Field Hockey Executive Director Weekly Report

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USA Field Hockey Weekly Report-Week of September 16, 2013

USA Field Hockey’s Futures 2014 program is the first step in the Olympic Development pipeline. The Futures program is made up of 27 hours of specialized training. Field hockey athletes go through the specialized drills while being coached by USA Field Hockey accredited Level I, II or III coaches. This is a great program for athletes wanting to improve their skills and for athletes who dream about playing at a higher level. To become a Futures athlete, you must go through a trial with your coach. To find out more about the Futures trial process, please contact Caitie Tornes at ctornes@usafieldhockey.com or go directly online to: http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Field-Hockey/FUTURES/Futures-Trials.

Last year USA Field Hockey had 5,000+ athletes go through this program. From those 5,000, everyone had the opportunity to showcase and compete in a Futures Regional Tournament. From the Futures Regional Tournaments, 680 athletes were selected to compete at the USA Field Hockey National Futures Championship. A vast majority of those young women were recruited for collegiate team opportunities. Showcasing athlete talents for collegiate coaches has become a big emphasis for this organization. Largely the showcasing has come about as a positive consequence of our creating programs to help develop athlete enjoyment of the game through skill improvement, and to improve the pipeline leading to eventual Olympic team participation. No matter the outcome of the program (being on the Olympic team, gaining a scholarship or opportunity to go to one of the many fine colleges and universities throughout the USA offering hockey, or just for the enjoyment of competing and developing hockey skills) the Futures program has consistently shown positive outcomes for athletes through the years.

As an aside, USA Field Hockey is in the midst of updating the Futures curriculum. The purpose is to make the program contemporary with today’s athletes and to introduce some of the new major functionaries in the sport. The new curriculum is scheduled for completion for the 2014 year. Good stuff.

The USA Field Hockey Women’s National Team left for Mendoza, Argentina this past Sunday. They are competing in the women’s Pan Am Cup, one of several qualifiers for the FIH World Cup. The trip to Mendoza was extraordinarily difficult. It is a 22 hour adventure on a multi-stop flight. To top off the difficulties of travel to that country, we ran into a constantly changing set of requirements for entry. Visa documents costing $160 each plus the bureaucratic issues of dealing with a constant set of changing requirements to gain entry was indeed a struggle. It seems the government of Argentina is changing rules of entry without much prior notice. Thanks to the officials within the Pan American Field Hockey Federation and the Argentina Hockey NA, things were finally worked out. Traveling internationally often holds with it many challenges. We are glad the team made it and is now settling in. Courtney Tavener, of the USA Field Hockey staff will be serving as Communications Manager in Argentina. She will be tweeting and filing reports pre-during-and post games. 

Team USA will face Mexico on Saturday, September 21 in their opening match. Next up, the team faces Chile on September 22, and then Uruguay on September 24. The Pan American Cup matches will be streamed live on panamhockey.org. Good Luck to Craig Parnham and the team on their Pan American Cup journey. 

This past weekend, USA Field Hockey celebrated its 2nd annual National Field Hockey Day. This event was created to spread awareness of the sport, increase participation and celebrate each of our athletes, coaches, umpires, and fans across the country. We would like to thank everyone who participated and shared their experience with us through social media. We will be posting some of our favorite photos this afternoon. Awards for largest celebration, most creative and growing the game will also be announced later today on social media and our website. For more information on the initiative, please contact our Sport Development Team at growthegame@usafieldhockey.com.

Mark your calendars! Next year’s National Field Hockey Day will be on Saturday, September 13th, 2014.

Just a reminder: the Club Affiliation open enrollment window closes in two weeks at 11:45 p.m. EST on October 1, 2013. The window is open now to allow Under-12 and Under-19 members to change club affiliation for the upcoming event year. Between August 1 and October 1, members can change club affiliation by logging into their member account on www.usafieldhockey.com and selecting ‘Change My Club Affiliation’ from the left side navigation bar. Outside of the open enrollment window, members are required to submit a completed transfer request form. 

Applications for the Club Advisory Task Force need to be submitted by the end of this week, Friday September 20th. Any current member who would like to be considered for a one year term in the CATF (a task force in which we are recreating new short term goals), please email your name, email address, membership number and role within the field hockey world to Emily Thomas. Four positions are available.

Last evening, Steve Horgan, USAFH Director of Umpiring, conducted a 75-person clinic for umpires at The Nook. The clinic was hosted by the Lancaster Lebanon Chapter Field Hockey Officials. Other local umpiring chapters from Harrisburg, York and Berks County were also invited to attend. Topics covered were “Understanding the Rule Book", 21st century hockey versus old time old school hockey, positioning and anticipation of play for umpires as well as current applications of stick and body obstruction. Steve reports that the group was a very energetic and enthusiastic bunch with a wide range of experience levels. Also on Wednesday of last week, the same presentation was given to the BBOWS Umpiring Board in Baltimore, MD with about 60 in attendance. Steve Horgan really appreciates the opportunity to be invited to local chapter meetings so that he and other delegates can do their best to get a consistent message to everyone involved with umpiring hockey. 

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: “In Canada, a man was attacked by a polar bear and he scared it off with his cellphone. Apparently the bear got frightened when he saw the two-year contract.”
Have a great week!

Steven Locke
Executive Director
USA Field Hockey  

2014 Futures Elite Academy Field Hockey Selections Announced

Sponsored by: Field Hockey Coaching DVD's from Sports Nation Video

This summer, the crème de la crème of high school athletes competed in the National Futures Championship, Futures Elite Championship, and AAU Junior Olympics. From these three events, the top competitors across U14, U16, and U19 age groups have been selected to train at the 2014 Futures Elite Academies. These athletes have been identified as possessing the skills, talent, and athletic prowess to successfully continue through the next stages in USA Field Hockey’s Olympic Development Pipeline. The Academies exist to provide additional training and competition opportunities for these athletes distinguished with the potential to one day represent Team USA.

“Within the Olympic movement our mechanism to identify the sport’s top athletes and move those competitors to the next level is well renowned,” explained USA Field Hockey’s Executive Director, Steve Locke. “This program is the envy of the Olympic family and has proven over the years to showcase athletes and improve their technical skills for top collegiate performance and potential Olympic team selection.”

The Futures Elite Academy Program sits atop the Olympic Development Pipeline along with the U17, U19, and U21 Junior National Team Squads. All Futures Elite Academy athletes must have participated in the Futures Program in order to continue up the Olympic Pipeline. Futures Elite Academy selectees participate in a Level I training site comprised of athletes who attended the prior year’s NFC, FEC, and AAU Junior Olympics within their region until the Futures Elite Academies begin in March, April, or May. Futures Elite Academy athletes have the unique opportunity to hone their hockey skills at an elite level under the highest caliber of coaches and develop their game amongst the country’s most talented high school aged players. 

 

500 field hockey wins and counting

Sponsored by: Field Hockey DVD's from Sports Nation Video

Chrissy Lewis Summers, head coach at the Potomac School in Mclean, Va. and owner of Beyond Sticks, writes from a unique perspective of losing to Coach Marsha Way and giving Way her 500th win. 

As the clock wound down on a perfect Fall day and the scoreboard loudly declared "Home: 1 Guest: 2" I knew we were about to join the ranks of literally hundreds of other field hockey teams who’ve come up short. Only one week earlier, our guests, St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School in Alexandria, Va., won their 500th game at home under the helm of head Coach Marsha Way. Since arriving at St. Agnes School (the school merged with St. Stephens School in 1991) in the fall of 1979, she has never missed a season as the varsity coach, even during her tenure as athletic director. Over 35 years, she has amassed an incredible 21 conference championships, 20 conference tournament championships, four Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association championships, and 12 undefeated seasons. 

"I was pleased it happened on our home turf. It is just surreal,” remarks Coach Way of the monumental win. Despite achieving a milestone few reach in any level of sport, she is humbled less by the number but by those around her. "I don't want the attention on myself. This happened because of every kid I've ever coached and every assistant coach I've ever had. We did it as a team." 

When comparing the game in her early coaching days to now, she is continually amazed at how the sport has evolved. “The kids are just more skilled. The game is much faster and the kids are faster. They can do more with their sticks. It’s great to watch.” Unlike some coaches, as the game evolved, so did Marsha and her staff.

Is there a secret to her success? According to Marsha, her “kids are simply hard workers”. Nonetheless, from what this coach can see, Marsha takes that work ethic, builds upon it, and instills a discipline in them that has created over 3 decades of consistently top level play. When asked to sum up her coaching mantra, it is beautifully simple and effective: “Work hard, play smart, and play as one team.” Her team doesn't just say it; they live it.

Although we plan on working to make sure their 501st win against our squad is her final win on our turf, there is no doubt we will not be the last team to see her players churn out another win for the record books. All under the listing “Head Coach: Marsha Way.”

Congratulations to a fellow coach on being a role model, on making those you play better, on honoring the game we all love, and finally, on scoring more than the other team for 35 years and counting.

 

US Women sweep past Mexico in Field Hockey

Sponsored by: Field Hockey Instruction DVD's from Sports Nation Video

MENDOZA, Argentina – September 21, 2013 – Under brisk weather conditions and a flurry of snow, the U.S. Women kicked-off the Pan American Cup this afternoon in notable fashion. The squad created multiple scoring opportunities throughout the match, which resulted in goals from five different U.S. athletes. Team USA was able to continue their first-half lead momentum against Mexico to finish the game 6-0.

“The players were very eager to get going today, so it was nice to win in the first game of the tournament,” said U.S. Women’s Head Coach, Craig Parnham.“It is also pleasing that there have been multiple goal scorers. It was a great team effort today.”

The passing sequences throughout the first half created multiple circle entries, which led Team USA to capitalize on three quick corners. The U.S. converted on the third and fourth penalty corners as Katelyn Falgowski (Landenber, Pa.) and Jamie Montgomery (Lewisburg, Pa.) each found the back of the cage. Katie O’Donnell (Blue Bell, Pa.) closed out the first half of the match by scoring the third goal off a deflected ball in the circle.

“It was great to get a game under our belts,” said U.S Women’s Captain, Lauren Crandall. “Our main focus today was making sure we connected through each of our lines and to start the tournament off on the right foot.”

As the umpire blew the whistle and motioned the start of the second half, Team USA remained relentless. Katie Reinprecht (Perkasie, Pa.) opened the door of scoring by deflecting a shot by Rachel Dawson (Berlin, N.J.). Reinprecht answered again finishing off a beautiful cross ball into the circle by Montgomery. Paige Selenski (Shavertown, Pa.) scored the final goal of the match on diving effort in front of the cage to solidify the win.

“It is always a team effort,” said Crandall. “The individual skills are important but collectively as a team it takes hard work from everyone to succeed and that is exactly what happened here today.”

“There is still some work to do,” Parnham said. "We were able to create multiple opportunities but we need to be able to convert on more of our chances in the next few games.

Team USA will take the pitch tomorrow, September 22 at 12:30 p.m. ET against Chile and will end pool play against Uruguay on Tuesday, September 24, 3 p.m. ET. The semi-finals are scheduled for Thursday, September 26 and the medal matches on Saturday, September 28.

To support Team USA as they embark on their Pan Am Cup journey in Mendoza, Argentina, follow our Twitter handle @USAFieldHockey for the latest news and live updates. Go USA!