Canada, with three Island players, remained upbeat and confident following its 2-0 loss to Great Britain in Valencia, Spain, to open the last-chance women’s field-hockey qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics. That’s because GB and host Spain are the powers in the group, making today’s game against Malaysia the crucial one for Canada in group play. Three of the four teams will advance to the Paris Olympics this summer.
“I’m really proud with how the team showed up today. Great Britain is an incredible team with multiple Olympic medalists,” Canadian team captain Natalie Sourisseau said in her post-match media statement.
Canada played GB tough and the game was competitive.
“I think we showed up and surprised ourselves with what we can do,” said Sourisseau.
“Yes, there’s lots we can work on and learning we can bring forward, but we can feel happy with what we put out there today.” The Island trio of Oak Bay High graduate Kathleen Leahy and St. Michaels University School graduate Anna Mollenhauer, both former national champions with the University of Victoria Vikes, and Cowichan Secondary product Sara Goodman of Duncan are chasing their Olympic dreams in Valencia. Carrie Trumpy of Victoria is the Canadian team manager.
Canada, which qualified for the last-chance qualifier by placing fourth in the 2023 Santiago Pan Am Games, concludes group play against Spain on Tuesday. The cross-over round is Thursday and the medal round next Saturday.
Canada has not qualified for the Olympics in women’s field hockey since the 1992 national team, composed mostly of players from Victoria, Duncan and Vancouver, performed in Barcelona. Canada came within an aching inch or two of qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but was denied 4-3 in a shootout against host Ireland in what was the deciding game for a berth in Tokyo.
Canadian head coach Danny Kerry coached the Great Britain women’s team to the bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics and to gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics and was brought on by Field Hockey Canada to end the Canadian women’s Olympic drought.
Host France, Pan Am Games champion Argentina, Asian Games champion China, Oceania champion Australia, European champion Netherlands and African champion South Africa have qualified for the 2024 Olympics. The remaining six berths for Paris are being decided in the two last-chance qualifying tournaments, the Pool B featuring Canada in Valencia, and Pool A with Belgium, Korea, Ireland and Ukraine in Ranchi, India.
The Canadian men’s team, with Tokyo Olympics veteran James Kirkpatrick of Victoria and University of Victoria Vikes products Keegan Pereira, Matthew Sarmento and Brenden Bissett, opens its last-chance Olympic qualifier for Paris 2024 in Muscat, Oman, on Monday.
