Clubs
2011: The Year of the Club
Welcome to the USA Member Club home page. We hope to use this space as an informational resource for our member clubs, athletes, and umpires.
USA Field Hockey has developed a Strategic Plan to guide us through 2020. Club Development is an important part of that plan. To help clubs grow we look to:
- Develop a template and instructive materials for starting a local club
- To serve membership with clearinghouse of available club opportunities.
- To commit to support the development and participation in programs starting as young as five years old.
Our goal in 2011 is to learn as much about our member clubs as we can to determine the best way to provide the tools that grow, develop and increase playing opportunities for all participants - youth through adult.
As we move through 2011 we will be developing
- Club Structure which will fit the mold of the USA Field Hockey sport culture
- Sanctioning program to promote play
- Ranking System to assist in creating ‘fair’ play environment
- Educational and Technology Tools to help education and communicate effectively
- National Club Championship Qualification process to declare a true Club Champion
Over the past decade we have seen a growth of clubs as well as the change in the demographics of our club system. Our field hockey world has shifted from the primary focus of a fall sport to one which enjoys competition and training year round. Although most of our high school athletes play more than one sport in school, athletes tend to focus on their ‘primary sport’. Serious athletes join clubs and participate to Futures to continue their development. Some athletes aspire to the Olympic Dream, others aspire to collegiate participation and some play for purely recreational reason. We’ve seen a decline in adult play from the glory days of the 60’s and 70’s when all clubs were adult based and the National Hockey Festival was 100% adult teams representing sections nationwide. While the growth of the scholastic athlete is wonderful, the decline of the adult player is not. We would like to see youth through adults enjoying the game.
