The Victoria Junior Field Hockey Association is looking for our community’s support in helping one of our own. EIght-year-old Oliver Conway is a member of our U8 Boys program this year but had to stop playing because of a recent cancer diagnosis.

The Conway family is now in the fight of their lives and they could use our support.

From the GoFund Me page:
On May 2, 2023, after an investigative CT scane, it was discovered that Oliver had a cancerous brain tumor. Life for our family changed on a dime, and we suddenly found ourselves with Oliver at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver awaiting surgery to remove the tumor. Later that week he had the tumor removed successfully. Unfortunately, post-op testing confirmed that the tumor had metastasized to another part of his brain. It has been the darkest days of our life.

Oliver requires many months of treatment. He will have up to 6 months of chemotherapy at BC Children’s Hospital and 6 weeks of radiation therapy in Seattle.

Hailee, a Certified Dental Assistant, and Evan, an Electrician, have each had to take a leave of absence from their jobs in Victoria to be present with Oliver in Vancouver through his neurosurgery and now as he begins his chemo and radiation.

Please consider contributing or sharing:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/oliver-conways-journey

The Metro Vancouver Pro League (MVPL) is coming to Victoria on Saturday, May 13 and this is one of the rare occasions that Vancouver Island will entertain Canada’s best men’s players including several from the Canadian national team and Olympians. You may even see some of these players at Victoria Junior League sessions that weekend!

The four-team semifinal action will take place at the University of Victoria with games at 3:00 pm (2nd vs 3rd place) and 4:30 pm (1st vs 4th place). Along with the games, there are opportunities for youth to take place in the opening walkouts or as ball kids and opportunities for the community to learn from international officials including technical officials and umpires.

The MVPL was formed in 2022 and this is the second instalment of the high-performance field hockey league that focuses on diversity, inclusion, sportsmanship, integrity and respect for the game. Each of the four teams are named after key contributors to the sport of field hockey and the player draft balances the senior and junior talent for balanced but competitive competition. This is the highest-level men’s field hockey that can be played in Canada.

Interested in taking part? Here are the details:

COME WATCH – Saturday, May 13, 2023
• 3:00 pm – Game 1 (2nd vs 3rd Place)
• 4:30 pm – Game 2 (1st vs 4th Place)

Admission is free and seating is first come first serve. The pace of the game is high and so is the ball speed. Please ensure children are supervised and are paying attention if near the sidelines.

Youth participation – walk out buddies (U8 and U6) and ball kids (U14-U18)
• Please contact Ali Baggott: techdirector@victoriajuniorfieldhockey.ca
• Must be available 2:45-3:15pm for Game 1 and/or 4:15-4:45pm for Game 1.
• Walk out buddies are only needed for the beginning of each game
• Ball kids are needed 10 min before the game and throughout the game time(s)

Interested in learning about Technical Official roles or want to support on game day?
• Please contact Brenda Rushton: bjrushton19@gmail.com

Umpire Development Workshop
• Please register online (free): https://forms.gle/pQSFivPohxwbSMGB9
• Register by May 10, 2023.
• This session runs 2-6:30pm and will be facilitated by Alan Waterman (Olympic umpire, FIH Umpire Manager) and will include Q&As with current international umpires Lelia Sacre, Tyler Klenk, Meghan McLennan and Megan Robertson.

Check out the MVPL online:
Website: https://www.mvpl.ca/hype-league/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mvpl.fh/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@metrovancouverproleague293
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mvpl.fh

Feature photo: Harbir Sidhu (Canadian men’s national team player, former UVic Vikes player from Victoria, B.C.).
Photo Credit: Chris Bulowski

Announcing an exciting opportunity for our U12 to U18 Girls participants – travelling to play in a tournament!

Each year, all field hockey clubs in BC are invited to attend Field Hockey BC’s (FHBC) Club Festivals and Championships. These are hosted in different locations each year and offer an excellent opportunity for participants to travel with a team and play against other clubs from around the province.

Priority for selection will be given to those players who are current VJFHA members but if the teams are short, we will solicit for non-VJFHA members but they still need to fill out the below form.

REGISTER FOR CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS: http://victoriajuniorfieldhockey.ca/forms/25059-2023-Girls-Club-Championship-Registration-

Deadline to register for Club Championships
· U12 Deadline: May 1, 2023
· U18 Deadline: May 1, 2023
· U16 Deadline: May 8, 2023
· U14 Deadline: May 15, 2023

We are also looking for team coaches and parent assistant coaches or team managers. Please let Ali Baggott (techdirector@victoriajuniorfieldhockey.ca) know if you are able to help.

More details below:

Clubs across the province will be sending teams to participate in these events, offering VJFHA players an additional opportunity to their Spring League experience with several games over a two or three-day period. It is a highlight for the players, offering new competition, travel, team jerseys, lots of fun, and team bonding.

Player Cost and Responsibilities:
Although these tournaments are an additional opportunity outside the regular league sea-son, the VJFHA is committed to supporting the teams by committing funds to help cover turf costs for assessments, Club Championship team entry fee, and support for coach/umpire travel subsidies.

All participants selected to a team will be responsible for their own transportation (vehicle/ferry), accommodation and meal costs. In addition, each participant will be required to pay a Club Championship player fee of approximately $60.00 to cover additional team costs, including but not limited to:

• Practice turf fee (two to three 1-hour sessions)
• Personalized jersey and socks (to keep)
• Team snacks and incidentals

These fees will be due by the first team practice.

Assessments and Practices:
(Dates/times may change based on coach availability and plans)

U12 Festival (one team)
Coach: Nancy Mollenhauer
Evaluations: April 30 & May 7 (in your VJFHA sessions)
Team Practices: Saturdays, May 13 and May 27 (1-2pm) at UVic Field 3 (rubber turf)
Tournament: June 3-4 (@ Burnaby Lake Complex)

U16 Championship (one tier 2 team – TBC)
Coach: TBDEvaluation: May 11 (in your VJFHA session)
Team Practices: Wed. May 24 (7-8pm) and Tues. May 30 (7-8pm)
Tournament: June 10-11 (Shawnigan Lake School)

U14 Tier Championship (one tier 2 team)
Coach: TBD, Tracey Varian (team manager)
Evaluations: May 17 or 24 (in your VJFHA sessions)
Team Practices: TBD but two sessions likely May 27, June 3, or June 6 
Tournament: June 17-18 (Chilliwack)

U18 Championship (one tier 2 team – TBC)
Coaches: Shibby Claire and Jim Knight 
Evaluations: May 4 (in your VJFHA sessions)
Team practices: May 16 and 23 (7-8pm)
Tournament: May 26-28 (Tamanawis Park – Surrey)

Teams will be announced within 48 hours of the last evaluation session.

For any questions, please e-mail Ali at: techdirector@victoriajuniorfieldhockey.ca

Sorry for the short notice but due to the cold temperatures and the windy/wet climate we are going to cancel junior league practice tonight, Thursday, April 20.

U12 Girls (6-7pm) – all team practices are CANCELLED
U16/18 Girls (7-8pm) – all team practices are CANCELLED

We hope this message reaches you in time but if you have teammates or friends in this division, please don’t hesitate to send them an e-mail or text message.

We apologize for any last minute inconvenience but would prefer that participants are not out there in the cold and wet trying to learn the sport.

If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact:

Ali Baggott (she/her)
Technical Director
Victoria Junior Field Hockey Association
c. 250-418-5633
e. techdirector@victoriajuniorfieldhockey.ca
w. victoriajuniorfieldhockey.ca

The Victoria Junior League starts this weekend, April 15-16, and we are excited that two hockey supply vendors from Vancouver will be here on Sunday, April 16 from 9am-5:30pm up at the University of Victoria beside the water-based field.

Please come up and visit if you are interested in purchasing equipment from:
1) Osaka Americas – https://osakaworld.com
2) Ritual Hockey – https://ritualhockey.com/

The above two brands will in Victoria for the day and will have a supply of sticks, shoes, bags and accessories.

A reminder that we have local partners should you need any equipment throughout the year:
- Kirby’s Source for Sports (894 Cloverdale) carries Grays equipment via AK Pro Canada https://www.akprocanada.com/
- Heather Goodman in Duncan (hgoodman@telus.net) is a rep for Hockey King Sports (including Brabo) https://hockeykingsports.com/
- Bunny Hughes (vbunnyhughes@gmail.com) is a rep for the Field Hockey Shack (including Gryphon) https://www.fieldhockeyshack.com/