Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Staff
Long a sports community with its share of star athletes in softball, football, rugby and hockey, rare has it been for Greater Napanee to produce homegrown standouts in field hockey — until now.
In fact, the community can lay claim to not just one rising star, but two as Caroline Griffin and Megan Morrow get set to represent Ontario East at the Under-18 and Under-15 Field Hockey Canada national championship respectively later this month.
The U-15 tournament will run July 13-16 while the U-18 goes July 16-20, both at the University of Toronto. They’ll take on fellow provincial teams for the Canadian title.
For Griffin, who plays midfield, this will mark the second time she’s played for Ontario East at the national level.
“I started playing in high school and last year a club team in Toronto picked me up,” said Griffin, who also played for the Albert College school team. “I’ve been playing with the GOA Reds for two years now.”
She continues to refine her skills by playing throughout the winter months, travelling throughout the United States to play in high level tournaments.
“I was very happy when I found out I made the national team again,” recalled Griffin, who travelled to Ottawa for tryouts. “Nationals is a great experience. It’s so much fun to be with your team for a whole week and just live field hockey.”
Morrow, on the other hand, is new to field hockey nationals, having so far just played for the NDSS Golden Hawks and at the club level in Kingston.
“I was nervous going in because I didn’t know what to expect,” Morrow said of tryouts for the U-15 team, which were also held in Ottawa. “I was excited to hear the news because I love to play and it’s more fun to experience it with new people and learn new things. In Napanee you only learn so much because it’s not a big thing here.”
Despite sharing a hometown the ladies hadn’t seen much of one another before meeting up again at the tryouts. They had played ice hockey together some 10 years prior, but then didn’t really keep in contact before bonding over their passion for field hockey. Both agree their experience on the ice has been a huge benefit when taking up field hockey.
“It was easy to pick up because we could both do the basic skills of ice hockey,” said Morrow. “It was easier for us to play than most kids that came in.”
Griffin says the field hockey played at nationals is very different than that played in high school leagues where players are often learning the rules as they go.
Looking down the road, both hope to continue to play at the high school level and into university, but for now they’re focused on bringing home a national title. Fortunately for them they won’t have to travel very far this year and they’ll have plenty of support from friends and family throughout the tournament.
There’s some good news for the Golden Hawks too as Griffin says she’s planning to transfer to NDSS next year.