If it sometimes takes a break to reach your goal, Brenden Bissett will take a pass.
The New Westminster native has overcome a few breaks of the unlucky kind and made the Canadian men’s field hockey team through perseverance and passion, and now is eager to help the national program continue its climb up the international charts.
Today 23-year-old Bissett and his squad find themselves in Malaysia, playing the second game of the Azlan Shah Cup, a seven-team tournament that serves as a primer for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
They opened the international tourney on Wednesday with a 3-1 loss at the hands of No. 11-ranked Pakistan.
Ranking and position are all part of the picture for the youthful forward, as the Azlan Shah provides an excellent opportunity to measure the field for this summer’s big games.
“I think we bring a new intensity,” Bissett told the Record last week prior to jetting to Malaysia. “There’s a lot more competition and everyday it’s 110 per cent just to keep my spot on the team.
“The Olympics were everyone’s goal from the outset and now that we’ve qualified, you want to be there to contribute.”
Canada officially qualified last year by finishing second at the Pan Am Games in Toronto, beating Brazil by shootout in the semifinals. They would lose the final 3-0 to Argentina, but Canada had already set the tone a month earlier with a dramatic shootout victory over then sixth-ranked New Zealand in the World League semifinals in Buenos Aires.
“We had set an ambitious goal. We had to beat a top-six team. … Beating Brazil clinched our spot. It took 15 rounds (of shooters) to do it, but we did it.”
Since he debuted with the national team in 2011 at the age of 17, the experiences he could have piled up en route to this junction should have been multi-layered. The only thing is after making that first tour with the team, Bissett met more surgeons and physiotherapists than opposing players.
He suffered through three surgeries, after breaking his left arm three times, and suffered a broken right thumb last year.
Every time it seemed the healing process was completed, Bissett faced another hurdle to playing for Canada again.
“My first tour with the senior (national team) was in 2011 and the next one in 2015, so that was a bit of a wait,” he admitted.
The first break occurred while playing with his club team in 2011, and put him on the sidelines for four months. A year later, playing at the University of Victoria, the same arm was broken. After three months, the doctors decided it wasn’t healing properly and the arm was rebroken. Good luck seemed sorely lacking.
Not a superstitious person, Bissett mused how perhaps a four-leaf clover or horseshoe would be a good idea.
“I don’t have any superstitions, but maybe I should develop one just to keep me healthy,” he said with a chuckle. “(Field hockey) is not a contact sport but you can get injured, as I’ve proven.”
With 42 caps – including 25 with the senior national team – Bissett has absorbed plenty of on-pitch lessons on what it takes to compete internationally.
His love for the sport benefited from the experiences of others.
“My uncle David went to two Olympics, (Montreal and Los Angeles) so I think I got the most influence from him,” said Bissett. “He’s helped me out and comes out to watch, and he’s always talking about the game.”
His older brothers, twins Stephen and Matthew, have also worn the national uniform.
In January, Stephen and Brenden were part of the Canadians who travelled to South Africa to train.
The sport provided a common bond for the three Bissett boys growing up. Although two years separate the twins and Brenden, the younger brother benefited from the older siblings’ experiences by always pushing to join them.
“For a lot of the time I’d play two years up with their team and try to be two years better than my age,” he said.
A member of the Canadian junior lineup at the 2013 Junior World Cup, Bissett said the biggest adjustment at the senior level is the intensity of the players. At last year’s Azlan Shah Cup, he couldn’t help but appreciate how seriously everyone took the games.
“It’s a pretty incredible scene, really,” he remarked. “They fully host you, welcome you right from the airport. We played before a crowd of 5,000 people and you don’t get that in Canada.”
Each game wearing the Canadian maple leaf is special, Bissett noted, recalling his first time up with the senior squad.
“I was still in high school so it was a bit of a shock and a huge jump,” he said of his debut in 2011. “My first game was against France, and our next game was against the U.S. where I scored. Then I waited four years for my next game.”
Canada plays its second game against New Zealand today. On Saturday, the Canadians play Japan, then take on No. 7-ranked India on Sunday. On Tuesday, Canada plays the host nation, then draws Australia, ranked No. 1 in the world, on the final day.
