Field hockey clubs feedback
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Anonymous
| The DMV is simply too congested. Lack of adequate (and quality) facilities will always be a problem. There are many clubs around the country that practice/play on water turf, just like the D1 colleges do. That's a huge advantage to learn on that. And many clubs around the country are run by assistant D1 college coaches who own a club team on the side. And they get their schools' players to come 'guest coach' frequently. So these other club players are learning from the best and playing in the best facilities. Tough to compete with that |
Anonymous
^^^100%. spot on. |
Anonymous
Completely agree! |
Anonymous
FYI - The player you're talking about as not being "one of the best" happens to now be the ALL-TIME LEADING SCORER for a field hockey program that has made it to States the last four years (State Champions three years). She is graduating with three rings in field hockey, two rings in lacrosse and five Yorktown track and field records. She chose not to play soccer at Yorktown so she could cross-train with other sports and not overdo it with soccer. Yes, she is an amazing athlete, but I would say that her field hockey record (which she overtook from her sister and another teammate, both now playing FH for Penn), cements her status as a great field hockey player. As far as Yorktown playing on a lower level in the public sphere?? Group 6A consist of the largest high schools in Virginia. YHS has tremendous athletes and coaches, who truly develop their players. For example, the 2023 season was expected to be a rebuilding year (having graduated 13 seniors that spring) and then they won States that year. The coach sets their schedule to play challenging teams from Maryland, Virginia Beach, local private schools in addition to very good NoVa teams in their district/region including Oakton and Fairfax. |
Anonymous
| For NIQs does anyone have an opinion on traveling to play outside their region. This past weekend at Meadowbrook, we had clubs from NJ and PA. I know in the past a few local clubs would travel as far as KY. Does this provide an uneven playing advantage for the local clubs or should the local clubs travel to a less competitive region? |
Anonymous
| We are the less competitive region. That is why the Stars, Mayhem and other were there. Besides it is hard to always get the venue you want. NC and Virginia Beach were on the same weekend who had out of region teams playing. Many like to spread teams out. If you take 3 age teams and your club doesn’t start with WC or Pride then you most likely may eliminate your team. They usually don’t play each other but you are helping others by scoring wins against your lesser squads. Exceptions do exist. We need more venues and we need more inter DMV play to make everyone more competitive. We are so devoted to have only one superior team in the area. State champions have been called down as lesser public schools and rotating players or club hoping isn’t going to make the DMV the go to place for talent. Maybe we should just as WC to open a satellite site in the DMV. Then we be upset at all the talent flown in while ignoring our DD. So no need to go to another site just practice harder and beat the other teams |
Anonymous
There is really no way of knowing which clubs will pick which NITQ site. And once the assignments list comes out, you don’t necessarily know if the teams are a clubs top team or bottom team. Good teams don’t qualify just because they end up at a location/in a pool with a bunch of other good teams. The only location that seems to be “easy” is Kentucky. Not because only low level teams go there, but because multiple years they have not had all their spots filled because teams don’t want to make the trip, meaning the chances of qualifying improve. Last year a team that did not win any games qualified because there were so few teams there. |
Anonymous
| IFHCK had a team in NC. Maybe USA field hockey should stop the telethon call in reservation system. To grow the sport more opportunities need to exist. Every club should be offered up spots for two teams. Rosters should be verified and maybe athletes should be given a USA membership card with club affiliation. Girls may seek other clubs out for opportunities equalizing talent. Then run a qualifier season like RCC for NIT. Weaker teams or no qualifiers should be offered NIF placements. Spooky nook would still be full of teams just wanting to play. Not all are NIT caliber |
Anonymous
| Kentucky for U19 has 3 Metro,Koa, 2 Maryland Legacy so looks like DMV has figure out how to get there. Now also need to see Texas Pride, 2 2 IFHCK, 2 teams from Central Penn, Stealth and FHL will be there. Since less teams I think they also qualify less teams. I like the idea of winning no matter where you play. Besides who wants to drive or fly that far? |
Anonymous
| The format is prorated. Smaller sites qualify fewer teams. And bringing multiple teams to one site does not mean you eliminate other teams from your club because the committee purposely puts multiple teams from the same club in different pools. So they don’t play each other. Look at the standings from the qualifiers. The same clubs are always spread to different pools. So it is a fair system. If you’re good you’ll win and qualify. If you suck you’ll lose and go home. So many people on this site are in to conspiracy theories. |
Anonymous
Each site qualifies 12 teams, even if they have fewer than 24 teams participating. Look at the Jan 4 NITQ for U16 at Sports Connection North Lake. 19 teams at the qualifier and 12 teams qualified. This shows the 19 teams and the brackets: https://tourneymachine.com/Public/Results/Division.aspx?IDTournament=h20241230205047324b7172af25d9e4d&IDDivision=h202412302050473247060a9c4810040 Scroll down to see the 12 qualified teams. https://www.usafieldhockey.com/events/2025/February/14/nit/qualified-teams |
Anonymous
This is not a bad idea. WC Eagles will end up dominating NITs since they have so many teams qualified and their depth of players. As you mentioned to grow the sport, smaller clubs would have more opportunities and exist if their were more of an equal opportunity. To benefit the players, they need to be seen and having this opportunity can be lost due by luck of their pool spot on their NIQ placements. Some clubs are just not going to be ready for NIQs and it’s unfortunate that good players aren’t seen because their of their club. Do a lot of clubs compete in many small tournaments before NIQs to prepare, if so is it beneficial? |
Anonymous
That is telling and teams that our clubs that most recently our club has played and know well and have beaten by a lot, qualified two teams for both NIQ 16 & 19. They went away from the DMV. So I don’t agree with if you suck = you go home, there is always going to be a way to improve an organization. |
Anonymous
| Our team struggled to fill our roster for NITQ's because school wasn't back in session and 1/2 the team was still on holiday vacations. We tried to pull girls up from U14 - and went with a skeleton crew. It was no surprise they didn't qualify. |
Anonymous
Just came across this thread. I can understand the defensiveness, especially on behalf of such a great athlete. As for VA public HS field hockey, please, don't forget, Yorktown consistently loses to one or more privates in the ISL--every year. It's not a major criticism. But the accolades that get thrown all over the public schools--newspaper articles, awards for every league, township, county, region, state, make them seem better than they are. The top 4-5 teams in the ISL for instance, are as strong, if not stronger than, Yorktown. |