Varsity Blues field hockey sister act

(Pictured above L to R: Hilary & Emily Ziraldo, Nikki & Amanda Woodcroft, Emma & Tegan Stairs)

By: Jordon Hall

What an advantage it would be to have a team where chemistry is one of its top components. To know exactly where your teammate will be can be crucial in setting up that deciding goal or making that last second defensive stand. However, this kind of chemistry often takes years to build and in post-secondary athletics it can be difficult to come by as athletes only have a finite amount of time to build it.

But for the 2015 Varsity Blues field hockey team this advantage will be ever present. This season the Blues feature three pairs of sisters, a blessing that comes with the immediate chemistry necessary to contend for both provincial and national championships.

For Amanda and Nikki Woodcroft, Hilary and Emily Ziraldo, and Tegan and Emma Stairs there is no better advantage then having that almost telepathic connection on the field.

"We vibe really well," said fifth-year forward Tegan Stairs about her sister Emma. "We have the same kind of give and go mentality and I know if she gives me the ball she's working hard to get open to get it back."

This on-field connection between the Stairs sisters paid huge dividends in the 2013 season, as the sisters connected on a last-minute goal to secure an important CIS national championship round-robin victory over the University of Victoria, which would propel the team into the national finals.

This synchronicity exists among all the sisters on the team.

"We have spent a lot of time together both in training and at home," said freshman Emily Ziraldo of her twin sister Hilary. "I think that because of that, we have learned to anticipate what the other person is about to do. Often I realize that my intuition is already telling me where she is going to run, before she even moves."

Along with this innate connection between teammates there is an additional benefit of playing with a sibling that all can relate to. A competitive nature that can boil up, helping push each other even further, a sometimes volatile aspect of a relationship that can have an incredible upside.

"I believe that having three pairs of sisters on the team this year will be amazing because it will add to our team's chemistry, but it will also increase our team's competitiveness at practices," said second-year midfielder Nikki Woodcroft. "I know that Amanda and I have always been competitive and it helps us push each other to be better and perform at our best."

Fifth-year co-captain Amanda Woodcroft shares the same sentiment.

"It is not common for teams to have this many sets of sibling and I believe we can use this to our advantage. As a team, we push those around us to be better but having someone who you have grown up with for so long, you push them even harder, which grows them as a player and helps the team perform at our best."

The Blues are 5-0-0 to start the season, in first place in the OUA standings. They continue their march towards another CIS national championship appearance this weekend as they head to London, Ont., for two big games versus the Guelph Gryphons and and Western Mustangs.  

The University of Toronto is also the proud host of the 2015 OUA championship, October 30-31, at Back Campus Fields.

Source: Toronto Varsity Blues