Kirby’s Island Wildcats are island’s first premier women’s field hockey team

VICTORIA, B.C. – Field Hockey Victoria and the Vancouver Island Ladies Field Hockey Association (VILFHA) are pleased to announce the formation of the first-ever women’s premier league team from Vancouver Island. The 20-member roster is the first of a local elite-level team that will compete in Vancouver’s prestigious women’s premier league.

Formed and created by Victoria-native and former Canadian national team and UVic Vikes member Ali Lee, Kirby’s Island Wildcats, will house some of the island’s top talent in the sport of field hockey. The goal of the program is not only to provide fast-paced, high performance hockey for the island fans to see but to provide a program that encourages development of youth high performance and a place for ex-national team and university-level players to still compete.

With the expertise of long-time field hockey supporters Robin Richardson and Ian Batey, both key members of the hosting board of the 2008 women’s Olympic Qualifier in Victoria, the Island Wildcats have successfully taken off as arguably the top-level team on the island.

With the financial demands of running a new team and program, the Wildcats staff have committed to one round robin of games with the Vancouver premier league over the September to March season. Travel costs to and from the mainland are the largest hindrance for the program, however, the local community has shown an initial level of interest and support. The team will compete in the league and in several tournaments throughout the year with an objective of establishing a solid developmental and competitive program over the next three to five years.

Locally run Kirby’s Source for Sports will be the official team sponsor for the program for the 2012-13 year, with the store having large intentions of becoming a mainstream supplier for field hockey equipment for the women, men and junior leagues on the island.

The Island Wildcats will compete against the UVic Vikes women’s field hockey team weekly on Wednesday nights (6:30-pm at UVic turf) as part of both teams’ training regime and preparation. The Wildcats will host their first women’s premier game on Sept. 15 at the UVic Turf at 12:30-pm against the Surrey Sharks.

The full home schedule for the Wildcats is below: