Building off a productive summer chalked full of international competition in Ireland and Germany, the Canadian women’s national program is eager to return to international competition heading into the Pan American Cup in September.
The volume of games combined with the positive performances for both the Senior and U21 Teams made for an arduous selection process. Coach Ian Rutledge was impressed by the performance of many of the girls at the Junior World Cup, with eight U21's making selection.
Pan Am Cup Team:
Lauren Logush
Kaitlyn Williams
Jessica Barnett
Danielle Hennig
Shanlee Johnston
Sara McManus
Kaelan Watson
Amanda Woodcroft
Ashley Kristen
Abigail Raye
Maddie Secco
Natalie Sourisseau
Thea Culley
Kate Gillis
Hannah Haughn
Caashia Karringten
Stephanie Norlande
Brienne Stairs
Rutledge is confident in the 18 players, now focusing on the details one month out: “We are still a new and young team, attempting to modernize our style of play. Our focus has been about perfecting our offensive and defensive structure and system and move these from the cognitive to the automatic stages.”
The success of the Ireland tour in June confirmed that the program is progressing well. There’s a priority on increasing the team’s depth and with that, exposing more athletes to the speed and tempo of international competition. The Pan Am Cup will certainly accomplish this goal, with top teams vying the coveted spot in the 2014 World Cup in The Hague.
“The final push to the PAC will be about focusing on individual and system refinements to ensure we are optimally prepared ahead of the tournament” said Rutledge.
Veteran striker Kate Gillis welcomes the new attacking style of hockey promoted by Rutledge: “We’ve been focusing on a fast attacking game where we put a lot of pressure on the oppositions defence. There’s a lot of up and coming talent on the squad which makes every training session competitive.”
Gillis also commented on returning to the tournament atmosphere: “It’s been a year since we competed in World League, so we’re itching to play a major competition. It’s going to be a tough tournament with some really talented teams, and I can’t wait to see how our team measures up against our continental competition.”
The Pan American Cup takes place in Mendoza, Argentina, September 21-28. Canada draws Argentina, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago in Pool A, and opens their tournament vs. Guyana.
Source: Field Hockey Canada
