Registration is now open! Here is the link to the FHBC website with information -
http://fieldhockeybc.com/Umpires/UmpireEducation/UmpireCoursesOffered/tabid/577/Default.aspx

Direct link to reg: https://www.fieldhockeybc.ca/fhbc/courses.php/

Provincial Courses are 60$ for FHBC members and 80$ for non-members. Courses are two sessions of 3 hours, including theory and exam. Participants are required to attend both sessions to be eligible to write the exam. Candidates must be a minimum of 13 years by the end of the calendar year to register.

VICTORIA – November 2016
Dates: November 21 & 24, 2016 (last day to register: Wednesday November 9, 2016)
Time: Two sessions from 6:30pm – 9:30pm on each of Monday November 21 and Thursday November 24, 2016
Venue: Room 329A, PISE Building (4371 Interurban Road, Victoria)
Course Conductor: Denise McGeachy
Registration link can be found here!

REMINDER Regional Courses:
Regional Courses are 80$ for FHBC members. Courses are open to umpires who have a CURRENT Provincial Umpire rating, and are interested in the first steps towards fulfilling the Regional certification requirements. Regional Courses are two sessions of 3 hours, and participants are required to attend both sessions to be eligible to write the exam. Contact the Field Hockey BC office at (604) 737-3046, or email eventsandofficials@fieldhockeybc.com with any questions.
VICTORIA – November 2016

Dates: Saturday November 5, 2016 (last day to register: Friday October 28)
Time: 10:30am-1:30pm, and 3pm-6pm, Saturday
Venue: Room 155, McKinnon Building, University of Victoria (This course is not offered or sponsored by the University of Victoria, and the University is not responsible for the content)
Instructor: Alan Waterman

University of Victoria Vikes head coach Lynne Beecroft was crowned Canada West Coach of the Year for the second-straight season on Sunday, Oct. 23. The Vikes also picked up two other major awards as former Lynx defender Annie Walters-Shumka was named the Gail Wilson Outstanding Contributor Award winner and first-year Vike and Vancouver native Emily Wong was named Rookie of the Year. In addition, four seniors were named to the Canada West All-Star list (Rosie Beale, Kathleen Leahy, Amanda Kurianowicz and Lizzie Yates) along side Kristina Walters-Shumka.

NEW WESTMINSTER – The Canada West field hockey major awards were anounced on Sunday afternoon and last year’s CIS Coach of the Year Lynne Beecroft was named Canada West Coach of the Year once again.

Rachel Donohoe, named Canada West Player of the Year, and the T-Birds capped off their championship season with a 3-0 win against the Calgary Dinos Sunday afternoon in Vancouver, as UBC put the finishing touches on a 6-0-2 regular season record.

UBC, along with the second-place Victoria Vikes (4-2-2), will now head to the University of Toronto November 3-6 for the national tournament. The Thunderbirds travel to the Ontario capital looking for their sixth consecutive national championship.

Joining Donohoe as an award winner was fellow T-Bird Gabriella Switzer (Goalkeeper of the Year) and Victoria’s Emily Wong (Rookie of the Year), Annie Walters-Shumka (Outstanding Contributor) and Beecroft (Coach of the Year).

Rookie of the Year – Emily Wong
Victoria Vikes, Midfielder, Vancouver, BC
1st-year, Education

Emily Wong started every game for the Vikes women’s field hockey team this season at centre midfield – one of the toughest positions to play on the field. A quick learner, Wong jumped into an important role with the team, finishing the season with one goal while drawing some of toughest matchups in games against UBC and Calgary.

When injuries forced head coach Lynne Beecroft to shuffle her lineup, Wong took to the challenge and showcased her versatility, moving to the backfield and doing an excellent job against a tough squad in the UBC Thunderbirds.

Wong, a three-time member of the BC ‘A’ program that won the national championship this past summer, was also an essential part of the Vikes penalty corner offensive unit in her first year with the team.

“As a first-year athlete, Emily played an integral role for us,” said head coach Lynne Beecroft. “She reads the game well, was always tasked to mark one of the top players on the opposition and was able to score one goal from her centre midfield position this season.”

Outstanding Contributor (Gail Wilson Award nominee) –
Annie Walters-Shumka
Victoria Vikes, Defender, Victoria, BC
5th-year, Science

A four-time CIS Academic All-Canadian and a Canada West All-Star in two of her five years with the team, Walters-Shumka has been an important member of the Vikes team both on and off the field. She gives her all at practice and games, taking time to step in and mentor her teammates, and spends much of her time off the field volunteering as a medical intern, clinic volunteer, ambulatory care unit volunteer, Active Start program leader with Special Olympics, math and science tutor and field hockey coach.

She has coached multiple field hockey teams in Victoria, including in the Victoria Spring League, the Monterey Middle School team and the UVic Rising Stars program. Last year, she was named a CIS Championship All-Star after helping lead the Vikes to CIS silver on home turf. Despite multiple commitments on and off the field, she manages an 8.5 GPA (on a 9-point scale) in the faculty of Science.

“Annie is an amazing young woman who has been chosen by her teammates as their 2016 CW Gail Wilson Award nominee,” said head coach Lynne Beecroft. “To be honest, it astonishes me that she can do so well at university, do all of this volunteer work and still make such a huge impact on the varsity women’s field hockey team.”

Coach of the Year – Lynne Beecroft
Victoria Vikes

In her 33rd year with the team, Lynne Beecroft led the University of Victoria Vikes to a 4-2-2 record, with both losses coming by one goal against UBC. Last year’s CIS Coach of the Year took on six rookies this season and welcomed back four fifth-year players, providing a nice mix between experienced veterans and young players.

Once again Beecroft, along with assistant coaches Krista Thompson and Ali Lee, fielded one of the most competitive university teams in Canada, using her experience to help the Vikes navigate injuries and illness to book a place at nationals in Toronto. Beecroft’s teams have made 31 national championships since she took the helm at Victoria and those teams have won 11 gold, nine silver and seven bronze medals, missing the podium just four times. Her all-time record at the national tournament is 80-31-17.

2016 CANADA WEST ALL-STAR TEAM

POSITION – NAME / UNIVERSITY / ELIGIBILITY / HOMETOWN / PROGRAM
D – Rosie Beale / University of Victoria / 1st / Vancouver, B.C. / Social Sciences
D – Jessica Britton / University of Calgary / 5th / Rossland, B.C. / Medicine
M – Rachel Donohoe / University of British Columbia / 4th / North Van., B.C. / Kinesiology
F/M – Hannah Haughn / University of British Columbia / 5th / North Van., B.C. / Kinesiology
M – Sarah Keglowitsch / University of British Columbia / 4th / Shawinigan Lake, B.C. / Kin.
F – Amanda Kurianowicz / University of Victoria / 5th / Calgary, Alta. / Social Sciences
D/M – Kathleen Leahy / University of Victoria / 5th / Victoria, B.C. / Education
F/M – Stephanie Norlander / University of British Columbia / 4th / North Van., B.C. / Food, nutrition & health
D – Kristina Walters-Shumka / University of Victoria / 3rd / Victoria, B.C. / Science
D/F – Sabrina Wong / University of Calgary / 2nd / West Vancouver, B.C. / Medicine
D – Lizzie Yates / University of Victoria / 4th / Cobble Hill, B.C. / Humanities

About Canada West:

Canada West is the premier athletic conference in the country and is home to champion student-athletes that excel on the field, in the classroom and in their communities. Canada West and its 17 member institutions commit to a student-athlete experience where competitive excellence, scholarship and sportsmanship contribute equally towards moulding outstanding graduates and community leaders.

Learn to Curl and FunSpiel
Date: Sunday, November 27, 2016
Time: 2:00 – 4:00 pm
Location: Victoria Curling Club (1952 Quadra Street)

Cost is $16.00 per player or $60.00 per team (team includes four people)
Includes 1 hour of instruction given by the VCC coaches and 1 hour of game time.
No experience, no problem!

Equipment (sliders, grippers and brooms) is available at the curling club.
All participants must bring a pair of rubber-soled athletic shoes that have not been worn outside so they can be worn on the ice surface.

Registration: Note: This event is for VILFHA members only….sorry lads maybe next time!

• Please contact Kate Knappett (kate-k@shaw.ca) with your
name and e-mail address. If you are registering as a team of 4 players, one
contact person and their e-mail address is sufficient.

• Send your payment ($60.00 per team or $16.00 per individual) to:
Heather Wheatley – 1737 Mortimer Street, Victoria, B.C. V8P 3A9
Cheques should be payable to: VILFHA
E- transfer directly to: chwheat@gmail.com with a password as: VILFHA

• Deadline for Registration is Sunday, November 13th. There is a limit of 32 players (8 teams) for this event, so please register your teams asap.

Two upper level umpire courses that will be hosted in Victoria are now available for registration.Course details and registration information can be found online here: http://fieldhockeybc.com/Umpires/UmpireEducation/UmpireCoursesOffered/tabid/577/Default.aspx

Regional Umpires Course (prerequisite – must hold minimum Provincial rating)
Saturday November 5, at the McKinnon building on UVic Campus. The course will take place from 10:30am-1:30pm and 3:00-6:00pm, with the exam taking place during the latter part of the course.

Assessors Course (prerequisite – must hold minimum Provincial rating, and been actively umpiring at that level for 4+ years)
Sunday November 6, at the McKinnon building on UVic Campus. The course will take place in Room 155 for 2-2.5 hours on Sunday morning and then candidates will head to the field for the practical portion. Exact times of the theory part will be confirmed once a playing schedule has come out.

The registration deadline for both courses is Friday October 28!

For questions or more information, please contact:
Kathryn Pohran
Events and Officials Program Coordinator, Field Hockey BC
eventsandofficials@fieldhockeybc.com
Phone: (604) 737-3146 Fax: (604) 873-6488 Web: www.fieldhockeybc.com

Lambrick Park graduate Sabrina Wickware was honoured on October 9 at halftime of the Bridgman Cup final as the 2015 Stephanie Johnston (Doney) Memorial Award winner. Wickware has been an active field hockey member in the Vancouver Island Ladies league spending several season with the Lynx Field Hockey Club and most recently a season with the Sailors Field Hockey Club.

Wickware has volunteered as a peer tutor and mentor for Life Skills class for children with disabilities at Lambrick Park and has been a coach in a variety of capacities including most recently working with the high scholl team at Glenlyon Norfolk School as well as the Victoria JUnior League. Wickware has also volunteered at the High Gate home for Seniors and has competed for six years in the FHBC High Performance Regional Program. Wickware has been a multi-sport athlete also competing in cross-country, trakc and field and softball in addition to her dedicated field hockey participation and volunteering.

Wickware becomes the sixth recipient of the award from Lambrick Park following Victoria Hughes (2004), Teagan McInnes (2005), Aly Mackay (2008), Lauren Goodmanson (2009) and Julie Williams (2010).

ABOUT STEPHANIE JOHNSTON (DONEY)

Stephanie was a graduate of Esquimalt High School where she excelled at Track and Field and Field Hockey. She went on to complete her teaching degree at the University of Victoria where she was a valuable member of the Vikes Field Hockey Team. During Stephanie’s teaching career she was the coach of several school teams taking them to the provincial championship level. Stephanie was an active member in the Victoria Women’s Field Hockey Association right up until she was diagnosed with leukaemia.

As an athlete she excelled in all sports, and could turn her hand to anything. She was competitive, hardworking and inspirational, showing sportsmanship at all times.

As a person she was loving, genuine, and generous, beautiful inside and out. As a mother of three small children she was devoted, as a friend unforgettable. She died in March 1991 at the age of 39, but her amazing qualities as a person and athlete live on in the memories of her family, friends and students and are valued by the recipients of the Stephanie Johnston (Doney) Memorial Scholarship.

Each year the Stephanie Johnston (Doney) Memorial Scholarship is awarded at the Bridgman Cup. Previous winners include:

2016 Sabrina Wickware – Lambrick Park
2015 Alexis De Armond – Mount Douglas High
2014 Lindsay Cole – Mount Douglas High
2013 Gillian Kirkpatrick – Oak Bay High
2012 Maddie Secco – Oak Bay High
2011 Kathleen Leahy – Oak Bay High
2010 Adrienne Shepherd – Oak Bay High
2010 Julie Williams – Lambrick Park
2009 Lauren Goodmanson – Lambrick Park
2008 Aly MacKay – Lambrick Park
2007 Kate Shepherd – Oak Bay High
2006 Laura Fairbairn – Mount Douglas High
2005 Teagan McInnes – Lambrick Park
2004 Victoria Hughes – Lambrick Park
2003 Emma Carbery – Oak Bay High
2002 Sandy Barreda – Oak Bay High