Photo: 2023 Champions Handworth (left), 2023 Runners-up (Collingwood)

Following a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, last year (2022), the prestigious Bridgman Cup high school field hockey tournament returned. The tournament will continue to be hosted at the University of Victoria campus, and this year will take place Friday, Oct. 6 to Sunday, Oct. 8.

The tournament brings together several of the province’s best high school girls field hockey programs and is a showcase for island hockey talent. It’s also an opportunity for local officials (technical and umpires) to take part in a three-day tournament. The last edition ran in 2022, while the tournament has been running since 1937.

Vancouver Island teams taking part this year include last year’s runners up St. Michael’s University School (SMUS), Shawnigan Lake, Glenylon Norfolk (GNS), and Cowichan; while several historic programs like Handsworth, Collingwood, South Delta, Little Flower, Kelowna, Crofton House and Heritage Woods help round out the 12-team tournament.

The Bridgman Cup is the oldest field hockey tournament in North America. The silver cup donated by Commander Montague Bridgman, was a trophy to be played for annually among the few teams in Victoria and Duncan. Specially designed pins were presented to the winners, the prototype kept on file at Birks, and the pin ceremony tradition continues to this day.

In 2019, Oak Bay won the Bridgman Cup title for the first time since 1937 knocking off Handsworth in an exciting shootout after a 1-1 regulation time score. Also happening at the tournament will be the presentation of the Stephanie Doney (Johnston) Award, last awarded in 2019 to Nora Schutchup. In 2022, Crofton House and SMUS battled to a shootout which saw Crofton come out on top for their program’s first Bridgman win after years of second-place finishes.

This year the tournament is chaired by Shelley Andrews and is organized by a fabulous group of volunteers including Gillian Braun, Nancy Griffin, Denise Hall, Pat Hall, Bunny Hughes, Alanna Martin, Nancy Mollenhauer, Brenda Rushton, Alison Sweeten, Carrie Trumpy, Sandy Zinkowski.

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