The Canadian Women’s National Field Hockey Program confirmed its 2015 Women’s National Team (WNT) and Senior Development Squad (SDS) rosters on Thursday.
Two Victoria athletes made the cut, Maddie Secco was named to the National team while Kathleen Leahy was named to the Senior Development Squad.
The National Team consists of thirteen athletes who are considered ready for International competition and will increase as athletes from the SDS and the soon-to-be-named Junior Development Squad (JDS) become competition-ready.
Fifteen athletes have been named to the Senior Development Squad, which is reserved for players who are considered close to breaking through to the WNT and are continually making progress towards Senior International competition.
The National Team is led by twenty-five year-old Kate Gillis (Kingston, ON) who returns as team captain. Veteran forward Thea Culley (Rossland, BC) leads the team international games played with 118. At twenty years-old, Hannah Haughn (North Vancouver, BC) and Maddie Secco (Victoria, BC) are the youngest on the roster.
The women are entering a year of competition during which qualification for the 2016 Olympic Summer Games in Rio, Brazil is up for grabs through two qualification pathways. The first being the World League tournament, the second being the Pan American Games, which Canada hosts in Toronto in the summer of 2015.
In preparation for these two tournaments, the WNT will take part in many test tournaments throughout the year, for which – as will be done for World League and the Pan Am Games – specific touring rosters will be named.