Following last month's successful campaign to win the Pan American Cup in Santiago and direct qualification to the 2010 FIH World Cup in New Delhi, the Canadian Men's Team is formally initiating its World Cup preparation.
Head Coach Alan Brahmst announced that the first project for the Champions of the Americas is a 4 day National Selection Camp scheduled for 4-7 June in Vancouver. Field Hockey Canada's objective for this camp is to identify the World Cup squad of 28-30 athletes, who will form the core group of players participating in the preparation projects over the next 10 months.
'The camp will be comprehensive with 15 hours of on-field activities and will include fitness testing and a technical capabilities evaluation. Tactical assessments will be performed as part of numerous inter-squad matches', said Brahmst and then added, 'for Canada, as we move toward two significant competitions in 2010, the World Cup & the Commonwealth Games, we are looking to now design a younger squad, which will form the longer-term core of our National Team as we move toward London 2012 and then into the next Olympic cycle. Although performance in the short term is a top priority, we are looking for the right balance to sustain our success and continue our climb in world rankings beyond 2010.'
The squad will be announced on 9 June before the athletes join the provincial team training phase, which concludes with the National Championships in Calgary from 20-26 July
Objectives of the Camp are to:
- Evaluate the fitness & performance of athletes attending the camp
- Identify a broader group of players to lead Canada through he 2010 FIH World Cup & Commonwealth Games as well as the next Olympic Cycle.
- Rank players and communicate national team performance requirements.
Source: Field Hockey Canada
