The Women’s National Team finished their tour and returned last weekend from South Africa, where they participated in a training tour and test series against the South African National Team. The tour primarily took place at North-West University in Potchefstroom with test matches taking place in Pretoria.
The team brought a 24-athlete squad in order to balance out the playing time, get more athletes into the senior environment and use the event as an evaluation tool towards FIH World Cup Qualifying selection.
Team Canada trained at North-West University in Potchefstroom. Photos/Mohale Thekiso.
The upcoming FIH World Cup Qualifiers are taking place in Santiago, Chile from March 1-8. This is one of two World Cup Qualifiers that is taking place in women’s hockey, with the happening the next week in Hyderabad, India. From this event, there are multiple avenues for qualification for the 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup in Belgium & Netherlands. The two teams that make the finals will automatically qualify as will the winner of the bronze medal. After that, the highest world ranked 4th place team (between the two qualifying events) after the final day of the qualifiers, will also qualify for the World Cup.
This three week, high-intensity South African training tour and test series was perfectly positioned to prepare the team for the rigors of the World Cup Qualifier. It got the team into a performance mindset and generated crucial tour experience for the younger athletes on the squad. With five matches against a quality international side, they also earned caps and tested their technical and tactical game-readiness.
The team lost three matches, and drew two against South Africa, the 20th ranked country in the world. They also took on some local club sides in exhibition matches during their tour. This prepares the team nicely to go into the World Cup Qualifiers in early March with game reps under their belts only six weeks prior. Canada will face Japan, Ireland and Malaysia in their pool in Santiago.
Notably, seven Canadians got their first cap during the official test series with South Africa. Bavneet Hothi, Camilla MacGillivray, Katie Gibb, Rebecca Carvalho, Laine Delmotte, Rylie Novak, and Deepi Gill all saw the senior international field for the first time in their young careers. Moments like this are instrumental for kick-starting senior hockey careers for many young athletes. This is one of the benefits of bringing a larger squad on international test tours like this.
The South Africa experience was memorable on and off the field. Many athletes were able to experience the sport culture in South Africa for the first time and all players and coaches were able to lock in on performance for three weeks. At the end of the trip, the group met with the Canadian High Commissioner Jamie Christoff and spent an afternoon visiting with him at his official residence, a truly unique experience to feel a touch of home at the end of a long training tour.
Team Canada played five test matches against South Africa in Pretoria. Photos/Karl Seebach
The team returns to Canada and will centralize during February prior to heading off to Santiago. The team will be selected and announced early February and they will begin final preparations for the tournament. Stay tuned for roster announcement and more information about Team Canada and their goal to qualify for the FIH World Cup.
