U16 National Team travels to Netherlands for Den Bosch Tournament
This week, the U16 Women’s National Team departs for the Netherlands for the International Den Bosch Tournament. For many of those athletes, will probably be their first worldwide touring expertise. The journey, spanning May 19and culminating in the Den Bosch hockey event from May 27-29.
Team Canada is comprised of 14-16 year-old athletes from throughout the nation together with gamers from Ontario, PEI, Alberta and BC.
Katie-Grace Noye is the one PEI athlete on Team Canada. She is a Grade-11 scholar at Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside, PEI and performs for the provincial subject hockey group. This journey to the Netherlands shall be Noye’s first-ever worldwide subject hockey expertise. For her, she’s most anticipating gelling along with her teammates and experiencing worldwide hockey for the primary time.
“I am excited to meet the team and get to know them, and their style of play,” Noye mentioned. “Also, one of the major things I’m looking forward to is experiencing a new intensity and higher level of field hockey. I’m excited for this amazing opportunity.”
Noye began enjoying subject hockey 5 years in the past in center faculty and has liked it ever since. She at the moment performs ice hockey in the winter in addition to training indoor subject hockey and performs in the PEI Spring League. As the group has by no means skilled collectively on-pitch, Noye understands that they’ll have to work to be taught from one another. She is happy to get all collectively for the primary time in the Netherlands.
“I expect our first scrimmages to be learning experiences for us. We will learn how to play with each other and get a feel for each other’s game,” she mentioned. “We have been going over structure and how we want to play as a team, so all we have to do is take it from paper to the field with each other and I’m certain we will grow fast as a team.” She provides that the camaraderie is without doubt one of the most particular elements of group sports activities.
Head Coach Kyle Marks can be wanting ahead to the primary time the group will get on the sphere collectively. Him and his assistant coach Jenn Swagar, Team Alberta coach and coach of University of Calgary, haven’t had any subject time with this group, making these first periods all of the extra necessary to get on the identical web page.
“The geographic spread of the team adds character and challenge to preparing for an international tour because the athletes come from different regions with different styles of play, coaching, and resources,” Marks mentioned. “As a coach, it is important to identify and address these differences to ensure that the team is cohesive and prepared to compete at the highest level. Those first few training sessions will be crucial to help get the squad gelling and playing like a team as soon as possible.”
Marks is a Head Coach for SEAtoSKY Field Hockey Club and the FHBC North Shore Academy in addition to his teaching tasks for the U16 Women’s National Team, and a technical coach for the Women’s National Team. He has worldwide teaching expertise in South Africa, USA and Hong Kong. Marks acknowledges the U16 nationwide program as an necessary a part of the nationwide group pipeline and needs to do his greatest to put together these athletes for worldwide hockey careers.
“My expectations for this group are that they will compete to the best of their ability, show a willingness to learn and improve, and represent Canada with pride and sportsmanship. I want them to enjoy the experience and come away with valuable lessons that they can apply to their future endeavours,” he mentioned. “The U16 national team is an important steppingstone in the national pipeline for young field hockey players. The pathway will help these athletes move up through to U18, U21 and eventually into the Women’s National Program.”
The group departs on May 19 and can start coaching and check matches. The International Den Bosch event b
