Holly Stewart decided a year ago that if she wanted to realize her lifelong dream of playing field hockey for Team Canada in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, she would have to finish up her University of Maine degree a semester early.
That meant taking 19 credit hours last fall instead of the usual 15. It also meant taking some online courses over the summer.
She managed to finish her degree in December and then join the Canadian national team.
By joining the Canadian national team early, she gained valuable game experience in exhibitions leading up to the World League 2 Tournament in Ireland.
Canada finished second in the World League 2 Tournament to the host country and, by doing so, earned a berth in the World League 3 semifinals in Valencia, Spain, in June.
The World League 3 semifinals will determine the field for the Olympics and the Canadian team for the semifinals will be determined in the next few months of practice.
There will be 27 players in camp and 18 will be chosen for the trip to Spain.
“It’s going to be a pretty competitive environment,” Stewart said.
Canada went 4-2 in the World League 2 Tournament with both losses coming to Ireland.
Stewart, one of two former Black Bears on the Canadian team along with backup goalie Beckett Frisch, scored her first goal of the tournament in the final against Ireland last Sunday.
The teams battled to a 1-1 tie in regulation before Ireland won in a shootout.
“It took a while for it to come but it finally came. I was saving it for the right moment,” Stewart quipped.
She dedicated the goal to her late grandfather, Herb Culp, who died shortly before the tournament.
“Holly played unreal,” said Alicia Frisch, Stewart’s former teammate at UMaine. “She came up huge against Ireland. She’s a very dynamic player. She works hard every day. She’s a very smart player. She had an unreal tournament.”
Stewart said it was a great tournament and great to be a part of it.
“It’s pretty exciting to be one step closer to Rio,” she said.
But Stewart has certainly had to persevere.
“It hasn’t been a perfect journey,” admitted Stewart, a forward from North Vancouver, British Columbia. “The path hasn’t been an easy one. I’ve been cut from various teams. I’d only started making teams consistently within the last year or so.”
Frisch took a different route.
After graduating from Maine in 2013, she took a year off before attending the University of Calgary in her hometown to obtain a master’s degree. She still had a year of eligibility and took full advantage, earning Canada West Most Valuable Player Award honors and being chosen All-Canadian.
“That got me noticed and enabled me to go to [Canadian National Team] camp,” said Frisch, Maine’s starting goalie in 2012 when her first name was Alicia.
“I changed my name just for fun, I guess. I really liked the name Beckett,” she explained.
She played the fourth quarter in wins over Turkey and Austria and allowed one goal.
Games are four quarters instead of two halves in international play.
“Being a backup goalie is one of the toughest things to do. She did an admirable job. We have faith in her,” Stewart said.
“It was so cool to play with her again. I didn’t think it would ever happen,” Frisch said.
Both said their time at Maine was well spent.
“I went to Maine as a field hockey goalie and I left as an athlete,” Frisch said. “They taught me a lot about mental preparation, about the work that goes into being better off the field and the importance of lifting and conditioning.”
Stewart was grateful to UMaine academic counselor and tutor coordinator Crissy Kerluke and her professors, as well as her coaches.