Field Hockey head coach Beth Ali is resigning from coaching the Blues. She leaves an illustrious twelve-year career featuring seven Ontario University Athletic championships, eight Canadian Interuniversity Sport medalling seasons, a 2005 OUA Coach of the Year award, and a career record of 192-31-18. Assistant coach and U of T Field Hockey alumnus Erin Fraser will replace Ali.

Legacy of a champion

The departure comes after Ali managed the Blues to their seventh undefeated regular season, each coming under her watch.

“It was just the right time to move on,” Ali said regarding the motive for her resignation. “You don’t want to outstay yourself.”

While her modesty abounds, Ali leaves an unparalleled record on the field. Taking over the reins from Liz Hoffman, a three-time CIS Coach of the Year, li immediately made an impact, as the Blues finished second in the OUA championship in her first season. The Blues would later go undefeated in regular play for the next three years, winning the CIS championship in 1996. After a one-year hiatus in 1998, Ali returned where she left off, managing the Blues to six OUA titles in eight years.

While leaving her post along the sidelines, Ali will remain Manager of Intercollegiate Sport in the University of Toronto Faculty of Physical Education and Health.

“I’m looking forward to doing different things,” Ali said. “Along with finding out what those are.”

Taking over the reins

After her first season as assistant coach, Fraser becomes the seventh U of T Field Hockey coach since its intercollegiate inception in 1963. A player from 1998-2002, Fraser earned OUA and CIAU Rookie of the Year honors, before captaining the Blues in her last two seasons. A member of four OUA gold medal-winning teams, Fraser was a three-time OUA all-star and an all-Canadian. From 2001-2005 she played on Canada’s National team.

After five years of success at the university level, Fraser traveled to Europe where she was a member of Holland’s club team MOP, Dammes 1. After one season, she returned to Canada and coached the Central Ontario U-19 field hockey team to a bronze medal at the 2006 Ontario Summer Games before joining the Blues.

Fraser will inherit a team that graduates only two players, while boasting a young nucleus for at least two seasons, Ali said.

“It’ll be the same good group for another two or three seasons, and the recruiting class should be strong,” she said. “She’s an outstanding mind, with a wealth of knowledge and experience. She is technically very strong, and she understands the development process at both the field hockey level and of the academic, which is important at an institution like U of T. She will also be able to relate well with the athletes, as she was once one not too long ago.”