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Canada

BY DAVID KELLY
Telegraph-Journal

It's the final year for field hockey at the Canada Summer Games

Field hockey is fading in the Maritimes so no wonder New Brunswick players are excited about the Canada Summer Games.

In February men's softball and women's field hockey were voted off the Island (as in Prince Edward) for the 2009 Canada Summer Games.

Fredericton native Sherry Doiron, the coach of New Brunswick's team, knows the time is now if the sport is to survive in the province.

"Canada Games will end this year and they'll stop playing," said Doiron, also a coach for the national junior program. "And it's true for a lot of the provinces across Canada and it's a sad thing."

By playing more than 15 tuneup games and facing elite competition from Canada and the United States, Doiron said she hopes her players are encouraged to carry on.

New Brunswick is sending more than 400 athletes, managers, coaches, and mission staff to the Canada Summer Games in Regina from Aug. 6 to 20.

Co-captain and Rothesay native Christianne Theriault is ready to do what it takes to bring a medal home.

Theriault was her team's rookie of the year at the University of New Brunswick in 2004 before the program was scrapped there too.

"I found it was a really good program we had at UNB and it was shame what happened to it," said Theriault.

Theriault now plays defence at York University in Toronto where she suits up with Canada Games goaltender Ashley Arrowsmith.

Arrowsmith, a Kennebecasis Valley High School grad, also played at UNB with Theriault.

Joining Theriault and Arrowsmith is forward Alison Malone. The Saint John native has played with them both on the New Brunswick provincial field hockey team.

"It's pretty exciting actually," Theriault said. "It's something I'd say most of us have been working toward since we started playing field hockey."

Being named co-captain with Moncton's Moe Babineau was a wonderful reward for Theriault and shows how highly Doiron thinks about them both as leaders.

In field hockey at the Canada Games and the international level, the coach is essentially quarantined during the 70-minute games at the far end of the bench. They can only speak to their players during a brief intermission.

"(Captains) have to really have a clear understanding from the coaching standpoint of what we're expecting the team to perform in terms of the game plan and then if we start to stray from that they're actually looked upon to be the people that refocus the team and keep them going on that game plan."

That direction could be the difference in whether New Brunswick plays for a medal or watches those games from the stands.

The province's best finish in field hockey at the Canada Summer Games was gold in Saskatoon in 1989.

Doiron said a repeat performance will be tough but finishing ahead of 2001's seventh place finish in London, Ont. looks positive.

"First and second place will be (British Columbia) playing Ontario that's probably a guarantee," she said. "But really from third to ninth place it's absolutely up for grabs."

Theriault is hungry though.
Winning a 2005 university indoor championship at York was the first-ever field hockey championship for her and Theriault would love nothing more than to taste gold again.

"Actually in our (Ontario University Athletics) championship, we went in seeded last place," she said. "So we were the underdogs and weren't really expected to win and this showed, at least myself, that anything can happen in championships."


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2005 Canada Summer Games Field Hockey Roster

Coaching Staff

Sherry Doiron, head coach - Fredericton
Glenda O'Neill-Wood, asst. coach - Miramichi
Brenda Duplessie, manager - Miramichi

Players

Ashley Arrowsmith - Quispamsis
Mireille Babineau - Dieppe
Moe Babineau - Moncton
Lori Burgess - Oromocto
Meghan Duffy - Miramichi
Heather Duplessie - Miramichi
Ashley Frizzell - Moncton
Leah Jenkins - Miramichi
Darcy Leggatt - Miramichi
Krissy McCarthy - Miramichi
Keltie Norton - Miramichi
Marley Preston - Miramichi
Christianne Theriault - Rothesay
Allison Malone - Saint John
Denise Robichaud - Miramichi

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