Spring Carding camp kicks off next step in WNT’s competition pathway
The Women’s National Team’s last competition was the FIH Nations Cup in Santiago, Chile, in February. With this week’s camp, they start a new carding cycle and with that, a push to the 2025 Pan American Cup.
Using the Nations Cup as a launching point for competition, the team gathers in Vancouver this week for a carding camp. The purpose of carding camp is to identify and evaluate the top cohort of athletes for the Canadian Government to provide support for these athletes.
The sun was out for the first day of carding camp on Thursday, April 3, as 25 athletes from across Canada descended on UBC Field Hockey Field in Vancouver, BC. The first day consisted of team meetings, technical sessions, and scrimmages and kicked off the four-day camp that will finish on Sunday.
The player pool this week consists of 25 targeted athletes from universities and club teams around Canada and the US. The bulk of the attendees are currently training and participating for the Women’s National Team. The group has centralized training blocks throughout the year and is currently preparing for the upcoming Pan American Cup.
The 2025 PAHF Pan American Cup is taking place in Montevideo, Uruguay at the end of July. The tournament will serve as a qualifier for the FIH Hockey World Cup with the top team earning an automatic place in the tournament. The Canadian Women’s National Team is coming off their first World Cup appearance in 30 years at the 2022 World Cup in Spain and are looking to qualify again this time around.
HEAD COACH SHELDON ROSTRON
Hailing from Johannesburg, South Africa, Rostron’s journey in field hockey began at the age of 13. His dedication and obsession with field hockey led him to pursue professional studies in sports, laying the foundation for his future high-performance career. Rostron’s experience includes working alongside Field Hockey Canada’s own Patrick Tshutshani and former Canadian Women’s National Team Head Coach, Giles Bonnet. During his coaching journey with South African women’s hockey, Rostron served in various capacities, from specialist trainer and goalkeeper coach to assistant coach and team manager under Bonnet’s leadership.
2025 Competition Outlook
2025 FIH NATIONS CUP
The FIH Hockey Nations Cup was launched in 2021 with the aim of offering a top-level competition to the best-ranked teams not participating in the FIH Hockey Pro League and giving the winning team the option to be promoted to the FIH Hockey Pro League. Canada played at the 2025 Nations Cup in Chile, going 0-5 in pool play and consolations crossover. During the Nations Cup, Canada celebrated four major cap milestones. Allison Kuzyk played in her first five international matches, Lexi De Armond and Sara Goodman both hit the 50 mark in the same game and Kat Leahy reached 100 international performances. Looking forward, Team Canada will next play at the 2025 Pan American Cup at the end of July in Uruguay. MORE.
2025 PAN AMERICAN CUP
The 2025 Pan American Cup will be hosted in Montevideo, Uruguay. Canada last participated in the tournament in 2022, leading to their first World Cup qualification in almost 30 years. They will be looking to top the tournament and earn the automatic PAHF bid to the FIH Hockey World Cup. Should they not qualify at the Pan American Cup, there will be another opportunity to qualify through the FIH qualification pathway. That will be announced at a later date. MORE ON PAN AM CUP.
