J. L. Crowe field hockey player, Camryn Haines, left a huge impression on the national pitch last week at the 2018 U18 Field Hockey Nationals.
The 16-year-old Fruitvale native led the way for Team BC Lions, as the team went undefeated in the round-robin tournament, before falling in their semifinal match to the BC Stags.
The Lions dominated their A Pool match-ups defeating PEI 15-0, Quebec 11-1, Ontario West 2-1, and Ontario Central 2-1, with a +27-goal differential to finish first in the pool.
Haines scored five times against PEI and counted another three goals versus Quebec to finish tops on her team in scoring and second overall at the tournament.
Chris Tyrell, head coach of the BC Lions, said that despite winning their pool, they felt like underdogs coming into the tournament.
“I think we saw the two Ontario teams in our pool that were supposed to finish at the top, but we just improved every game and carried that momentum,” Tyrell said on the Canada field hockey website.
In Pool B, the BC Rams and BC Stags advanced to the semis after comfortably ousting Ontario East and Alberta.
The Lions faced the Stags, a Vancouver Island-based squad, in the one semifinal, while the third BC team in the U18 division, the Rams, faced Central Ontario in the other semi.
Tyrell said that having three BC teams in the semis is a testament to the Field Hockey BC programming and hard work.
“It’s a proud day for the province for sure,” he said. “It’s a really good generation coming through BC right now. There’s a lot of depth.”
In Thursday’s semifinal, the Lions took a 2-1 lead in the 45th minute on a goal from Alyssa Brooks, but the Lions gave up two late goals as the Stags’ Janet Dawson scored in the 53rd minute on a penalty corner and Libby Hogg netted the winner on a penalty in the 60th minute.
In the other semi, the Rams and Central Ont. played to a 0-0 draw, with the BC team advancing with a 3-0 win in a shootout.
The Stags, however, would go on to take the gold with a 4-0 victory over their BC rival in the final.
After beating Central Ont. in the round-robin, Haines and the Lions fell to the same team in the bronze medal match 3-0.
Nevertheless, it was an incredible performance for the 16-year-old, who is playing against older and more experienced players. It was Camryn’s second trip to the nationals, making her debut as a 15 year old last year in Vancouver.
The Haines family would also like to thank Hall’s Printing and Ingrid Hope for their generous and kind support.