“We are looking forward to seeing what hidden talents we can get from our new and returning players,” she says.
The season starts with the Friendship Cup on Sept. 16-17, co-hosted by Shawnigan and Brentwood College School, with games at Shawnigan’s field hockey turf and the Cowichan Sportsplex. Both the senior competitive and junior teams will be taking part.
The senior team has a full season this fall, playing games or tournaments nearly every weekend between the start and end of the season. The squad’s goal is to qualify for the AA provincial championships, which will be held in Vancouver in November.
The team will be without Grade 12 midfielder Ashley M. for a few of those games as she joins the Hong Kong U21 women’s team for the Women’s Junior AHF Cup in Taldykorgan, Kazakhstan in October. Hong Kong will be looking to finish in the top five in order to qualify for the 2023 Women’s Junior Asia Cup.
Shawnigan Head of School Larry Lamont is back helping Conroy coach the senior team, as he has done for the last three years. “He’s really passionate and enthusiastic,” Conroy comments, “and he wants to take athletes to the next level and help them improve.”
Athletes should be proud to represent the School on the field, Conroy insists. “When they take the field, the starting 11 should know that they are the best at the place where they live, work and play. I want them to be proud of that.”
The ice hockey camps at Charlie Purdey Arena served multiple purposes. For the U15 boys and U18 girls teams, who had already been selected, the sessions addressed preseason conditioning and gave the players a chance to get to know each other. For the U18, U17 and JV boys teams, it was more of a selection camp for the coaches to make decisions on where everyone is going to fit.
Although the coaches know the players well, they know things can change, and, as head coach Kevin Cooper says, “Surprises are always a good thing,” so they are open to allowing players to prove themselves and earn a spot at a higher level.
There are lofty goals for both of the U18 teams this year. The girls team will be among the strongest that Shawnigan has ever iced, and the goal is to make the top four in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League. “We have high expectations of that group this year. Every year, they’ve been improving.”
The boys team will build around a strong returning core from last year’s team that finished the regular season ninth out of 17 U18 prep teams. Cooper is aiming for a top-four finish this year, but he acknowledges that once you make the top 12, anyone can beat anyone.
“We have a good returning group. The level of character is really high. The quality of kids will be a game-changer. It makes a huge difference when you have a good group of kids.”
The season will begin next weekend with exhibition games at home for the U15 boys and U18 girls teams. The U18 boys will start the regular season with home games against St. George’s School on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 25 at 10:30 p.m.
The School is hosting a big tournament, the Robertson Winter Classic, on Jan. 12-15, with teams attending from across Canada.