By Dan Plouffe
They’ve done their fair share of winning on the turf in recent years, and now the Nepean Nighthawks Field Hockey Club is celebrating a big win off the field.
For the first time, Field Hockey Canada has granted an entry in its Canadian Championships to an Ontario East team, which will compete in the under-16 boys’ division at the July 28-Aug. 1 nationals in Brampton.
“We feel very excited about this, not because we’re just entering this one tournament, but we’ve been building up to this,” signals Nighthawks club founder Sandeep Chopra. “It’s been our plan all along, and in year 6, we’re a bit ahead of where we thought we were going to be, but we’re thrilled to see this happen.”
The Nepean U16 boys’ group has shown they’re up for the challenge of taking on six other top regions at the nationals, Chopra details, and it also helps that they’ve got other older athletes who have proven their mettle internationally.
Liam Manning, Braedon Muldoon and Rohan Chopra recently helped the Canadian U21 men’s team sweep USA in four consecutive matches during an exhibition series June 24-27 in Surrey, B.C. Manning and Muldoon also helped Canada to its all-time best showing on the international stage by winning silver medal at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games.
“The national organization has seen how quickly we’ve been producing athletes for the very top level,” Chopra underlines, “so they thought we deserved a shot.”
While it’s only the U16 boys who will enter nationals as Ontario East this year, Chopra would like to also have regional entries for the other nationals divisions in the future once those groups become as competitive as the U16 boys.
“It’s the first time, but it’s not going to be the last,” Chopra pledges. “Come 2016 or 2017, we’re going to do the same for the girls.”