Brock Harrison pictured here with the championship trophy from the 4-on-4 Ball Hockey Worlds, held Nov. 8-12 in the Dominican Republic. (Submitted photo/Brock Harrison)

By Martin Martinson

A dream come true

Harrison wins Ball Hockey World Championship with Canada

Nov 15, 2023 | 3:00 PM

It was a whirlwind week of travel, tropical weather, and international ball hockey competition capped off with a gold medal, that Battlefords native and current Warman resident Brock Harrison won’t soon forget.

Suiting up for Canada with the country’s ‘Masters Men’s 35+ team’ at the 4-on-4 World Ball Hockey Championship in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, Harrison’s six points in eight tournament games led the team in scoring on their way to the top of the podium, as world champions on the international stage.

It’s an experience Harrison shared with battlefordsNOW, of what it meant to take home the gold for his country.

“It’s a huge accomplishment representing Canada and winning a World Championship in any sport is a dream for a lot of people growing up,” Harrison said. “It’s something I never thought was possible [but] ball hockey has given me that opportunity and I just want to thank my family for supporting me, my Saskatchewan teammates for texting and checking in with me during the tournament, and my wife for always letting me chase my dreams at every age.”

The gold medal serves as Harrison’s first world championship, joining a bronze medal win at last year’s Men’s Masters in Kladno and Nové Strašecí, Czech Republic; and a fourth-place finish with the Saskatchewan Mammoth at the Worlds in Buffalo, NY., back in August; both 5-on-5 tournaments.

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Harrison hit the ground running in Puerto Plata, highlighted by a four-assist performance to lead Canada to a 6-1 victory over Slovakia to open the tournament with a win and start them off on the right track.

However, the tournament wasn’t without its challenges for the squad as well on their road to the gold. A middling finish to round-robin play saw Harrison and his teammates finish 2-3 heading into the playoff rounds, with three straight losses determined by just a single goal, falling 2-1 to Great Britain, 2-1 to Quebec, and 4-3 to Czechia.

Though rather than get discouraged by the narrow defeats the team only grew stronger, and like a rock-turned-diamond, shone under the pressure of the playoff rounds, blanking Slovakia 3-0 in the quarter-finals, and then ousting Quebec 3-1 in the semis, before clinching the gold with a 4-1 victory over Czechia.

Reflecting on their run to the championship, Harrison credits strong leadership and a positive mindset as a group with helping the team bounce back quickly and get better as the short tournament went along.

“We had great coaching and a great leadership group, and we focused on two things: competing every game and having a positive attitude,” he said. “In such a short tournament it’s easy to get frustrated and down, but the boys battled hard even after a loss.”

Following his whirlwind week in the tropics, Harrison, like many great athletes and world champions before him – from Joe Montana to Tom Brady – will be ‘going to Disneyland!’ for a family trip to celebrate.

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @MartyMartyPxP1