The U19-Varsity women's ice hockey team at Collège Bourget in Rigaud has been sanctioned by Hockey Québec.

"The college is very pleased with this agreement. As a school that supports sports, we want to contribute to the development of women's field hockey in Quebec," said Maxime Bérubé, Sports Coordinator at Collège Bourget.

"We believe more than ever that our program is a step in that direction. We thank Hockey Québec for their vote of confidence," Bérubé added.

A long-awaited decision

Néomédia spoke to Mélodie Daoust and Hanna Bunton, the instigators of the women's prep school field hockey program in October 2022 when they learned about Hockey Québec's refusal to sanction their team.

Without the sanction, the young players could not compete against member teams from provincial and national federations.

The athletes denounced, among other things, the fact that a program like theirs had been absolved by the organization 10 years earlier in the Eastern Townships.

In an interview with Radio-Canada, Marcel Patenaude, the Senior Director of Operations for Hockey Québec, suggested the Ligue du hockey d'excellence du Québec had lost some 15 players to Collège Bourget.

Patenaude added some teams almost closed down and "accused" the coaches of having been recruited directly from civilian teams to form his team.

Unlike the sport-studies program, the "prep-school" program integrates sports into students' schedules. For example, between a French class and a science class, the girls play field hockey.

"We think it's a good idea to allow them to train during school hours by integrating field hockey into their schedule. It gives them time in the evenings to study, instead of having to travel, often far from home, and take part in training sessions," said Bunton last October.

Now that they are recognized as an Associate Member of the Federation, the women's hockey team will be able to play sanctioned games and tournaments during the 2023-2024 season.