WATERLOO, Ont. – The 2026 U SPORTS Field Hockey Awards were a celebration of UBC excellence, with Thunderbirds winning half of the major honours and leading the country in All-Canadian selections.
Mackenna Brown won the Joyce Slipp Award for national Rookie of the Year, Geoff Mathews was named Marina Van Der Merwe Award winner as national Coach of the Year, while
Robyn Goh,
Kenzie Girgis, and
Shannon Stelling all earned First Team All-Canadian honours.
Mackenna Brown more than delivered on the lofty expectations of her as a highly touted recruit joining the Thunderbirds. The midfielder came to UBC after spending the summer with the Canada U21 National Team and stepped in to a key role right away for the undefeated T-Birds.
"Mackenna has made an immediate impact on our team with her exceptional skill, explosive speed, and relentless determination in the midfield," said head coach
Geoff Matthews. "Her confidence, work ethic, and willingness to take on any challenge have made her a standout."
Brown also took home the Canada West Rookie of the Year Award and is the third consecutive Thunderbird to win the national honour, following
Laurien Bruijning and teammate
Sydney Le. She is the seventh Joyce Slipp Award recipient in program history.
Coach
Geoff Matthews has been snapping droughts all season long, leading the team to its first Canada West Championship and U SPORTS Championship appearance in nine years, and now becoming UBC's first Marina Van Der Merwe Award winner since 2008.
Matthews has won Canada West Coach of the Year in two of his three seasons at the helm, but is the first Thunderbirds women's field hockey coach to take the national honour since Hash Kanjee 18 years ago. It's the sixth time that a UBC head coach has been received the recognition, and Matthews becomes the third different coach to win it. He joins Kanjee (1998, 2003, 2008) and Gail Wilson (1984, 1987), for whom the national student-athlete community service award is named.
Matthews' players say that since he took over the program, he has upped the level of their daily training environment, always pushing for improvement, and focusing on the details. They feel that he's built a lot of self-belief within the team, which was integral to their success this season. His players credit Matthews with teaching them to trust their process and establishing a strong culture within the team.
The Thunderbirds also had three players named First Team All-Canadians, while no other school had more than one. Team leader and Canada West Player of the Year
Kenzie Girgis was named an All-Canadian for the second time, joined by Canada West Goalkeeper of the Year
Robyn Goh, and standout midfielder
Shannon Stelling.
The decorated T-Birds begin their first U SPORTS Championship tournament in nearly a decade on Thursday, when they take on the University of Toronto Varsity Blues at 2:00 p.m. (PCT) as the first of three round robin games over the next three days. The event culminates with medal games on Sunday, with the top two teams from the round robin standings competing for the national championship.
