Field hockey in the United States is a sport which has only limited popular support. In the US the sport used to be female dominated as opposed to Europe's male dominant leagues. However, in the United States of America, there are few field hockey clubs, most play taking place between high school or college sides, almost entirely of females. The strength of college field hockey reflects the impact of

Title IX Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...

which mandated that colleges should fund men's and women's sports programmes comparably.

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

is a hotbed for field hockey in the United States.

History

The modern game of field hockey originated in Europe, and grew due to the growth of public schools.

Springfield College Springfield College is a private college in Springfield, Massachusetts. It confers undergraduate and graduate degrees. It is known as the birthplace of basketball because the sport was invented there in 1891 by Canadian-American instructor J ...

started playing the game when Dr. James Huff McCurdy composed a set of rules for American Field Hockey, and it continued to grow. Constance Applebee founded the United States Field Hockey Association (USFHA), after noticing a growing popularity in the sport. The Field Hockey Association of America (FHAA) was created six years later to govern men's field hockey in the United States. The USFHA and FHAA combined April 1993, and the United States Field Hockey Association emerged. The name eventually changed to USA Field Hockey, as we know it today. The game consists of 11 players, with two opposing teams. Curved sticks are used to move a ball across a 100 yard field, with the objective of scoring goals. It can be played both outdoors and indoors, with slightly different rules for each.

National board

In the United States, it is called Field Hockey to distinguish it from

Ice Hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

. It did not have serious competition until the 1970s. The first Women's World Cup took place in 1974 and women first competed in Olympic hockey in 1980. The training base for the women's national team used to be

Chula Vista, California Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the Largest cities in Southern California, seventh largest city in Southern California, the List of largest California cities by population, fifteenth largest city ...

and was relocated to

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...

National team

USA Field Hockey women's team has competed in the Olympics in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, and

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

. The 1984 Olympics the women's team made their first appearance, and earned bronze. At the 2016 Olympics, Team USA closely lost to Germany in the quarterfinals. One high scoring member of the USA team is Kathleen Sharkey, who attended

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. She managed to lead Division 1 field hockey with most goals scored from 2010 to 2012. She was named two time Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year. The men's national team has achieved limited success in international tournaments in comparison to their female counterparts.

References

{{Sports in the United States

History

National board

National team

See also

References