Have you ever had the chance to watch university-level field hockey?  Are you someone who currently plays field hockey at the high school level and would love to know a little more about the who, what and where of the game at the varsity level and what it would take to play there? 

SeeWhatSheCanDo had the chance to share some time with Rachel Spouge, a 4th-year Business student who is the Captain and All-Canadian player of the University of Toronto Varsity Blues Women's Field Hockey Team.   Rachel gave us some great insights into her team and on this super exciting and fast-paced game that is, in fact, the world's the second largest team sport in the world played in over 100 countries*.

The Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Field Hockey League 

The Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Women's Field Hockey League consists of seven teams including the University of Toronto, Western University, Queens University, University of Guelph, University of Waterloo, McGill University, and York University.

 

Teams typically play two games at each school for a total of 12 games throughout the season.

 

U of T’s main rivals are York and Guelph and have historically been the League’s top three seeds.

 

Currently the Varsity Blues field hockey team plays on two different types of fields; one is traditional turf and the other is a water-based turf field.  International field hockey games and professional players play primarily on water-based fields.  An important goal of the team is to gain greater support for field hockey across the country and greater recognition of the need for building more water-based turf fields.  Ultimately, more game recognition and more water-based turf fields will mean more opportunities to further raise the sport’s profile and will help to increase the number of participants (female and male) playing field hockey throughout Ontario and across Canada.

 

 

 

OUA Championships

 

All university teams who play in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Women's Field Hockey League compete against each other to determine who will be the OUA Champion. Team rankings in the OUA Championship Tournament are determined by each team's season Win-Loss record. Historically, U of T, Guelph and York have often been ranked in the Tournament's top three team rankings.  With that said, each OUA team works very hard throughout the season to be ranked the top seed coming into the OUA championship tournament.  A goal of the Varisity Blues is to advocate for high quality video coverage of the entire field hockey game schedule in addition to the coverage of the OUA Field Hockey Provincial Championship semi-finals and finals.

 

USports (National Level)

 

Currently, the national level University Athletic Association's USports hosts a three game series where the OUA Champion and the Canada West champion play each other. Teams that play in the Canada West Division include University of British Columbia, University of Victoria and the University of Calgary. The National Championship series is played in Ontario or in Western Canada with the location typically alternating each year between East and West.

 

 

Preseason Training

 

Preseason training happens from late August thru to the beginning of September and provides student athletes with a heavier workload than during the regular season.

During preseason training, players typically practice twice per day Monday to Friday (2x2 hour practices) along with two strength and conditioning sessions (1 hour each) twice a week.

 

A big highlight of the The Varsity Blues team is the chance to travel to the United States during their pre-season training to play American college field hockey teams.  Locations they’ve travelled to have included New York and Boston, Massachusetts.

 

Regular Outdoor Season

 

During the regular outdoor season, the team practices Monday to Friday (2 hours a day) and participates in two strength and conditioning sessions (1 hour each) throughout the week. 

 

The regular outdoor season runs from September to the beginning of November.   With the compact nature of the season, it means weekends are fully scheduled with games. Normally the team will play 2-3 teams total on both Saturday and Sunday. As well, the team will only have 1 weekend scheduled on our home turf, so much of the regular season we are traveling to other schools.  Fortunately, U of T is situated in the middle of where most of the League teams are located and means we have more reasonable travel distances. 

 

 

Off Season Indoor Training

 

This time of the year generally involves a lighter workload for players as compared to the regular outdoor season.

 

The team normally practices together three times per week and then works on strength and conditioning twice a week.  In fact, a bigger focus is put on building players’ strength and conditioning levels during the off-season.

 

Fundraising Events

 

The Varsity Blues Women’s Field Hockey Team organizes a number of fundraising events throughout the year to help defray the team’s playing and travel expenses throughout their regular season.  This includes hosting invitational tournaments as well as hosting an annual golf tournament at the beginning of September.

 

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