Oliver Scholfield Interview
It's time for another taste of Field Hockey on the show today as we speak with Canadian Olympian Oliver Scholfield about his journey into the sport and his Olympic experience. We learn from Oliver just why we chose to stick with field hockey throughout his youth after playing a variety of different sports and just how his Olympic dream helped along the way. We also learn about how it was transitioning into playing the sport in Canada from the UK and how important it is to him to try to continue to grow the sport in the country moving forward. Added to this we find out just what the team mascot of Team Canada is and why they may not be invited back to play in Malaysia anytime soon. It's a fun and entertaining chat that you simply can't miss!
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Please note this is an automated transcript that may contain errors.
BEN WATERWORTH: It is Off The Podium, An Olympics Podcast coming to you today, once again, for an athlete interview. We're back to the sport of Field Hockey, one of my favourite sports. Of course, this is my sport. I've always talked about me playing the sport, and we're here to talk to Canadian Olympian, Oliver Scholfield, who was part of the Tokyo squad for Canada, and I was gonna nearly say their team name, because we talked a lot about on this show about how Australia has an affinity for naming our national sporting teams, giving them mascots, and something that's a bit unfamiliar to Canada. But as you will learn in this interview, Team Canada in field hockey have a mascot. They are referred to as something. So this is actually exciting, and I nearly spoiled it for you right there. But outside of that great little caveat you're gonna hear, you're gonna learn a lot here from Oliver about his journey to the Olympics, how the Olympics was always a dream for him. Growing up in the UK and what other sports he could have very much nearly played at the Olympics, and how close he maybe came to becoming a British Olympian. Very different paths could have seen him playing for Britain Team GB at the Olympics. So it's a great chat. We also learn a lot about the sport in Canada. One thing that you'll hear me talk about is kind of the opinion of field hockey in Canada is very different to what it is for someone like me growing up in Australia, where it's a pretty standard sport that most kids play at some point, whereas obviously in Canada, you think of the word hockey, you may be thinking of a different variation of the sport. So great interview here with Oliver. You're gonna learn a lot and you're gonna hear it right now. Here is our chat with Canadian Olympic field hockey player, Oliver Scholfield.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's exciting when we get to talk about a sport that I actually used to play, that sport is field hockey. And we haven't had someone on the show in quite some time to talk about the sport. And our very first time we're able to talk to a non-Australian about field hockey, somebody from Canada. And of course, if anybody mentions the words hockey in Canada, they're often thinking they're playing a different sport. But let's be honest, they're playing the real hockey. I just want to point that out right now and probably lose a bunch of our Canadian listeners right now. He was part of the Canadian squad that competed in the Tokyo Olympics. And it's a pleasure to learn a little bit more about his journey to the Olympics and everything else in between. Please welcome Off The Podium, Oliver Scholfield. Oliver, first of all, pleasure to have you here on Off The Podium to talk about the real hockey, the real hockey, Oliver. That's what we're here to talk about.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, it's a pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me on, Ben.
BEN WATERWORTH: Now, how sick of the question do you get when it's like, oh, hockey, what's that hockey? You know, I can't imagine that when you say you play hockey in Canada, certain things don't come to mind. You know, jokes all the time, people questioning that type of hockey, because even I found when I was in Canada, I mentioned the words field hockey and people would sort of look at me funny.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, it is a funny one. I mean, I grew up in the UK where hockey is, field hockey is hockey and ice hockey is ice hockey. So I wasn't really used to it. And then when I moved back to Canada, then I had to kind of readjust my mind around that. But no, it definitely comes up quite often. Field hockey is quite small over here, but I'm working a lot with my club and with the national team as well to try and grow the sport. So we're really trying to get rid of that stigma of like, there's only one type of hockey here. So definitely trying to grow that in the youth and get them used to saying field hockey, ice hockey, it's all the same.
BEN WATERWORTH: I found that that was the weirdest thing I found that whenever, because I love both. I'll be completely honest with you. I absolutely love ice hockey and I love field hockey, but obviously you would have the similar thing as you were just saying in the UK, you say hockey, people automatically think field hockey. If you're talking about ice hockey, you've got to use the word ice. So therefore, if I'm talking to a Canadian in Australia, and they're sort of like, why are you adding the word ice to it? That's a bit strange. And then when here in Canada, it's the opposite. It's kind of, if I mentioned the word hockey and until you do, obviously they think of ice and then it's kind of, it's strange when you've got two forms of hockey and two forms of the Olympics, and you've kind of always got to add a word to it. So I don't know, maybe we should just automatically call them field and ice just so that we don't confuse certain parts of the word ice.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: I mean, I have also had like, I've been speaking to people before about like, oh, I'm going to the Olympics just before Tokyo, and what sport and hockey is it? Isn't that in the Winter Olympics?
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, actually, it's interesting with your UK roots. We recently had a judoka on the show, and we were sort of learning about the British judoka, and we were looking at the history of medals won by the UK. They have never won a gold in judo, but the UK won a gold in ice hockey. So there's a fun trivia question that you can sort of put out there to people like, which sport has the UK won more Olympic gold medals in? Judo or ice hockey? I guarantee you, they're never gonna say ice hockey.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, that's a good one. I didn't know that.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, I think they won about 20 medals in judo, not one gold. I think they won two medals in ice hockey, one of them gold. So there's your fun fact of the day that you can take with you, which got to ask the obvious question then. What led you into playing field hockey? Was it the UK bracket? Were you playing in the UK or did you start playing in Canada before you moved over to the UK?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: No, it was in the UK. I moved there when I was quite young. So yeah, just in PE and in school, started playing young and then, I played every sport I could when I was a kid. So then eventually I realised that hockey was kind of the one that I was best at and the one I enjoyed the most. So yeah, stuck with that.
BEN WATERWORTH: Was it a case of the sports you were playing Olympic aspirations? Was this sort of a dream as a kid or I mean, kind of did this sort of come when you eventually started making the ranks up through hockey?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: No, yeah, the Olympics was always a dream of mine. Even before I knew that hockey was going to be the sport I was going to play. It's always a dream, just kind of the appeal of it. Oh, there was always that appeal to me, just reaching kind of the pinnacle of your career, having a group of the world's best athletes all competing on the same stage. It just, I don't know, it just had that massive attraction to me. So then once I did decide that hockey was the sport I enjoyed the most and I wanted to keep playing to the highest level, it was like, okay, maybe I can get there one day. But yeah, when I was 15, 16, I was trying to play for the English team and so representing GB at the Olympics, which obviously didn't happen. So then I moved to Canada for university and then it became a bit more of a reality for the Canadian team.
BEN WATERWORTH: So does that work? Are you sort of dual citizen, like Britain, Canada, and is that how you're eligible to sort of go there? Or if you're trying out for the Team GB, is that because you're living there? I mean, how does that kind of technicalities work? Do you have to be a citizen to be able to try out for England?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, yeah, you do. So yeah, I'm lucky enough I have both passports. Being born in Canada got me the Canadian and then after living in the UK, I think for five years, I was able to get that passport too.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which, how is that growing up when you sort of, you've got those roots, you probably get to a point maybe where you're more familiar with the UK, but do you kind of always deep down root for Canada if you're watching the Olympics or kind of where you're like, oh, I'm bored with Team GB because this is where I am, or is it just kind of a mixture of the both?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, definitely a mixture. Luckily Canada doesn't play England too many times at different sports. I didn't really have to choose too often, but no, it was funny. Yeah, like growing up there, I probably felt a lot more affiliated with that kind of English side, but my whole family's Canadian, all my extended family lives in kind of around Toronto area. So I always had that connection back to Canada, and we would come skiing out this way as well quite often. So yeah, really I just felt that connection to both, and then having moved back here, then obviously now I feel a lot stronger connection to Canada.
BEN WATERWORTH: Does this automatically make you a Leaf supporter then? And are you like the UK's number one Leaf supporter?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: I might be, yeah. My friends don't like it very much over here either.
BEN WATERWORTH: No, that's all right. Colin who's not with us today would have loved that. I'm a Flames guy. So they're not the way. I'm a Raptors guy, so I kind of always have a soft spot for any Toronto team. So I can't diss the Leafs. So, don't tell Colin. Don't tell Colin. I only diss him when he's on it. What were some of the other sports that you were sort of playing when you were a kid?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: So athletics is probably my biggest one. I used to run the 800 and the 1500 metre. But yeah, and then I played, I'll call it soccer because I'm over here, but I guess football. I played that to a kind of a higher level. And then we would have like house competition in our school. So I'd play rugby, cricket, badminton, literally anything I could, I'd go out and play in the house competition.
BEN WATERWORTH: And how was cricket for you? I mean, obviously we're quite partial to that in this part of the world. We kind of have a level of, the ashes are coming up, of course, Oliver. So I mean, we've got to get an eye on that. But was that sort of a big one for you, is it something you still follow? It's a bit hard to follow in Canada, of course, but it's still able to.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, again, like I never played that to a high, high level. So it was always just a bit more fun for me. But I mean, I enjoyed the sport a lot. And I can't say I follow it too closely, but I'll always tune in to the ashes and keep track of those scores as well.
BEN WATERWORTH: And obviously that's where you stick to England. You're not going to be sneakily going, oh, I might go for Australia this time around. I couldn't quite do that. Which I know here obviously in Australia, I mean, when I grew up playing hockey, it was a mixture of school and club. So obviously in primary school and you got to a certain level and you kind of switch focus to club hockey. Is that how it worked in the UK that you would play for your school and then you would go play for a club or is maybe the school system a little bit differently there where you stick with the school longer than you would go play for a club?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, I guess I'm in a bit of a unique situation. So I grew up in or on the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands. So I'm not sure if you know it, but it's a very small island. It was less than 100,000 people when I was there. So the hockey scene, it wasn't like we had hundreds of clubs you can go pick and choose. So my school team actually played in the Ireland League. So we would play against other clubs. So I played for my school in that league, and then I also played for the Ireland in the national competition. So we would travel to England every month or so to play in the Hockey Association Cup.
BEN WATERWORTH: And how far is the distance from Jersey to mainland England? Is it just a short ferry ride? Do you have to get to Plain? How does that work?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, it's like a 45-minute flight into London or into Southampton, or you can take it's about a four-hour ferry to Portsmouth.
BEN WATERWORTH: Right. And is it popular? Like on the island? Is it kind of one of the more popular sports, kind of mid-range, sort of house participation levels?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, no, it's good. It's definitely one of the bigger ones. Rugby and football would be the biggest. And then kind of hockey, cricket, they all feed it under that.
BEN WATERWORTH: Great, great. So, what then brought the move back to Canada? And then kind of, was there a choice overall made that, hey, I'm going to pursue this to play for Canada? I mean, how close were you to sort of playing for England before maybe that move did come about to go back to Canada?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, so I played in the English kind of development system through until under 18s. And at that point, I kind of didn't make the cut and I knew that that wasn't really going to be a reality for me. So then it was right around choosing universities. And so because I was a Canadian citizen, both my siblings had come to UBC in Vancouver before me. So basically, I moved out here for university. So I went to UBC, not really with any intentions of playing hockey for Canada. I knew I would play at university, but it was really more I was coming out here for the other experiences. And then I was in my second year, I think, and I kind of got invited out to an under 21 identification camp. And yeah, kind of made the junior team from there and then eventually progressed up to the seniors.
BEN WATERWORTH: Was that difficult to kind of put in the back of your mind that you say you're going out there for university and that's not really your focus? But I mean, was that a hard prospect to think that you might have to give up hockey if kind of things didn't go a certain way when you got back to Vancouver?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: To be honest, I don't really think I was thinking about it that way. You know, when you're 17, 18, you're off to uni, like there's so many other things going on. So again, I knew I was going to play for the university. So I knew I would keep playing. But yeah, I think I was just focused on so many other things in my life. And then because field hockey is quite a small sport out here, a lot of the 90% of the national team is based in Vancouver. So just being here for university kind of led me into that scene and into that community. And so a bunch of my teammates at uni were already playing for the national team. All the coaches knew each other. Like it's a small community out here. So it was an easy transition into it. But yeah, I don't really think I was thinking of it when I moved out here. There was just so many other things going on.
BEN WATERWORTH: Now if my calculations are correct in your age, you would have moved out there around about the time of the Vancouver Olympics. Were you there sort of around them or just after? And if so, were you caught up in sort of the moments? Does that add to the sort of the Olympic ambitions to sort of be in a city with the Olympics? Different type of Olympics, but kind of still happening?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: So I moved out in 2011, so the year after.
BEN WATERWORTH: Just after, right. But was it still a vibe? Was it kind of like dregs of kind of, you know, having had an Olympics a year earlier? I'm sure the city still kind of had a bit of a buzz to it.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, it's cool. I mean, the Olympic legacy here is actually very good. I'd say it's one of the better ones. Yeah, so the Olympic Village is now like a really popular area to live. You've got the rings up downtown. The facilities around the city are all nice. And then, yeah, the Richmond Olympic Oval is where we do a lot of our strength and conditioning training. And it's this massive facility. It's where they hosted all the speed skating and that type of stuff. So I think they've done it well or in such a way that people actually continue to use all the facilities and the accommodation and all that stuff. So I think people are still really have really fond memories of the Olympics, and they kind of hold on to that in the city, which it's cool. It's a really cool thing to have.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, I've always loved that about each of the three Canadian cities that had the Olympics. There's always that feeling that you can tell the Olympics have been there. I remember going to Calgary and it's like it's in the airport, Montreal. It's not that hard to find it. And yeah, Vancouver, the first time I went there, spending all that day just kind of trying to find and going to the cauldron. And every time I would go to Vancouver, it's like, OK, I know where the cauldron is. I'm going to the cauldron, get the photo with the cauldron and then spend the rest of it. So it'll be interesting to kind of see if that happens, because possibility you could have the Olympics back there in 2030. Of course, there's, you know, talk that it's going to come back there. So when you start to kind of make your way through and kind of get that first Canada, Canada nod when you actually finally make the team was this. This was a junior team for sort of under 21. And kind of what's that that feeling like when you sort of you've made that level, you've actually made the national team of this sport that you've kind of been going through the ranks for for quite some time.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, it was. Yeah, it was really cool. Again, like I didn't when I moved out here, I didn't have any intentions of it. So as in 2013 was when I first got selected. Yeah, for the junior team, the under 21s. We just got Yeah, we just qualified for the Junior World Cup that would be later that year. So I kind of made my way in just in time for that team, and that was my first exposure to it. But yeah, again, it just it was it was really cool because a few of my friends were on the team for you, my teammates from university were on that team already. So to be able to play with them, there was already that excitement. And then seeing them who had already represented the seniors as well. I was like, okay, this is a real possibility of, you know, actually playing for the for the for the country and eventually hopefully get into the Olympics.
BEN WATERWORTH: What was that Junior World Cup experience like? I remember when I was 14, we had the Junior World Cup in Hobart and I was a ball kid. I had an absolute blast there, like just two weeks, however long it was going around, collecting pins. We were, you know, trying to negotiate with all the teams to score some swag like we like this team's jacket. We want your jacket. We like your stick. We want your stick. I mean, it was so much fun on our behalf, but as a player, what's like the Junior World Cup, say compared to an Olympics or a World Cup is a bit more relaxed, a bit more fun kind of that atmosphere.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah. Well, I was in India, we were in Delhi.
BEN WATERWORTH: Good place to have a hockey.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, exactly. Like it was this whole like huge experience for us. You know, you travel across the world, you've got all these kind of health restrictions around like the drinking water and that type of stuff. So you have to be really careful. But then when you get there, you've actually got full stadiums cheering for you. So we actually played against India in the group stages. Now is our first experience playing, you know, in front of, I don't know, maybe five or 10,000 people, which when you're 19, 20 years old is a big deal. So it was really exciting for me, well, for the whole team. Sorry my dog's just gone.
BEN WATERWORTH: That's fine. We love a good dog appearance. It's kind of, it's a common thing here. It's always interesting to have, be joined by our four legged friends.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah. So did you want me to start again or just continue?
BEN WATERWORTH: Look, look, I think, I think we got what we needed there. I think that kind of, you'll learn on this show Oliver, that like questions go from one side to another and we'll end up talking about the weather at some point. Probably not the weather. We're not going to go down that path, but you know, one question will start, we'll talk about something else. That's just how it works. Which I actually just on sort of the topic of, of the sport in Canada, one of the biggest things I found when I was there is that I would mention that I played field hockey and people would often question me, not more for the fact that it was a different type of hockey that they were used to, they'd often say to me, but that's a girl sport. And I didn't actually realise that in Canada, for the most part, it's mainly a female sport. That absolutely confused me because obviously in Australia, you know, hockey here is massive. Our men's team is one of the best in the world, you know, kind of where we're obviously very renowned for looking, you know, at both sides of the men's and women's things. So I mean, was that something that you sort of weren't aware to that this was sort of something that Canadians really think of as more of a female-based sport than a men's sport?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, sadly, it's true. Yeah, and it's become less so in more recent years, I'd say. But when I first moved here, definitely, like you mentioned that you play field hockey and that's the first reaction is it's either, oh, why don't you play ice hockey or isn't, I thought, only girls played that. And the amount of times you get the joke, I go, do you wear skirts to play? And it's like, you know, it's 2021 now, I don't really think we should be making those jokes. And, and as well, like what you what you're doing by by saying like, oh, isn't that a girl sport kind of condescendingly is you're down downplaying or devaluing devaluing the women's sport.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, exactly.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: So yeah, sadly, that's true. But yeah, I mentioned this earlier, like I'm doing I'm doing a lot with my club and with the national team as well to try and grow the sports from the grassroots. And that also includes growing it specifically on the boys side, just to try and get rid of that stigma and to get more more kids playing in general and then more boys playing as well just to even out the numbers.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which when it comes to sort of playing facilities, obviously, you know, most people would watch hockey and see sort of the turf aspect of it. But I'm sure it was probably the same for you, for me, growing up, you're playing on grass, you do play on the field, hence why it's called field hockey. So are there many sort of designated facilities for the sport? Obviously, I can imagine plenty, well, some in Vancouver, but I mean, across the country. Is it generally a case of sharing facilities with soccer, like a lot of the time we would do here in Australia, if there's not, say, a readily field hockey facility available?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, yeah, so at the higher levels, we have, what are we at, two, I think we're at five, like official, like full on field hockey Astros out in Vancouver. And as I said, 90% of the national team is based out west, just with the climate, it's the place where you can play year round. So we have, you know, good facilities, good turf, but then at the lower level, so when you're talking juniors, you know, in high school level, it is often shared with the soccer, like the artificial turf. I'm sure you know the difference. So instead of the actual hockey water base, it's kind of that longer grass with the little black pellets in it.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah. Yeah, it's not as conducive to the sport, but I mean, it still gets kids playing. So yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: Did you ever have the ones growing up, we had one here that was actually, I don't even know how old or whatever it was, but it had this really dodgy artificial turf and instead of any water or the little bead, you had sand. It was literally sand and that just killed you when you would fall over. I don't know if that was just an old way they used to do the turf or an Australian thing. I mean, did you have things like that in the UK?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, that's what I grew up on. Strictly sand based. So it was always funny, like when I would travel to England for kind of the English development stuff, then we'd be on water base and it's a completely different style of game. Like the ball bounces so much more, it's so much quicker. But yeah, sand base is what I grew up on. It's really moved like the technology of fields or of the Astro has advanced so much in the past kind of 10 years.
BEN WATERWORTH: The best part for me was when you'd play the summer league and you'd get to play on one of the water turfs and, you know, obviously a bit warm here in Australia. So it'd be like half time. You wouldn't care how you're doing. You just ran the sprinklers. You ran sprinklers, Ty! We could cool down. We could cool down there too. So, what position are you sort of best at? I mean, do you kind of fluctuate? Do you kind of just stick to one when it comes to playing?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, I play in the midfield now. I spent a number of years on the forward line as well. So the way we play it, we do have set midfield forward, but we like that our front six can all interchange. So if the forward can easily drop back into midfield and the midfield can easily play up front, you know, if you get caught out of position or anything.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which I have to mention, as always, whenever we talk about field hockey, because look, I'm just saying this, Oliver, because like all these sports we talk about, like I'm never going to be out here saying like, Hey, I used to do judo or hey, I used to do curling. This is the one time I get to kind of relate to somebody clearly having been very successful in the sport in my entire career, but I was a goalie. So did you ever pull on the pads at all? Give it a bit of a crack trying to trying to be one of us weird folks in those goals.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: I've done it once and I don't think I'll ever do it again. I don't know how you do it or why you do it.
BEN WATERWORTH: The one I often came down to, nobody else wanted to do it. We're losing 13-0 every single game. Somebody better do it. Somebody has to. I always like to share the story. My claim to fame. Well, not really claim to fame, but I actually played against Eddie Ockenden. He was from where I'm from, same age. He played in the same league as me. He played for the best team, of course he did, and used to pop in 10 goals against me. So I interviewed him many years ago, and I remember saying to him, like, you're welcome, mate. Like, you got all that practice in there. That fat goalkeeper used to play for Prince of Wales all those years ago. So I like to say I made Eddie Ockenden happen, which I don't know if someone like you, when you're playing against him, is probably a bad thing. So for you, I'm sorry. For Australians, you're welcome.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, he's a fantastic player. So good for you.
BEN WATERWORTH: When it comes to you mentioning about sort of developing the sport in the country, sort of what steps do you take for that? And what steps would you like to take for that to kind of really help the sport grow across Canada?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, I think the main thing for us is showcasing what the sport looks like at the highest level. I think field hockey has come so far in the last five years, ten years, twenty years, however, whatever timeline you want to put, it keeps advancing, it keeps getting quicker and quicker. People are doing like new things and more and more impressive things. So just trying to showcase that to these, you know, eight, nine, ten year olds who just want to be out running and competing. If you can show them that, they're always like, oh, my goodness, this is so cool. And then you can show them like how hard you can hit the ball and they go, I want to be able to do that. So with my club, we will go into schools and do, you know, we'll take over a PE class for an hour. And so we'll do, we'll show them what we can do, we'll explain all the rules, we'll get them playing. And then maybe we'll show them some clips as well of like the highest level. So it's really about showcasing the sport at the highest level, getting kids playing at a young level. And then they realise kind of how fun it is and how far they can go, especially since it is still a small sport. It's a very, you know, it's an easier chance to get to the highest level or even to get to kind of university scholarships, that type of thing.
BEN WATERWORTH: Then if you go to try and play one of the biggest sports like ice hockey or, you know, Canadian football or anything like that, which, because it is a sport which I don't, if you're not familiar with it, when you watch it, realise can be incredibly exciting, right? Like, I mean, hockey is a lot faster than people think it is. The balls are a lot harder than you think it is. It's a lot more action packed than people think it is. And I guess kind of coming from a country like you growing up in the UK as well, where you're familiar with it, you feel like it's just part of you, you know what it's like. But in a country like Canada, where, yeah, they're not overly familiar with it, selling that aspect of the sport. And do you sort of, do you come loaded with like a highlights package where you're like, this is what it looks like at the Olympics World Cup. Like, this is what top tier hockey looks like to really kind of sell it. And then all of a sudden, the kids, you give them a stick, give them a bowl. Come on, kids, let's give it a go, because that sort of thing will help.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, yeah. So we're actually fortunate in how we qualified for Tokyo was one of like the most dramatic events I've ever been a part of or seen or heard of. So we ended up beating Ireland having, it was a two game series. We came back from two goals down. We tied it up with less than a second left on the clock and then won it in a shootout. But we were also down two goals in. So luckily enough, we can just show a five minute recap of that one match and the second match. And all of a sudden, the kids are into it and then it's like, okay, and here's some sticks. Now you go do it. And they're instantly keen, more keen to try it out, having seen kind of that crazy environment and the success that we had.
BEN WATERWORTH: The movie in that, like, you know, bucket just a five minute YouTube clip. You should be like on the board, on the phone, Hollywood trying to say the story of how Canada qualified for Tokyo. I like the sound of this.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: I mean, honestly, you could not you could not make it up. We yeah, it was it was I would recommend any of the listeners. Do you want something exciting? Go, go look that up.
BEN WATERWORTH: The Canada Vets Island match, two of the Olympic qualifiers, which was that was that pre delay or was that sort of after the day? Do you know you had qualified for Tokyo before the games were postponed? Or did you have to wait around to even realise you could qualify for the games until 2021?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: No, that was 2019. So that was pre COVID, all of that stuff.
BEN WATERWORTH: So that was, I guess, some weird thing, knowing that you at least were going to the Olympics, should the Olympics go ahead, rather than having to wait through that period of uncertainty.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, yeah. But then again, with the funny thing with the team sport is the team had qualified, but you still have to select your best 16 guys. So for me, I was not by any means guaranteed a spot. So it was still a lot of uncertainty of saying like, yeah, we've qualified and helped us get there, but that's not a guarantee that I'm actually going to be selected and playing in Tokyo.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which going back a few years to Rio, was that sort of the case? I mean, you're on the national squad. How close were you to being on that squad for Rio? And kind of, you know, what happened with that whole experience?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, I was definitely a bit further removed. I was kind of in the squad for the beginning of the site or the prep, and then maybe in kind of the first round of cuts in February of 2016.
BEN WATERWORTH: Kind of just didn't go there. What's that like though, then being like, because it's obviously, as you're saying, you're part of a team. So it's a team sport. Your goal is to qualify the team for the Olympics. That's what you're out there doing. But of course, selfishly, you all also want to make the team as well. But do you kind of take some sort of pride in some way that you were part of that team that helped qualify for the Olympics? So you can sit back on the couch and watch Rio and go, well, I played a small part in those 16 guys making it to the Olympics.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, it's a really tough situation for the reserve athletes, the athletes not selected. So yeah, because we're such a tight group, all of the guys on the team in Rio are my friends. So I was happy for all of them, and you're cheering them on and you really want them to do well. But then there's that part of you that's like, oh, I wish I could have been there. I wish I could have... And I didn't deserve to be there. I wasn't good enough at that time. So I didn't hold any grudges or anything. But there is still that part of you as an athlete, as a competitor that's like, I wish I could have been there. I think I could have done well, that type of stuff. So it's a really difficult position for anyone in that situation of being that reserve athlete, that first one cut or that last one cut, sorry. But that's just team sport at the end of the day.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'm sure it also always helps in a weird way to spur you on for the next Olympics. So that disappointment, watching it, thinking that could have been me, but then pushes you, I'm sure, harder to get better, practise harder, make that squad more, and then put yourself in a position so that, at the time, in four years' time, you can be well placed to make sure you are on that plane to the next Olympic Games.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Absolutely, and that's what you have to do. You really, yeah, you nail that, get the nail on the head, but you have to use that as motivation and kind of take a deep look at why you weren't selected, why you weren't in that squad and what you can do to close that gap and get on the next fight.
BEN WATERWORTH: In terms of the team in general, when it comes to qualifying for these major tournaments, obviously the Olympics are the peak. You've obviously got things like the World Cup, the Champions Trophy, Pan Am Games, Commonwealth Games. When it comes to being able to play those games in the world stages, does a lot of that come from Canada, from these qualifying tournaments? Are there often, does the US come up and play an invitational series? You go down to the US, other teams within the Americas. How does Canada actively go out there to improve their performance against some of these world's best teams that you want to play outside of say an Olympics or a World Cup? If you want to play the Netherlands outside of a World Cup, can you invite the Dutch over to Canada? Hey, come and play a five game series against us so we can help improve ourselves.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, it's difficult. That's basically the biggest problem we have is not getting enough matches to really compete with the top nations. So yeah, we've hosted series and we go on training tours quite often. That's the easiest way. But it's difficult. Canada is a long way away from a lot of other countries in the world. And it costs a lot of money for them to come here, for us to host them or for us to go anywhere else. So that was like the biggest thing for us going into Tokyo. I felt like we couldn't be as prepared as we wanted to be. So we were able to travel to Europe twice. And we got a few matches in there against Germany, Belgium and a couple of club sides. So we got some. But then you look at the European teams that had the European championships literally a month before the Olympics. So they played tournament hockey where you get used to who you're playing with, you get used to the ups and downs of group stages, what it means playing competitive matches again, that we just didn't really have access to that type of competition.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which they had a very similar thing here in Australia that basically the Kookaburras I think played a five or ten match series against New Zealand. That was all they could do because they couldn't obviously, similar to you guys, get to Europe, get to that sort of stuff. And a lot of talk was put on that, that the fact that the only team Australia knows who they're playing is New Zealand. But I mean, if you're playing against Germany, I mean Belgium, playing against the eventual Olympic champions, right? That's not the worst team that you could go against to kind of prep yourself for, right?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, yeah, but it was, the trouble is the number of matches you can get. Like just being in Europe is so much easier to, you know, you can organise a match in a week. Whereas for us, it involves the flights, the accommodation. There was quarantine back in those days. So we actually had to, when we did go to Europe, when we came back, we had to do two weeks of quarantine both times. So that's like, that's then four weeks out of your prep, four weeks that you can't be on the pitch that you're doing running in your backyard or on a treadmill. So yeah, it was difficult, difficult to prepare, but I mean, there's not much you can do with the whole global pandemic.
BEN WATERWORTH: Before we get a bit more to the Olympics, a couple of things. You touched on sort of the club aspect before, you know, is there a national field hockey competition or is it kind of just based purely on Vancouver? Do you maybe have a BC sort of league or does it, how does kind of the club structure in say Canada and BC work?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, so we play in the, it's kind of a greater Vancouver men's league. So that includes clubs from Vancouver, North and West Vancouver, Surrey just to the south of us, Burnaby. So kind of the whole lower mainland, that's the league that we play in. There are other leagues across the country, but there's no national league.
BEN WATERWORTH: And do you do, does that then kind of culminate though in national championships? So like the, your competition, the champions will go on to play in the Western Canada championship, then they'll go on to play in the sort of the national ones. Is this sort of a structure in place for that sort of thing?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Sadly, no, not at the senior level. There's junior nationals, I believe. Again, I didn't grow up here, so I haven't been a part of that, but they host nationals where you represent your province.
BEN WATERWORTH: You talk about 90% of the team being there in Vancouver. I mean, are there other hotbeds across the country in terms of it? Like outside of Vancouver and BC, where are sort of a lot of the field hockey players coming from in Canada?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Toronto, or just outside of Toronto. So I think in Brampton, there's a big community that plays. But yeah, like of the 18 that travel to Tokyo, we had one from Toronto. Everyone else lives or grew up in Vancouver.
BEN WATERWORTH: Crazy. And of those 18, I mean, how many are born and bred naturalised Canadians? I mean, are there kind of people like yourself, grown up in the UK and kind of taking the sport? Like you got a few people who have maybe brought that from other places, or you may just sort of like born bred Canadian, you've grown up with the sport as naturalised Canadians.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: No, no, there's quite a few kind of foreigners who have emigrated to Canada throughout their lives. Which means they're Canadian mates. Yeah, yeah, or have a Canadian passport. Like one of our teammates, Flo, lived his whole life in Holland, or Belgium, Holland, but has a Canadian passport, so then was able to play for us.
BEN WATERWORTH: Any Aussies, any Aussie connections at all there?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, we've had a number of Aussies over the years, South African, yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: Good, all right. Just like to clarify that one. Also, before we talk about the Olympics too, Pan Am Games in 2019, silver medallist. Now, that would have been an interesting final, I can imagine, because if I'm not mistaken, you win that gold at the Pan Ams. You also then guarantee your spot for the Olympics, don't you? So it's kind of double-edged success, like gold medal, qualify for the Olympics. You don't have to come back from two goals down against Ireland, make it a little bit easier. That must be a unique tournament to have that added pressure. Not only do you want to walk away from a major tournament like that with a gold medal, but you also want to make it easier for yourselves to qualify for an Olympics. What's it like going into a final of the Pan Am Games with all of that in the back of your mind?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, I mean, that's the focus of it. We knew that that was our first chance of qualifying. So that was like, we knew that once we got to the final, we were like, this is it. We need to put everything into this because there's no guarantees for the qualifier that we were going to get. We were matched up against Ireland, but at the end of the day, it was like a draw from a hat, essentially, of who you played against. So we could have been matched up against someone ranks even higher, or someone who we didn't match up against as well. So, yeah, I mean, a lot of pressure, but the Pan Am Games is such a great tournament for us because it's a multi-sport tournament. So it's similar to the Olympics in that you're in a village, you've got all these other athletes around you playing from all different sports. So it's a really cool experience, and it was my first multi-sport experience as well. So it kind of made the Olympics easier because all of those things weren't as new experiences. So yeah, it's a really cool tournament that we're lucky to play in as one of the American countries.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's a great point you make there because it's always interesting talking to athletes from some sports where the Olympics is the only chance they get at a multi-sport event. Their events are never at a Pan Ams or a Commonwealth or things like that, but you've obviously got that unique distinction with hockey, Pan Ams, it's a Commonwealth game sport as well. And it's always like that prep because it must be interesting to kind of go to an event like that when you haven't experienced it before because if you're going to a World Cup, you're going to this, it's purely hockey, right? So, do you kind of have to avoid distractions? Do you find yourself going to the Pan Ams, going, oh, I can go and watch the athletics, I can go and watch the swimming, or not focus only on this, like, oh, I'm in a village, I can get this, not focus on the event. Like, do you kind of have to try and balance those distractions that maybe you didn't realise were going to be a thing when you get to the Pan Ams?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, yeah. And luckily, like, we have a very experienced group, so enough guys have been to enough multi-sports to kind of lead you through it. But yeah, definitely. I mean, there's so much going on around it. And even just, like, village life is completely different. It's always buzzing, and you can always, you know, there's 10,000 athletes in the Olympic Village. I guess not this year, we didn't have more at once. But yeah, there can be a lot of distractions, but I mean, luckily, we have an experienced group that didn't really play into much for us.
BEN WATERWORTH: One thing I wanted to touch on, I was going to ask this question, but I didn't actually realise there was already an answer to this question. Obviously, the men's side here in Australia, the Kookaburras, the women's side, the Hockey Roos, we've talked a lot about on this show with Colin about the fact that in Australia, we love to give our teams nicknames. It's a very Australian thing. I think there's only one team in Australia that doesn't have a nickname, and that's our men's cricket team. We're just called the men's cricket team. They won't give them a nickname for whatever reason. I was going to ask if Canada have one, but I'm reading here, and this is correct, the Red Caribou, is that the official nickname, the mascot?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: I'm even wearing the hat right now.
BEN WATERWORTH: You are? Look at that. Is this a uniquely field hockey thing? Because I don't see that much in Canada, that you give your national teams nicknames.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, no, that is unique to field hockey. I think it was before Rio, actually, the guys came up with it for exactly that reason. It was like all these other countries have names. And even like you look at New Zealand's the Black Sticks, and Spain is the Red Sticks. You got the Red Lions coming out of Belgium. So, yeah, I don't know who actually came up with the name, but eventually it was like this whole thing, like, okay, we're going to call ourselves the Red Caribou. We had a connection within the community come up with the logo. We made hats and the shirts. We sold it as kind of a fundraising thing and created this like identity around it that really helps our supporters, which is really friends and family, but it helped them get around it a lot more.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which it works though. It does. I know in Australia, we literally know our teams by their names like that. It's rare to ever hear during an Olympics, the women's field hockey team are through to... It's always the hockey roos are through to the court. You know straight away who you're talking with. The Kookaburras are playing for gold tonight. It's never the men's field hockey team are playing for gold tonight. That needs to take off more in Canada. This is where you are the bench setters for this in cross Canada. The Red Caribou should be setting a trend. I want to see in Beijing the ice hockey boys, not just Team Canada, they should be like, I don't know, the ice bears or something like that. I have no idea. Come up with a nickname for every team in Canada.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, we should. We should. I'll send them a note.
BEN WATERWORTH: Please do. Groundbreaking. When you do release the hats and the merchandise, do you find yourself all of a sudden having a lot of people who are interested in getting red caribou merch?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, it did for us. So we partnered with, again, like another connection of someone who owned a hat company called Nine O'clock Gun. And so we partnered with him. He or they produced these hats for us. And so it was like really nice quality stuff. So then when we go to sell it and people can see it, it's like, OK, this is actually good stuff as well as supporting the team. So it wasn't just we got the cheapest we could do and just ship them out there. And as well, like you get that benefit of partnering with local businesses, supporting local, that sort of stuff that I think goes a long way as well.
BEN WATERWORTH: You mentioned the great moment you qualify for the games of the team qualifiers in that series against Ireland. Talk about when you found out you were on that squad, the moment that you knew you were going to Tokyo. What was that like when you officially knew that you were going to be an Olympian?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, emotional, definitely emotional. I mean, I'd had that day circled on my calendar for a very long time. And then with the pandemic, it got even delayed again another year. But no, I was lucky enough to be able to be at home. My partner took the day off work as well to be here with me so we could, you know, be together in the morning, try and keep the nerves down. And then my coach called us all individually. So when I found out it was just a dream come true, like I mentioned earlier, going to the Olympics and becoming an Olympian was always a dream of mine. So when that became a reality, it was like, okay, this is actually happening. And then, and then, and then as well, things, the gears shifted. And then it was, okay, I've got the first step of being selected. Now things shift to performing at the games. So there was really that there actually was that mental moment for me of job one done. Now on to the next. This is now 100% focus.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which you're talking about giving that phone call. So was it a case of, okay, guys, from 10 a.m. on this day, I'll be calling all of you. And then does the time like, does he call the people who don't make it first? And then he calls the squad or is he calling you straight away at 10? So you don't have to kind of wait around? Like, was there like a structure to those phone calls on that day?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: It was, it was like you said, it was like be available from 10 until 11 or something. That's when I'll make the phone calls. I don't know who he phoned first. I think I was towards the end, actually. Because then, because then once he had spoken to everyone, he sent the internal team list of everyone out. And I got that not too long after the phone call. So I think I was towards the end. But at least I wasn't working out.
BEN WATERWORTH: Dragging it out.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: It wasn't like 5pm or anything. That would have killed me.
BEN WATERWORTH: I think we've all been in that situation where you're waiting to find out about a job. Or something along those lines. But I can't imagine trying to find out if my childhood dream of going to the Olympics is happening today between 10 and 11. We'll just put the kettle on, love. We'll just watch some Netflix. Do you have a sneaky drink that night then? Do you kind of maybe just crack open a bottle of wine and go, all right, time to celebrate?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: I'll tell you that actually. My partner's mum had got me a tiny thing of sake the previous Christmas, kind of as like a cool thing just after we qualified. And I kept that and I said, I will drink that on the day I'm selected, if I'm selected. So she used a thing of a glass of sake with my partner, and then go back to work.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, just get back to work. Simple. For Christmas this year or next year, she maybe has to like buy you, I don't know, some like frog's legs or cargo packets or something like that, to open on the day that you make the Para Squad.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, maybe a croissant or something.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, exactly.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Maybe it's a good tradition we can keep up.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which during sort of that period then, sort of the COVID period, I mean, hockey's obviously, you know, you sort of touched on before with things like quarantine and that, but I mean, I guess you can get a stick in your backyard and practise your ball skills and that, but I mean, obviously it's a lot about the teamwork. So I mean, how do you kind of balance those challenging moments through COVID when you maybe can't come together as a squad? Lots of Zoom strategy meetings, kind of just, hey guys, let's do some drills in the backyard while we're on camera. I mean, how do you balance that moment during the pandemic?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, we were lucky. We only really shut down in Vancouver for a couple months where like you really weren't recommended to be outside or like outdoor spaces were closed as well. And then eventually, you know, we realised as science, we realised that being outdoors was generally okay. So eventually we were able to go for runs again. We could go to the pitch by ourselves. But funnily enough, our coach at the time stepped down at the beginning of the pandemic. Wow. So as soon as the Olympics were delayed or postponed, he stepped down and couldn't do it for family reasons. He just had a newborn baby and was always planning on retiring after Tokyo. So he couldn't manage the extra year. So then all of a sudden we were left. We were never coached. So it wasn't like we could really do strategy meetings until eventually our new coaching staff was hired. And by that point, we were back to group trainings outdoors again.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which I found that was interesting. I remember when I was there in BC, because comparing it now to being in Australia, we snap our fingers, everything gets shut down in a moment. Whereas in, at least in BC, it was kind of these are the things you can and can't do. We recommend you can. And I found Canadians just like, OK, no complaints. Just did as they're told, whatever. Whereas here it's like, you can't lock us down. We're going to protest. It's weirdly strange. People ask me, who handled it better, Canada or Australia? I used to say Australia. Now I say Canada. I found that very interesting during that period when things were really hitting the fan about how, particularly BC kind of handled it. It was interesting.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: We've been very lucky, honestly. Restaurants were closed for a while, and they've been opening up. Vaccination rates, I think, are high enough now that things are open. We've always been able to be outdoors. For me, that helped a lot. To be able to go out for a run or a walk, like walking the dog, that just kept everything sane. You could meet up with your friends outside. It just really took, at least for me and my friend group, it took a lot of the pressure off.
BEN WATERWORTH: We always love to find out about Olympic experiences outside of the competition thing. Similar to what I was asking for about the Pan Ams getting taken in by that multi-sport event. The Olympics are obviously a little bit different. So how did you find that aspect of the village life, whether you did the opening ceremony or not, all those amazing things around competing in Olympics, just those little moments of seeing the rings and wearing the Team Canada uniform, all those great memories I'm sure that you had from Tokyo.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, yeah. And that was half of the reason I wanted to go to the Olympics, was all the extra stuff you get along with it. No, so it was incredible. Like, the village life was fairly normal from what I've heard compared to previous games. You know, you wear a mask everywhere, but otherwise things are basically open. But then on the other side of things, you weren't allowed to go to other events. You weren't allowed to leave the village. We didn't go to the opening ceremonies because, well, A, we played the next day, so there was that performance aspect, and B, there was the COVID concerns, just putting that many people together in one place. So yeah, overall, I'd say the Olympics was still such an amazing experience for me, but I think there really were some things that maybe I don't fully realise all of them that we missed out on because of the pandemic.
BEN WATERWORTH: In terms of expectations for the team, you get drawn in. Both groups are difficult, of course, but you're up against Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, never easy nations to come across in hockey. But does the team set themselves a goal of let's get to the quarterfinals, let's come away with a win, let's score this amount of goals? What were those expectations going into the Olympics for the team?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, exactly. So we wanted to get to the quarters. We wanted to finish top eight, would have been the best result the Canadian men's team has ever done. But yeah, we, at the end of the day, were fairly disappointed with our performances and definitely with the results that we got. And so that also leaves a bit of a sour taste from the games because it wasn't this dream tournament for us. It was really difficult. We were up against some really good teams. And at the end of the day, we just didn't quite perform as well as we needed to.
BEN WATERWORTH: How is that to sort of come back from those performances? So for example, in the first game, you lose 7-1 to Germany. You obviously come back a couple of days later then to come against Britain, which I want to talk about separately, of course, in itself, but like kind of just regrouping because I can obviously imagine you're going into this. We're going to make the quarters. We're going to create history for the squad. But to kind of come out in that first game, have a match like that, shit, right? This isn't what we're going on. How do you turn that around within two days? Just put it behind you and just focus on the next match quickly? Do you take a couple of hours to kind of dwell on it and then move on? What's that kind of turnaround period like?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, there isn't really much time to dwell. You have to learn from your mistakes. You have to watch the film and reassess why things happened. But there's no time to dwell and feel sorry for yourself. I mean, we knew Germany was a really good team, and we knew that they would be medal contenders. So that first game, it was like, okay, we honestly believed we could cause an upset. But when it didn't go away, it was fine. It's one game. We had a site set on GB, knowing that we stood a good chance there, and we wanted to steal some points there. And again, it just didn't quite fall for us on the day. For various reasons. But again, the true disappointment came after the Holland game, where really then, we didn't really have a chance out of the group. But yeah, you can't dwell. You have to set your sights forward. You have to learn from your mistakes and just move on to the next one.
BEN WATERWORTH: What is that experience like playing against Britain at an Olympic Games? This could have been a team that you could have been on, Oliver. If things had gone a certain way, you could have been on that playing against Canada. I can't imagine that's a slightly odd experience for someone like you with ties obviously to both countries.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, it was cool. And that was actually my first time playing against them in my whole career. So it was cool. It was, as I said, like a game that we had our sights set on and we really wanted to cause an upset there and take some points. I mean, I didn't actually know anyone on the Tokyo team. One of my teammates, his cousin, actually plays for GB as well. So they had that whole family connection as well. But yeah, it was a fun match. It was definitely a fun match.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which, I mean, I guess after then, sort of you get to all those games, obviously the disappointment of knowing that you can't make it through there, that last game against South Africa, does that then turn into a place of, okay, well, this hasn't turned out how we want to do, but we're up against a team that we should be beating because you're ranked ahead of them in the world. I mean, did that last match, you kind of weirdly treat it like a final to see you can leave the tournament, I guess, you know, with a win?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, definitely. Yeah, it was, you know, I think majority of it was pride, wanting to end on a win and end on a high note. And then rankings points come into it too, because that match actually did mean something for us in terms of rankings points and the future. So it was nice to have a meaningful match. It wasn't just a throwaway at the end.
BEN WATERWORTH: Because they had beaten Germany, hadn't they? They had done what you guys thought you could do in that first game, and they came out of, you know, seemingly nowhere. All of a sudden, knock off, you know, the all-powerful Germans.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Man, they had a great tournament. They've got some really, really skilled, quick young guys up front. Yeah, they had a fantastic tournament. So it was a great match between us as well. And we finished 4-0 with a late equaliser. So it could have gone either way.
BEN WATERWORTH: So in terms of now what happens ahead of Paris, I believe there's a very quick turnaround. Are you not playing Olympic qualifiers already essentially very soon and also World Cup qualifiers? So like you kind of come home from Tokyo and you've always got to automatically got to switch focus to like World Cup and Olympic qualifiers, right?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, we took about six weeks off, completely off pitch out of the gym. Mental break. But we've already been back training. So World Cup qualifiers are in January for us.
BEN WATERWORTH: Wow, that quick. And how does it work with the Commonwealth Games next year? Does that just purely based on rankings or is there a separate Commonwealth Games qualifying tournament?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: I think that's rankings. So we're in regardless.
BEN WATERWORTH: Right.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: And yeah, that's next. What is that next? August, I think. July, August time.
BEN WATERWORTH: June, July, August period. Sort of that period. There was recently the time recording this, at least it was just 300 days ago, which is that something you kind of look at? I mean, how do how to generally players look at a Commonwealth Games? Is that something that you all strive for? Is it sort of down the tier a little bit when it comes to or do you personally go, OK, well, I've done a Pan Ams, I've done an Olympics. You know, now it's time to tick off a Commonwealth Games on my bucket list.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, I think I think it is more of a fun tournament often. What? Yeah, it doesn't mean anything in the past. It hasn't meant anything for rankings points. So for us, a lot of times it's it's a multi-sport game during a village, although this year it won't be. But yeah, it's just a fun tournament to play and you play some really good teams. And then, yeah, for me, it's it's a tournament I've never done. So I haven't played in the Commonwealth before. And then the added bonus is that it's in Birmingham this coming year. So hopefully a lot of my friends will be able to travel up, people I grew up with, just having that that whole connection as well.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which will be, you know, that added home element, of course, was it there too? So yeah, and I'm guessing the obvious question is Paris is the goal, though, long term for you. Like, do you do you see yourself sticking around, like going towards Paris, LA, Brisbane, come to Australia, Oliver? Like, I mean, kind of do you sort of still have long term aspirations to remain on the squad for as long as you can? Or do you sort of set yourself for an end goal? Like, OK, Paris, I think I'll hang up the stick after 2024.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Good question. I don't really know. Paris, for sure, I'm going to try my hand at that. It's only three years away and I'm still feeling feeling good with how I'm playing. And I like I mentioned that we got a new coaching staff last year. I like the way that the team is moving and I like the way that they handle it. So Paris, for sure. And then we'll cross the next bridge when we get there.
BEN WATERWORTH: A couple of things I want to get to before we close out with a series of fun questions, just to end this interview. One project, basically how we got connected, essentially, Oliver, was through a project called Racing To Zero, which I'm actually very intrigued to learn a little bit more about this. Tell us a little bit more about the project you're involved in, what it aims to achieve, and kind of how people can maybe get a little bit more involved in this project.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah. So Racing To Zero was a project, a friend or now a friend, a guy called Shay Smith came up with. And it's a project within the IOC's Young Changemakers Program, it's called. And he brought me on to help it. So Shay's a two-time Olympian in London for athletics, he's a 100-metre sprinter, and then he was actually the bobsled in Pyeongchang. So the project, the whole idea of it is to try to increase sustainability of sports, particularly at the grassroots level and starting with track and field events. We're based in Calgary because that's where Shay grew up competing. And the three main pillars that we have is to one, reduce plastic waste and overall waste at these events, two, to increase kind of the innovation around how to make track meets more sustainable, more environmentally friendly from kind of an organiser's perspective, and then three, to educate the athletes, the volunteers, the supporters, the spectators on how they can change their kind of their habits and all that to make everything a bit more environmentally friendly.
BEN WATERWORTH: And how did you get involved in the project? Did Shay ask you? Did you kind of track this down yourself, think this is something that I would like to be a part of?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, Shay sat on the Athletes Commission for the COC, as did one of my teammates Mark. So he kind of put it out to all the other representatives of like, if you know anyone that would be interested, send them my contact details. So Mark told me and we got connected.
BEN WATERWORTH: Great. And it seems, I mean, it seems like outside of sort of playing the sport, going to the Olympics, doing this sort of stuff, you're obviously very heavily involved in, I guess, these great causes, you know, promoting the sport in Canada, you know, joining racing to zero, this sort of stuff. Obviously something that's very important for you is kind of doing a lot more for people out there outside of just hitting, hitting a bowl every four years in the Olympic Games.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, yeah. Well, environmental concerns and sustainability has always been a passion of mine, and that's kind of where my career is heading outside of hockey. But yeah, also just like I, I personally have experienced so much pleasure from sport and had so many amazing opportunities because of it that I want other people to also experience that. And then in a sustainable way, just tying in that other kind of passion or interest of mine.
BEN WATERWORTH: I usually close out by letting people plug whatever they want, but just while we're on the topic of Racing To Zero, if people want to get involved, find out more information, like where can they go? Where can they head to?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, so the website is racingtoseero.ca. We are, we've just finished our first season where we actually were measuring and applying these principles and educating. So we're hoping to, I mean, it's such small scale at the moment, but we're hoping to grow. So right now it's track meets in Calgary. But, you know, in the years to come, we're hoping to expand across the country, across the world and into different sports to kind of create this framework for how to make sports more sustainable on every single level.
BEN WATERWORTH: Great, fantastic. Great initiative there. And yeah, racingtoseero.ca, people should check it out. One thing before I get to these questions as well, I believe you collect money. Is this true? Is this something that when you go to different places, you collect different foreign currency? And if so, how does this start? Oliver, I'm always intrigued how people start a collection.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: This started. It is true. I try to keep one note or one piece of currency from any country I've played in or travelled to. I think it just started. I got back from a tour and I had some leftover change in my wallet. I said, okay, I'll put that in the box of memorabilia. And then the next one, I had some more. I said, okay, I'll throw that away. And now it's just become a thing. So I try to keep one piece of currency from each of the countries I travel to.
BEN WATERWORTH: What's the best currency you've got? Like, have you got one particular favourite?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Uh, I don't think so.
BEN WATERWORTH: Have you got Australian notes? Do you need an Australian one? You do?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: I played a season in Melbourne in 2014.
BEN WATERWORTH: Great. Good city to go to. I may not be from there, but I still stand by that's the best city in Australia. So do you just walk away with a sneaky fiver, or do you kind of go all out and you have a nice green $100 note?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: No, I try to keep it as small as possible.
BEN WATERWORTH: Right. You're just sitting on like all these $100 bills or...
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, it's not like there's a shoe box in storage. It's worth a lot of money.
BEN WATERWORTH: $10,000 US dollars or something like that. We close it out with a series of fun, sort of get to know you style questions. Now, these were a Team Canada questionnaire that were given to you guys ahead of Ryo and Pyeongchang. I don't think these... We know you all do sort of like a media day before you go there and are given lots of interviews and things like that, but we haven't found out whether or not Team Canada actually gave these questions to you ahead of Tokyo. Maybe just didn't publish it on the website. We don't know, but essentially these are just a random, get to know each other. There is a drawing element to it, but we're not going to ask you to draw them, and you can if you really want to. We've had a couple of people do it, but that's entirely up to you. So I'm going to start off by asking you, what is your favourite ever Olympic moment?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Favourite ever Olympic moment? I'd say I'm going to have to stick to my Canadian boots here. And it was the Golden Goal. So for those of you who don't know...
BEN WATERWORTH: Sydney Crosby, I should say. I say Sydney when it comes to Olympics. People automatically think I'm going back to 2000, but no, no, Sydney Crosby. Sydney is different in Canada than Australia. Exactly, yeah. It kind of works that way. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: I think I'd be able to fly.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yes.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: That would be a good mode of transport and a bit of fun as well.
BEN WATERWORTH: I think it would actually work in a game of hockey, right? Like you could be having the ball and just like scare the shit out of the defender coming towards you. If you just also leap up, they're going to be looking at her, and then you quickly flick it off, and then all of a sudden distraction, tactic, boom, goal. Like it works. You can use that one. Your favourite sports movie is...
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: I think growing up, it was The Mighty Ducks. Yes. This makes me sound like such a big ice hockey fan, which I'm really not actually, but The Mighty Ducks is a fantastic movie.
BEN WATERWORTH: Absolutely. I mean, I'm just trying to think if there's any field hockey movies, I don't think there are any- No, there's a documentary about-
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, there's documentaries, but no movies.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, I'm trying to, because we often always equate it then to James Bond, like has James Bond played it, but James Bond hasn't even done field hockey. He sort of did ice hockey, and for your eyes only, he just kind of took on a couple of players, but maybe it's in Bond 25. We haven't seen it yet, at least at the time of recording this. Your funniest childhood memory is?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Oh my goodness. Funniest childhood memory. I'd say, well, yeah, I can't really think of any.
BEN WATERWORTH: Too many? We had such a funny childhood. It works that way. That's all right. Some of these questions are like, this was obviously a written question, and people can obviously sit there and think for a little bit. These, I don't think are designed for podcast hosts to ask on the spot. There's one which I never ask because it's always too difficult. It's your favourite song lyric. And it's kind of like, well, unless you've got a go-to song lyric, who's gonna have that ready to go, right?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's very kind of, you know, that way. Speaking of music, at least, your favourite pump-up song is?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Pump-up song, I'll typically throw on anything by either J. Cole or Drake.
BEN WATERWORTH: Nice.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Any of their kind of more upbeat songs will get me going.
BEN WATERWORTH: Is it a case of, do you, as a team, sort of when you're in the change rooms for a game, do you each take it in terms of getting on the ox and putting on some tunes, or is it like captain's choice, or is it no music? Like we're here to talk. We don't need to put any music to pump us up.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: No, we have music. It typically falls to whoever brings the speaker with them. And that'll end up being kind of, so it was one guy for a while, and then I think he got tired of like the pressure of choosing good songs. So he passed it on to another guy. But yeah, they're our favourites. Definitely people know the team favourites, the hits that get played.
BEN WATERWORTH: What is the team hit? Is there one song that the Red Caribou, it's like it's the Red Caribou anthem?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: So I'll tell you what, there's a song called Tsunami. I have no idea who it's by. It's like a kind of electro type, drum and bass type song.
BEN WATERWORTH: I know this song, yeah.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: And so we played that, I don't know where it started, but it did. We played it before, we played it before a match, and everyone gets standing up, grabs like a stick and like, I don't know, a rubbish bin or their shin pads and just bangs them together as the song goes along. And everybody's jumping up and down. That's kind of, we did that before the final of a tournament in Malaysia in 2019. We got so rambunctious that somebody actually smashed the door, like was opening and closing the door together and smashed it closed so hard that it locked itself and we couldn't get out of the changing room. Oh wow. So one of our coaches had to kick the door down to let us out onto the pitch.
BEN WATERWORTH: And from that moment on, Tsunami was banned before games.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, no, it's the go-to, play the last song before we go on the pitch.
BEN WATERWORTH: That's epic. I love that. Wow, so cool. Great, great answer. The most recent TV show that you binge-watched was?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Outer Banks on Netflix.
BEN WATERWORTH: Right, what did you think of it?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: It's teen drama, it's absolutely best.
BEN WATERWORTH: That's all we want, right? Teen drama, the best ones, you know, kind of goes that way. What is your least favourite food?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Least favourite food, I mean, I don't, I like the taste of pretty much everything, but I don't really eat much meat anymore. So I guess maybe from an ethical standpoint, I have to say that one.
BEN WATERWORTH: Okay, that works. I was gonna say like, is that sort of like that choice? Is it health reasons, things like that?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, more sustainability reasons.
BEN WATERWORTH: Be honest though, are there some times when you just go, shit, I really want to steak? Like, is it good?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Oh, yeah, yes. No, I'm by no means, I'm not vegetarian. I'm not like stripped on this. If the situation lends itself, I'll happily eat meat, but it's more about where it comes from and the practices to get it.
BEN WATERWORTH: Your favourite chip flavour is?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Like crisps. Yeah.
BEN WATERWORTH: Oh, nice, good one. Do you get involved in the whole ketchup, you know, all season dressed, whatever they're called over there?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, I don't hate them. I like them. I wouldn't choose it, but if it's there, I'll eat it.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, it's kind of like Vegemite here, right? The reason I live in Canada secretly is because I got deported. I just don't like it.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: You may have just answered the previous question, Mum, I can't do that. That's my favourite food, isn't it?
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, it's a select taste. I don't get this whole notion in this country where it's like, if you don't like Vegemite, you're not Australian. Like, have you eaten Vegemite? It tastes like shit. I'm Australian and I can say that. I'm not gonna defend that crap. If you weren't an athlete, what would you be?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: I mean, I'm working towards a career in kind of social finance. So investing, impact investing, investing into companies with kind of a social goal or mission-driven companies. So I'd say I probably would have put a bit more focus into that.
BEN WATERWORTH: Fantastic, that works. Your favourite vacation spot is?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Anywhere where I can surf.
BEN WATERWORTH: Anywhere you can surf, oh, right, okay. So you would have loved coming to Australia then. That was just an excuse. Like, yeah, bugger hockey, I'm going surfing.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, yeah, I only got in once, and it was actually in Adelaide. I went to visit a friend in Adelaide. Yeah, yeah, but no, I grew up surfing, so anywhere I can get to nowadays is a good time.
BEN WATERWORTH: Got a great spot in Tassie called Shipstone's Bluff, which I'm sure as a surfer you've probably heard of, but it's a very famous spot, and yeah, I think it's one of the best breaks in the world. I think Kelly Slater will often just get a helicopter and just fly himself down there as you do. Why not? Just on Thursday, getting a chop, let's go to Tassie. Let's kind of do this way. What's something that people usually describe you as?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Probably, I don't know, energetic or something.
BEN WATERWORTH: Good word. That works. I like that. And I'll say the other, the last ones, these are the drawing ones. So if you're bored one day, Oliver, you can draw a picture of one of your teammates and draw a picture of yourself. And just looking at the drawings here, and this questionnaire, questionable drawings. But anyway, before we let you go, if people want to follow your journey, people want to stay up to date with what you're doing, social media, anything along those lines that people can kind of stay up to date with your journey towards Paris?
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Yeah, Twitter and Instagram, both is at Oschofield.
BEN WATERWORTH: Easy, done. We'll tag that obviously in the post when we put this out. Oh, it's been an absolute pleasure to learn more about you, learn more about all the great things that you're involved in and everything around your Olympic experience and that too. We look forward to seeing you in Paris. And I thought I would never say this against the Cougar Bar as a bugger. I'm going for it. Go Red Caribou. I like this kind of a notion that Paris, when we're covering it, we're covering the hockey, we can instead of just go, Oh, Team Canada did, no, the Red Caribou did this. So go Red Caribou.
OLIVER SCHOLFIELD: Great. Well, thank you so much for having me on. It's a pleasure.
BEN WATERWORTH: And a massive, massive thanks there to Oliver for his time learning a lot. And yeah, I'm never gonna listen to the song Tsunami now without wanting to break a couple of doors. So next time I'm in Malaysia, perhaps, maybe I just need to crank it up a little bit loud and break a door to keep up with some traditions there. So big thanks to Oliver, great to learn more. And the great outside activities, outside of hockey, things that he's involved in as well. So by all means, check out some of the great stuff that he is doing. Now, before we let you go, this is that part of the show where obviously I give you all the standard stuff, the great stuff where I say, listen to the show more. It's great, we love you listening. Subscribe to the show, give us a rating, go to all those podcast platforms, type in Off The Podium, you'll find us there. Social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, you'll find us there. It's the stock standard conclusion to a show, but I wouldn't be a podcast host if I didn't do that. So by all means, check us out in all those platforms up to date. If you've missed any of our great interviews, or great episodes in the past, you can find them all on there. And we've got so many great ones to come as well. Not that this wasn't great, not that the next one's gonna be great, or the past one's gonna be great, but we've still got plenty of great ones still to come. Just what I've got to say right now, we get so close to Beijing, you can sniff it, you can sniff the Olympic flame. It's nearly lit again. So get excited for that. We've got some great winter athletes, as well as summer athletes, to keep you entertained in the lead up to those games. And our 200th episode is so close, you can taste it, you can sniff it, you can breathe it, it's just getting around the corner. Always great to have an episode where we have basically a clip show, and you find all the great interviews and everything else in between. So stay tuned for our 200th episode just around the corner as well. Big thanks again to Oliver, big thanks to you for listening at home. My name is Ben, a special shout out to Jason Momoa, of course, and as always, go left.
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