Everything you need to know about the Canadian National Field Hockey Championships

As I am sure many students have heard, the women’s field hockey team this past Sunday, Oct. 27 defeated the University of Toronto Varsity Blues for the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) gold and earned a spot to compete for another gold on a national level. Whenever a Warriors team wins an OUA championship, it’s a big deal. Getting the opportunity to compete and represent our university on a national level is an even bigger deal. So what do the Warriors need to do to bring home another gold? How is the tournament set up, who is involved and when and where is it taking place?  

For starters, this championship event is being hosted by York University and is expected to begin on today, Oct. 31, and wrap up on Sunday, Nov. 3, where teams will play for medal opportunities. Four teams will be competing in this tournament: the host team York University Lions, Atlantic University Field Hockey League (AUFHL) champions the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers, Canada West (CANWEST) champions the University of Victoria Vikes, and OUA champions, the UW Warriors. This tournament is loaded with championship teams and strong talent.

With the tournament only consisting of four teams, each team will have the opportunity to play each other once in pool play Oct. 31 – Nov. 2. The two teams with the best record from this pool play will compete on Sunday, Nov. 3 at 1 p.m. for the gold medal. The two teams with the lower records from this play will be competing the same day at 10:30 a.m. for the bronze medal. 

The Warriors open things up with the first matchup in the tournament as they are facing off with the CANWEST Champions, University of Victoria Vikes on Oct. 31 at 2 p.m. This will be a big test early on for the Warriors as according to Field Hockey Canada, the Vikes are the clear-cut favourites coming into this tournament and are truly “dynastic.” But being the underdog is something our Warriors are comfortable with, just barely squeaking into the OUA playoffs and coming out as champions. 

The following day, Nov. 1 at 4:30 p.m. the Warriors are facing off against the host team and OUA counterpart, the York University Lions. The Lions were able to come out of the OUA championships with a bronze, but due to being the host team, they had an automatic bid at the National tournament. The last time the Warriors and Lions faced off was way back in September and the first game of the 2024 season. The Warriors lost 1-0 and will be looking to get their payback when it counts. 

For the final day of round play on Saturday, Nov. 2, the Warriors are facing off against the AUFHL champions, UPEI Panthers. The Panthers are coming off of a nail-biting championship matchup, as they defeated rivals Dalhousie in a shoot-out, allowing them to earn a three-peat of AUFHL titles. 

If all goes well and the Warriors take care of business, they will be playing on Sunday, Nov. 3 at 1 p.m. for the opportunity to win gold. They will be playing on Sunday regardless as the bronze medal game is taking place at 10:30 a.m. An email was sent to all students containing information about a fan bus that will travel to York for students to support the Warriors. If you missed the email, click here for all the information about times and how to get your hands on a ticket. If you have time, get on that bus and support the Warriors. It’s not often that a team has the opportunity to compete for national gold, so let’s seize this opportunity, cheer loud and proud, paint York in black and gold and do everything we can do to help these ladies bring a national gold to UW.