DARPAN SPOTLIGHT
Since the start of his field hockey career, Tanvir Kang has had one dream: to play for Canada! This year, his dream came true as he was selected for the U-21 Junior World Cup. He will represent Canada in Bhubaneswar, India, from November 24 to December 5.
opportunities in Alberta,” explains Kang. The field hockey superstar travels to British Columbia every weekend to play league games and attend trainings, as a team player of the West Coast Kings in BC. The past few years, especially, have been a balancing act for the busy bee. While he would be going to school in Calgary during the weekdays, he would fly out to British Columbia for the weekends, to train. When in Calgary, he would practice at his home club, United Field Hockey Club Calgary. He would train on his own, hit the gym, and play in local leagues. Many times, he’d fly out right after classes, finishing his homework in whatever time he could squeeze in between commitments. Kang shares, “Traveling is
TEAM CANADA’S
TANVIR KANG
CHASING FIELD HOCKEY DREAMS
Photography: Fahad Photo
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By Naina Grewal
ince the start of his field hockey career, Tanvir Kang has had one dream: to play for Canada! This year, his dream came true as he was selected for the U-21 Junior World Cup. He will represent Canada in Bhubaneswar, India from November 24 to December 5. Alongside pursuing the Heavy Equipment Technician program at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), Kang is currently spending most of his time training twice a day for the upcoming Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup. Calgary-based Kang recalls that he initially started playing hockey because of his uncle’s encouragement, but soon fell in love with the sport himself. “I started playing seven to eight years ago. Since then, my uncle and I had the dream of me playing for Canada. It took a lot of dedication and commitment to achieve the dream, especially given that there are not many
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NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2021
Reflecting The South-Asian Lifestyle
DARPAN
TM
definitely the biggest challenge. There would be times when I’d have school or work scheduled for early Monday morning. For this past year, particularly, I have had to complete hours for apprenticeships, for which I’d sometimes take a flight back to Calgary at 6:00am in the morning.” When he wasn’t in British Columbia, Kang would sometimes be playing tournaments in Mexico or the United States. He’s also done U-21 tours in the Netherlands and England. As the only player from Alberta in the Junior Program, Kang has definitely had to exhibit extra commitment. The world cup dream, though, was his light at the end of the tunnel. Despite the challenges, he always pushed harder and never gave up.
