Seven players from the Tri-Cities play for the York University Lions field hockey team

Tri-City connection propels York University field hockey team to national championship berth

Oct 31, 2022:  A field hockey pipeline from the Tri-Cities to York University in Toronto could help deliver a national championship to the Lions this weekend.

The Lions, with several players from the Tri-City Eagles club and local high school programs — including Jade and Jewel Lew, Caitlin Miller, Alyssa Brooks, Natalie Winter and Amira Brar — defeated the University of Toronto Blues 2-1 on Saturday to win the Ontario University Athletics championship and earn a chance to earn its first U Sports national title.

York will travel to Victoria to play the University of Victoria Vikings in the best-of-three McCrae Cup final that begins on Friday.

It was a goal by Port Moody Secondary School grad Caitlin Miller with just six minutes to play that propelled the Lions to its first OUA championship since 2017.

She corralled a pass from teammate Mackenzie Gee on the counterattack and fired a bullet that deflected off a U of T defender and into the net.

The goal capped a comeback after Natalie Brown got York on even terms off a penalty corner late in the third quarter.

The Blues had opened the scoring in the first quarter. The Lions are deep in West Coast talent. In addition to the Tri-City players, Brown and teammate Polly Campbell are from West Vancouver, another is from North Vancouver and three more are from Vancouver.

York coach Zeeshan Minhas said the early introduction to field hockey many players get in British Columbia and the mild winters that allow them to play nine months of the year gives them an advantage.

“Kids in B.C. have more basic skills,” he said.

Miller, a defender, is in her second year at York, but her first year of athletic eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She scored twice in nine games in her freshman season and Saturday’s game winner was her first goal of this season.

The Lions finished the regular season with nine wins, two losses and a draw. Its run to the OUA championship also served to avenge the only blemishes to its record as York defeated the Guelph Gryphons — a team it tied 1-1 previously— in the semifinal and both the team’s losses were to the Blues.

For two of the Tri-City players, it won’t be their first crack at a national title. Amira Brar and Natalie Winter were both freshmen on the 2017 team that lost to the University of British Columbia in the McCrae Cup final.

York U’s Tri-City connection:
*  Jade Lew, 2nd year goalkeeper Heritage Woods S.S.
*  Amira Brar, 5th year midfielder Gleneagle S.S.
*  Jewel Lew, 1st year midfielder Heritage Woods S.S.
*  Sydney Bojic, 1st year Heritage Woods S.S.
*  Natalie Winter, 5th year midfielder Dr. Charles Best S.S.
*  Alyssa Brooks, 3rd year midfielder Dr. Charles Best S.S.
*  Caitlin Miller, 2nd year defender Port Moody S.S.

Tri-City Eagles pleased to Announce U14 High Performance Program for Fall 2022

This fall will be the first year a U14 Tri-City Eagles team will be represented at the Premier Youth Field Hockey League, playing against U14 Vancouver Hawks, Polar Bears, Burnaby Bear, Sea to Sky and West Vancouver Club teams. The season will run from Sept. - Nov. with a weekly practice and weekend games in Vancouver or the North Shore. The team tryouts on June 29th had an impressive turnout and the coaches and selectors had a difficult time paring it down to a squad of 25 for practices. A team of 16-18 players will be selected for the weekend games.

The athletes selected come from a total of 5 teams from the 2022 spring season, showing the depth of our club. The coaches are looking forward to increasing the intensity and consistency of skills, while having a supportive environment to develop team concepts and strategy. 

Robin D’Abreo, Dana D’Abreo and Michael Oliver will be the coaches and bring a wealth of knowledge from their past National team experiences and years of coaching.

Robin on the Men’s National team for 15 years and played in the Sydney Olympics in 2000, World Cups and Pan Am games, Commonwealth Games and Olympic and World Cup Qualifying tournaments. He also was the Asst. Coach for the woman’s National team and Head coach for the men’s National Team before moving on to coach UBC and eventually become a Director of Athletics at UBC.

Dana played on the women’s National Team for 8 years and completed at the World Cup in 1994 as well as Olympic Qualifiers and Pam Am Games. She is a physiotherapist with over 25 years of experience. Dana was the Asst coach at UofT for a few years following her university days. She has coached for the Tri-Cities from 2015.

Michael Oliver played on the Men's National Team for 4 years and played in the Commonwealth and Pan American Games as well as World Cup and Olympic Qualifiers. He has also played in Australia in the Western Australia Premier League and coached high school field hockey in Perth. He has coached for the Tri-City Eagles since 2014.

The coaches are excited to be able to develop this squad with techniques and tactical / strategy implementation over a fall season. This high performance team will be a stepping stone to the Women’s league teams. A big thank you from the coaches to the Club for its support to provide this opportunity to these dedicated athletes.