Bombers take flight to High School Field Hockey Championships
By The Nelson Daily Sports
The wet October weather certainly put a damper on the West Kootenay High School Field hockey season.
However, any ill feelings are definitely in the past as the L.V. Rogers Bombers take flight for the Lower Mainland to compete in the BC High School AA Girl’s Field hockey championships beginning Wednesday in Surrey.
The Bombers, finishing ninth overall in 2015, open the tournament at 10:30 a.m. against perennial power St Michael’s University.
“Because of the severe rain that has plagued our area (during October), the Pass Creek field where all of the Kootenay zone field hockey games are played is currently a swimming pool for ducks and therefore unplayable,” Bomber coach Bruce Walgren explained.
The inclement weather forced organizers to cancel playoffs, dropping LVR into second place in West Kootenay standings, finishing behind J. Lloyd Crowe of Trail.
Stanley Humphries of Castlegar finished third in the three-team West Kootenay High School league.
“This is really tough to take, for the girls,” Walgren said.
“They were really looking forward to playing in the final against Crowe, because when we did play them we never really had a full squad or several key players were away due to other commitments”.
Fortunately, with J. Lloyd Crowe the host school for the AA Championships, despite the tournament being played in Surrey, LVR garners one of the two berths — Crowe gains the host berth.
“We are hosting in Surrey because there are no facilities in this area that can accommodate a tournament of this calibre, let alone a field hockey tournament period,” said Crowe head coach Donna Hebert.
“We don’t even have one field that is good in the area. It was our zones turn. LVR wanted to host in the area but the coaches agreed 2-1 that was not a good idea for anyone involved.”
LVR faces Seycove of North Vancouver at 3:15 p.m. Wednesday to round out Day one of the tournament.
The Bombers conclude the round robin draw Thursday against Southridge of Surrey.
J. Lloyd Crowe plays Okanagan Mission of Kelowna and Enver Creek of Surrey Wednesday before concluding round robin Thursday against Collingwood of West Vancouver.
Round robin results determine playoff round games.
The tournament concludes Friday with the final set for 3:15 p.m.
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