Stranded Waterloo athletes on field hockey team secure flight home from South Africa

Canada's junior women's field hockey team, which includes two players from Waterloo, has secured a way home after being stranded in South Africa.

The team travelled in late November for the Junior World Cup, which was cancelled shortly after they arrived due to concerns over the COVID-19 omicron variant. 

Flight restrictions in and out of South Africa left the team scrambling for a way home until Tuesday, when Field Hockey Canada announced it secured flights from Johannesburg on Dec. 8.

"We're just waiting to go home to see our families and get hugs from them. It's been a while. We're all a little sad and just need that comfort from back home," player Jenna Berger, from Waterloo, Ont. told CBC.

Grace Leahy, also from Waterloo, said the team was "pretty upset" after news of the tournament's cancellation but hopes to compete again soon.

"We were coming here to prepare and we all were really excited, but I think waiting a few more months isn't going to hurt us too much," she said. "So we're just going to keep training as much as we can and develop for the next time we have the opportunity to play."

'Have each other's backs'

Leahy said, despite the situation, the team is doing well.

They're staying at a campus facility in Potchefstroom where they can safely train, do school work and hang out.

"We all have each other's backs and we play board games to pass the time," said Leahy.

"So it's a really great group of girls and so we're not complaining at all. We enjoy each other's company," she added.

The team had raised thousands of dollars to travel and compete in South Africa. Berger said even though the championship was cancelled, the team still has to pay its expenses.

They'll have to fundraise again when the championship is rescheduled.

"We're just going to have to keep on raising more money for our second time around when coming back. It's going to be difficult financial-wise for all of us athletes, unfortunately," said Berger. 

Canada was the top-ranked team from the Americas in the World Cup after winning the Junior Pan American Championships in Chile in August.