Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the NCAA changes the funding like I have heard for field hockey scholarships then the game changer will be that U.S. will have to directly compete against the International girls for Roster spots. In this this blog International girls have been touted as amazing and on a different level. Schools that have deep pockets and desire to win will place as many as they can. Then the
max 100s will see where the compare against them. Now I see field hockey as a losing money sport for a college so many schools will still go get the girls willing to pay for their education and play. D3s will be for all the USA girls since they offer only merit aid and the prestige for playing for that school. D2 still too small to matter one way or the other.

I do think goalies in America have the best chance with dedicated training like the The Goalie trainer and also many girls coming from soccer or ice hockey . Most clubs it seems are not doing much for them so it is on parents to pay and make decisions on training required


Throwing this is also but many more colleges have good Lacrosse programs searching for mostly US talent. Many FH girls play both and if are athletic the transition is that far off. In the DMV one of the best Field Hockey player is actually a soccer star..

I will grant you, she is an amazing athlete, but not one of the best field hockey players in the DMV. Yes, a strong one, but not the best. Yorktown plays on a lower level in the public sphere than the best high school field hockey. Sorry. Yes, she's amazing, but come on.

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 wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

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 wrote: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 wrote: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 wrote: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 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the NCAA changes the funding like I have heard for field hockey scholarships then the game changer will be that U.S. will have to directly compete against the International girls for Roster spots. In this this blog International girls have been touted as amazing and on a different level. Schools that have deep pockets and desire to win will place as many as they can. Then the
max 100s will see where the compare against them. Now I see field hockey as a losing money sport for a college so many schools will still go get the girls willing to pay for their education and play. D3s will be for all the USA girls since they offer only merit aid and the prestige for playing for that school. D2 still too small to matter one way or the other.

I do think goalies in America have the best chance with dedicated training like the The Goalie trainer and also many girls coming from soccer or ice hockey . Most clubs it seems are not doing much for them so it is on parents to pay and make decisions on training required


Throwing this is also but many more colleges have good Lacrosse programs searching for mostly US talent. Many FH girls play both and if are athletic the transition is that far off. In the DMV one of the best Field Hockey player is actually a soccer star..

I will grant you, she is an amazing athlete, but not one of the best field hockey players in the DMV. Yes, a strong one, but not the best. Yorktown plays on a lower level in the public sphere than the best high school field hockey. Sorry. Yes, she's amazing, but come on.

Anonymous wrote:As someone who competes against Yorktown on a regular basis (but not district play), I agree the player we are all discussing is an amazing player. If you want to start looking at schedules, how about a school like Independence or Loudon Valley who steam roll everyone simply because they are fortunate enough to have players with club experience vice other high schools who are teaching players the sport for the first time. Yorktown has been up there at the top for these last few years and as much as it pains me to say it, they deserve it.

Anonymous wrote: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