By Ottawa Sports Pages, for Nepean Nighthawks Field Hockey Club
There’s a new facility coming to Ottawa where you’ll be able to play a fast 5-on-5 sport with boards, nets and hockey sticks. No, it’s not another arena. It’s the nation’s capital’s first purpose-built Field Hockey Centre, and it’ll be the country’s first Hockey5s facility, as well as the future home of Team Canada.
“There are clear parallels between Hockey5s and our country’s passion for ice hockey,” says Susan Ahrens, Field Hockey Canada’s Chief Executive Officer. “It’s fast, dynamic, exciting and accessible.”
Played on a smaller surface with fewer players than traditional 11-a-side field hockey, Hockey5s features quick 20-minute matches, perimeter boards that keep the ball in play, more scoring opportunities and an energetic festival atmosphere.
There is already a Hockey5s World Cup and Nepean players have competed for Canada at the Youth Olympic Games in this version of the sport. But the international field hockey federation (FIH) wants to grow the game even more, which includes the construction of new Hockey5s pitches through its More Places to Play initiative.
The FIH’s donation of a Polytan Hockey5s pitch has unlocked key investments to bring to life a community-driven project that’s been in formation for nearly a decade.
“We’re so happy that our perseverance is paying off,” smiles Ottawa Field Hockey Centre community leader Sandeep Chopra. “It’s been such a long road. I’ve tried not to get too high or too low about it because it’s just a grind, and until that first ball rolls on the turf, I won’t be satisfied.
“But you make your own breaks in a sense. That’s an old saying in sports, but it’s true here too – you’ve just got to keep working at it.”
Over the years, the Nepean Nighthawks Field Hockey Club developed a vision for the Field Hockey Centre, engineered design plans, reached an agreement with the City of Ottawa to provide land for the facility on Colonnade Rd., fundraised and grew community support.
Following the announcement of the FIH’s donated 40×23.67-metre playing surface, Canadian manufacturer Centaur Products confirmed a donation of $700,000 to build a second Hockey 5s-size pitch, while the City of Ottawa will double funding through its Community Partnership Major Capital Program.
Altogether, it will create a full-size 91.4×55-metre pitch for 11-player field hockey, or the opportunity to play smaller games side-by-side.
“We finally will have the ability, the capacity and the facility to run the programs we’ve always wanted,” notes Chopra, a Nighthawks club founder. “Up until now, we’ve been cornered. We just don’t have enough field time to expand the programs beyond what they are today. This will change everything.”
Beyond play on the pitch, the Centre will provide a home for the passionate field hockey community to come together and connect.
Read More: Building an Ottawa field hockey facility is an investment in building community
There will be new opportunities for sport tourism and it will allow the public to discover a sport that looks very familiar to our national winter pastime, but in a new and exciting format.
“This gives the chance for not just kids in Ottawa, but everywhere in Eastern Canada, to congregate somewhere other than Vancouver and have this pathway to Team Canada,” adds Chopra. “It’s such an exciting moment for the sport.”
The priority will be to get the pitch laid down, with construction planned to commence next season. There are additional aspects of the project still in need of funding such as lighting, fencing, benches, scoreboards, change rooms, offices, storage and community amenities.
There is an exceptional opportunity for a partner to acquire naming rights to the Centre and its programs, Chopra indicates, noting it will be Team Canada’s home, an international destination for field hockey travel, and provides a link to a diverse Canadian demographic that fuels the #2 most-played field sport, which is known simply as “hockey” in most of the world.
Field Hockey Canada will also be applying to Government of Canada’s Build Communities Strong Fund – recognized as a generational investment in sport infrastructure – in hopes of accessing funds for a project that’s similar to the recently-announced Canada Soccer National Training Centre. That would enable the construction of a second neighbouring full-size pitch.
“We’re really encouraged by that investment,” says Chopra, who is pleased a nationwide program created to serve both playground and podium pursuits. “We’re a small community organization, and we’re doing something very big, so we’re thrilled to see the attention on grassroots sports.”
Nighthawks’ thriving Stick Together program opens doors for Indigenous players
It was federal funding through the Community Sport for All Initiative that helped launch the Nighthawks’ exceptionally popular Stick Together program, which offers free field hockey to Indigenous youth.
Now in its fourth season, the initiative was crafted in response in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s call-to-action to reduce sport participation barriers.
“From our perspective as a club, it’s been spectacular success,” Chopra signals, highlighting the many returning players and families who have fallen in love with field hockey and become part of the community. “As far as a reconciliation project is concerned, I mean, that’s still brewing.
“But what we see is kids working together on the same teams from all over the city, they become friends, and they would never have met each other before this. And you know, who better to reconcile than kids?”
Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities has now become a major supporter of the program with its Community Development Grant, which has allowed the Nighthawks to clear the waitlist for the program and offer ongoing support to participating players.
“We’re so happy that the best known brand in Canada is so involved in our community,” Chopra underlines. “You hear a lot about being a good corporate citizen, and I tell you, they really pay attention to what it is that we require, which is funding at the most basic level to get kids out and to get families involved.
“But it’s not only that. They’ve also got some of the best community-level coach training I’ve seen, and the programs on keeping girls in sport and ethics in sport, they’ve done an amazing job with those too. They’ve been absolutely fantastic.”
During the annual Nepean Field Hockey Tournament, the Nighthawks received a special visit from Diana Fox Carney, wife of Prime Minister (and Nepean MP) Mark Carney, to check out the program in action.
“I think it’s fantastic. I’m a big field hockey fan,” Fox Carney said humbly, without bragging that she played both field and ice hockey for Oxford University. “I’m always really excited to see young people playing sport and to have (them experience) the inclusive nature of the sport.”
Fox Carney noted that sports can be quite expensive at times and saluted the Nighthawks for offering accessible opportunities.
“I play ice hockey too, and that’s a crazy amount of money,” she added. “But I think it’s such a good thing for kids to do, and adults too. You learn teamwork, discipline and all these great things.
“To give everyone the opportunity to play, I think, is essential, so I’m very proud of these guys and what they’re doing.”
Learn more about the Nepean Nighthawks Field Hockey Club at NepeanFieldHockey.ca.
