Cowichan Valley field hockey players Emma Dame and Robin Fleming brought home the gold medal from the U18 National Field Hockey Championships in Brampton, Ont.
Dame and Fleming won the national title with the BC Blue team, beating Ontario Red 2-0 in the tournament final on July 30.
Fleming was phenomenal in goal both in the final and throughout the tournament, pitching a shutout in the championship game, and helping BC Blue go undefeated while outscoring the other teams 26-2.
The two other B.C. teams squared off in the bronze medal game, won 2-0 by BC White over BC Yellow as all three provincial teams finished in the four.
Six players from the Cowichan Valley played on the fourth-place BC Yellow squad: Ashton Aumen, Jenna Berard, Hannah Craig, Marina Ellison, Brittany Smith and Kyla Toljander.
Ellison notched Yellow’s first goal of the tournament, the eventual game-winner in an 11-0 pounding of P.E.I. on opening day, Toljander scored the winning goal in BC Yellow’s 1-0 win over Alberta, and Aumen had two goals in BC Yellow’s 2-0 quarter-final win over Ontario White.
Following the tournament, Field Hockey Canada named a new Junior Development Squad, and both Fleming and her Cowichan Secondary teammate Sara Goodman retained their spots.