men’s national team started with a squad of 28, with room for only 16 to bring to Rio. The final roster was going to be announced, fittingly, on July 1. The day before, Curran got a call saying he needed to head to the Team Canada office at UBC, but only because he forgot to fill out some paperwork.
Curran found himself in the company of six fellow teammates, but there was no paperwork to be found. He recalls them all growing slightly frustrated after sitting around for a while. The players were escorted to another room where other players were gathered. The door closed behind them. There was video rolling.
“And you look around and there’s 16 guys here. And then they close the door and the coach says, ‘Look around the room. These are the 16 guys that are going to go the Olympics,’” replays Curran.
Shock evolved into hugging and high-fiving amongst the new Team Canada field hockey teammates, and obviously no hard feelings for being lured out to UBC under false pretenses.
Curran says he is always giving his mom a hard time for not answering her phone. June 30 was no different. Curran had called his mom first to tell her the good news. Voicemail.
His mom said it was good she didn’t get the call at work, explains Curran, given all the screaming she did in her car when she finally heard her son had become an Olympian.
As part of its preparation for Rio, Canada’s men’s Olympic field hockey team hosted the United States for a series of games at Rutledge in July, giving local fans a chance to see the elite athletes in action. The Canadian team also showed up at WVFHC junior spring league training and ran some drills with the players and signed autographs.
Curran’s fellow WVFHC teammates Scott Tupper and Mark Pearson also made the final cut for Team Canada. Tupper, a Vancouver native, is the team’s captain while Pearson, a Tsawwassen product who has suited up for the West Van club since his teenage years, is one of the national team’s most experienced players.
Curran and Pearson actively coach for the WVFHC Boys Wolves spring league, as well as the recently established girls’ field hockey academy through the North Vancouver school district.
Rooting for Curran in Rio is a family contingent including his parents, two brothers and an aunt. There will be plenty of friends in the Seymour area and across the North Shore cheering
Curran on as well. Curran has fond memories of growing up near Deep Cove.
“When we were in high school if me or one of my friends wanted to hang out we’d say, ‘Let’s go to Honey’s Doughnuts,’” says Curran.
When asked if he is ready for Rio, Curran tries hard to contain his excitement.
“You play field hockey and you play sports in general because you love competing and sort of testing yourself against the best teams, and that’s what the Olympics is,” says Curran. “We have an opportunity to play at least five, hopefully more, of the best teams in the world and see how we stack up. It’s super exciting.”
You can catch Curran and the rest of the Canadian men’s field hockey team in action when they take to the field in Rio on Saturday. On Monday they will play against Argentina; on Tuesday they will face the Netherlands; on Thursday they’ll go against Ireland, and on Friday they’ll play against India.
