Flyers soar to title
Eden coach Charlotte Morrison has grown accustomed to having a Janzen as part of her powerful field hockey program.
On Wednesday, Keifer Janzen scored a goal helping the Flyers record a 5-0 victory over the Governor Simcoe Redcoats in the Niagara Region High School Athletic Association championship game. Elise Koop added a pair of goals for the Flyers and single scores were netted by Izzy Mumford and Cassidy Johnston.
“Keifer is the latest in a long line of Janzens who have played for us,” Morrison said. “She is a volleyball girl by nature but she is such an incredible athlete and leader. She took the reins right at the beginning of the season, getting the girls organized. We had 75 girls at tryouts and we needed some support and help and she did a great job mentoring the young girls.”
The 17-year-old is following in footsteps of older sisters Mackenzie and Carter.
“I used to play soccer and hockey growing up so it is kind of a combination of the two sports,” the Grade 12 student said. “I love stick sports and the different nature of it. It is so different than any other sport I’ve played, including the environment.”
The best part of that environment is its welcoming aspect.
“It was great that I got to play one year with Carter which was really fun and all the Grade 11s and 12s were really welcoming that I knew I wanted to play in future years.”
Eden went 3-0 in the regular season and then advanced to the final with a 5-0 shutout of Laura Secord.
“It is just a great club,” Janzen said, in explaining the team’s success. “We try and get out as many people as we can and we have the best coaches ever (Morrison, Allison Pay and Steve Thompson). They are so motivating, they help us so much and they put in so many hours for us.”
The field hockey program was started at Eden in 2011 and the team won the NRHSAA the same year. The Flyers have now won five straight NRHSAA titles.
“We have great athletes, great attitudes and really hardworking girls,” Morrison said. “We couldn’t be more proud of them for pulling this off.”
This season was unlike others.
“There were a lot of girls who came out this year, I think partially because of COVID. We started with a group of 75 and we weren’t able to run two teams like we normally do and go to tournaments and stuff but we told the girls if they wanted to play and practise with us even of they weren’t going to get much playing time, they could still be a part of it,” Morrison said. “We ended up with 50 girls who stuck it out. Even though some of them have only seen the field a few minutes it’s going to help build a strong program for the future. This win is the result of a strong program that we have with the girls who returned.”
With the victory, the Flyers advance to the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools final at Governor Simcoe Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. Eden is hoping for better fortune than the past few times.
“The last two years we were at SOSSA we had heartbreaking losses to Saltfleet. They were both overtime losses in shootouts.” Morrison said. “These girls have one more game against a really good team but these girls are going to work hard and be prepared as we can.
“We hope to be able to go to OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations) and put in a really good showing there.”
Aaron Potalivo, who coaches the Governor Simcoe team along with Nicole Terryberry, was thrilled with his team’s season. The Redcoats went 2-1 in regular season play and advanced to the finals with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Grimsby.
“I am really proud of the girls. They played really well,” he said. “They came up against some really good competition today and ended up on the losing end.”
Potalivo felt his team made lots of progress in 2021.
“We had a ton of first-year players and a lot of girls who had never played before and they learned a lot of new skills along the way,” he said. “To be able to compete with a well-coached team at the end of the year, I am really happy for them.”
