Kingston will be well represented at the Canadian Field Hockey championships later this month in Calgary.
The Eastern Ontario all-stars will compete in the national Under-15 competition.
The team is made up of eight players from Kingston and a handful from Toronto and Ottawa.
“I’m so excited,” said Hailey Bauder. The 13-year-old from Mother Theresa Catholic School in Kingston looks forward to the competition.
“It’s going to be a great experience,” said Bauder. “We’re going to Alberta to win, and do some sight-seeing as well. I’ve never seen the mountains. I know my team is very excited. I think we’re going to do well. We’ve been practicing for several months in Kingston and Ottawa in preparation for this tournament.”
The eight girls from Kingston headed west include Bauder, Jordyn Merriam, Maizy Dickson, Gates McCallister, Kalynn Sobey, Katie Tye, Julia Martin, and goaltender Emily Liscomb.
The team is coached by Maureen Chopra and Liam Manning.
“It’s going to be a wonderful experience,” said Katie Tye.
The 13-year-old forward hopes they can win a few games in the week-long tournament.
“That’s the goal,” said Tye. “We don’t know what the competition will be like but we’re confident in the game we play. This is our first appearance at the national championships so we’ll do the best we can. Hopefully, we’ll be competitive. I think we will.”
The Eastern Ontario squad recently won a tournament in Nepean, giving them some confidence as they head to Alberta.
“We’re going there to do the best we can and make some memories,” said Julia Martin. The 12-year old student at Perth Road Public School likes what she see’s in this all-star team.
“We have great communication and we all love playing field hockey,” said the talented midfielder.
“We always try our hardest. We always give a 100 per cent effort. We never give up, no matter what the score is.”