TAMIL NADU, India – The best U21 men's field hockey players in the world are set to face off at the 2025 Men's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup, with the tournament running from November 28 to December 10 in Tamil Nadu, India.
The UBC Thunderbirds are well-represented on Team Canada, with four current T-Birds in India preparing for Canada's opening game on Friday. That includes goalkeeper
Stan Cooke, defender
Harjas Sanghera, and midfielders
Noah Louie and
Kale Simonson.
In addition to that group, fellow 'Birds
Satpreet Dhadda and
Kirin Robinson were originally named to the roster but had to drop out due to injury, while
Sawyer Ross served as an alternate.
"I know the guys, I've been with them together, so knowing their tendencies and things like that helps on the pitch," said Louie, who's in his third year at UBC. "A lot of guys come from all around Canada, so when the team first starts out it's kind of hard to mesh, but I think right now we're in a good spot.
"It definitely helps knowing some of the guys beforehand, and even just being on tour with them is so awesome because you see them in your everyday school lives, but being able to travel around the world with them is a great group experience."
Louie, a defensive-minded midfielder from North Vancouver, has experience being at the Junior World Cup, having been part of Canada's squad for the 2023 tournament in Malaysia as an 18-year-old. He's one of a number of players from that year's team that return this time around, aiming to take the lessons they learned two years ago and carry them forward.
"I think the biggest thing is that we were quite young – most of us were 18 or 19 at that point," reflected Louie. "So going into a major world stage was pretty intimidating…I think the biggest thing from that tournament was learning how international play was faster, tougher and quicker, so being exposed to different countries and different playstyles was key. For two years now we've been building based on what we learned there."
Adding to the UBC flavour within the Team Canada camp is head coach Geoff Matthews, who is also the head coach of the Thunderbirds' women's field hockey team. The Junior World Cup group met up for training camp back on November 10 in Vancouver, with some of their practices held at the T-Birds' home of Wright Field.
Having the junior national team coach also coaching at the university level and doing so on the same campus has only served to benefit Louie and the other Thunderbirds who are part of the junior national team setup.
"A lot of the guys are in school, and have to manage the school expectations and performance expectations," he added. "Having a coach who understands what students are going through while they're competing I think is very valuable, and it kind of gives us a balance while we're on tour between being competitive and being in school."
Working with Matthews and the rest of the Canadian U21 team adds on to the learning and improvements done under
Kinder Gill and the UBC men's program, as they compete in the Vancouver Men's Field Hockey League.
"I'm always so grateful to Kinder," said Louie. "It's only been three years at UBC, but I feel like I've grown quite a bit as a player and found a good bit of confidence in my own skill…it's a very young team, but everyone is so skilled, so being able to compete against them all the time has made me a better player. And again, I'm so grateful for the opportunities Kinder has given us all to be able to train and play as part of our schooling. It's a great mix."
Louie and his teammates are in Pool A at the Junior World Cup, which has expanded this year to 24 teams from 16 for the first time. Canada qualified for the tournament by finishing runner's up at the 2024 Men's Junior Pan American Championship.
Canada's first game is against Ireland – who finished seventh at the 2024 EuroHockey U21 Championship – on Friday at 11:15 a.m. local time. Due to the time zone difference, it will technically be played tonight in the Pacific Time Zone (9:45 p.m.).
After that is a date with defending Junior World Cup champs Germany on Saturday, and a meeting with 2024 Men's Hockey Junior Africa Cup champions South Africa on Sunday. Both of those matchups are set for 3:45 p.m. local time (2:15 a.m. PT).
"Every time playing for Canada is an honour," stated Louie. "Being able to come back [to the Junior World Cup] is pretty cool as well…going onto the world stage and playing against the best teams in the world is really valuable. I know it's going to be tough, and I think the whole team knows that, but you don't get these opportunities super often."
The six group winners as well as the two second-place teams with the best records advance to the medal round, while the remaining teams are sorted into one of the two classification rounds (either 9-16th or 17-24th), with each nation guaranteed to play three more games after the conclusion of the group stage.
