Maryland-DC Field Hockey Association

Coaches are invited to attend a Level 1 clinic Sunday, Jan. 31 at the University of Maryland. Successful completion earns coaches a Level 1 certification.

The clinic runs from from 10 am to 4 pm at the university’s Heritage Hall, located in the Comcast Center. The building is off Paint Branch Drive (see map below) in College Park. Marybeth Freeman, associate head coach of the university’s hockey team, will present and run the clinic.

To sign up, go to www.usafieldhockey.com. The session is in the first group, near the bottom — look for it by the date, 1/31/2010.

You must hold a US Field Hockey membership as a coach to register. Cost is $50 for non-Futures coaches.

The Comcast Center is to the left of the intramural fields in the map below. If you’ve been to the university’s hockey complex, then you’ll remember the center is up the hill from the hockey stadium.

View UMd Intramural Fields in a larger map

[UPDATE -- use this link to register, so we know how many are coming...]

Umpires, players, coaches and parents wanting to better understand indoor hockey are invited to a special indoor rules clinic this month.

The free clinic, sponsored by the Maryland-DC Field Hockey Association, is on Jan. 18 from noon to 1 pm at the Champions Fieldhouse near Rockville. Anyone may attend.

Participants will hear review the international rules that govern indoor hockey and learn some of the differences between indoor and outdoor rules and how umpires are taught to interpret them. Indoor hockey is very different than outdoor high school hockey.

The group will be able to watch games as longtime umpires Donna Richardson and Dave Cranmer take turns commenting on the call and the play.

Richardson has been engaged in field hockey as a player, coach and umpire for 30 years while Cranmer has been umpiring for eight years and playing indoor field hockey for two. Both are certified umpire coaches and each holds a USA Field Hockey Level 2 rating.

For more information, contact Dave Cranmer at 301.807.3562 or dave@phase3consulting.com.

U.S. Men’s Junior National Field Hockey Team goalie Andrew Zayac is teaching an advanced goalkeeping clinic Jan. 17 (a Sunday) from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Howard County’s new Meadowbrook Athletic Complex.

The clinic is open to anyone aged 14 and older and costs $35. Players must bring their own equipment and sneakers or turf shoes — no cleats are allowed inside the building.

The Meadowbrook Athletic Complex is at 5001 Meadowbrook Lane, Ellicott City, MD (near the intersection of highways MD 100 and U.S. 29. Office phone is (443) 891-2431.

Register in advance (with this form) and pay on-site.

For more info: call Dona DeZube (301) 490-9997 or email dezube@comcast.net

Nine clubs from Maryland/DC took teams to the National Hockey Festival last week and while just one won its pool, several did very well, finishing in the middle or top half of their pools. (Click team name for official US Field Hockey results.)

U19 clubs

The Baltimore Blitz struggled in the M Pool, scoring but one goal and losing all six of its games.

At the other extreme was Club Applebee USA of Baltimore, which won the N Pool with five wins and a tie.

In Pool H, the Jackals from Rockville finished third in what might be called the Tie Pool. Jackals had three ties (along with two wins and only one loss) and everybody in the pool had at least two ties, with one team with four. No team could muster more than three wins.

The Shore team of Easton finished next to last in the J Pool, even though it had the same record as the last-place finisher. The difference was the goal-differential. Shore surprisingly scored almost as many goals as it allowed — 13 to 14 — but there weren’t enough goals at the right time and the team finished with one win and five losses. The last-place team also went 1-5, but scored only 4 and gave up 23.

Southeast Storm came oh-so-close to winning the Q Pool, finishing second despite not losing a game. The difference? Two ties, while the first place squad had one loss — to Southeast — but no ties.

Over in the E Pool, SPark from Millersville finished fourth in a very tough pool, which included perennial powerhouse and eventual pool winner Sutter’s Brigade. SPark finished with three wins and losses but struggled to score, registering only seven goals in their six games. All three of the team’s losses were shutouts.

Spitfire from Howard County scored 12 goals and gave up 12 goals and thus predictably finished in the middle of Pool R with two wins, three losses and a tie. Spitfire lost to the eventual winner by only one goal but also gave the last place team its only win.

U16 Clubs

Capitol Pegasus was shut out of three games in the ZZ Pool, and scored shutouts in two of its three wins. In fact only one game the group played in was NOT a shutout.

TNT of Cockeysville lost its only game in the YY Pool to the eventual champion and by only one goal. The group finished second with a five win, one loss record. The team gave up only three goals the entire tournament.

Howard County is offering a special indoor league for club teams this winter and one of the organizers says this is a chance to convince county officials to offer court time for hockey.

“They allowed us to set up this league as a pilot program to gauge the interest in indoor hockey in the area,” wrote Spitfire coach Jim Brown in an email to his fellow club coaches. “Many of you have expressed interest in this concept in general and in this league specifically but no clubs have yet registered. If we do not fill this league, the Howard County officials will not continue to support indoor hockey and will relegate the courts to other sports. We need you to help us make a statement to the county that hockey deserves resources that many other sports already receive.”

The league will be Sunday afternoons or evenings in January and February at the new Meadowbrook recreation center near Ellicott City.

The league has been scheduled to avoid other leagues that run around the region as well as Super Bowl Sunday and the Maryland Club Championships.

The league is designed to better accommodate teams that aren’t as close to Ellicott City, playing fewer dates than a traditional league but more games on game days. The hope is that this will draw club teams from a broader geographic area.

Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Some of the details (download a flier for more, including contact and registration information):

• U14: Team cost is $500, games on Sundays, 4 pm to 6 pm. Dates are Jan. 31, Feb. 14, 21, 28.
• U16: $700, Sundays, 6 pm to 9 pm, Jan. 3, 24, Feb. 21, Feb 28
• U19: $700, Sundays, 6 pm to 9 pm, Jan. 10, 17, 31, Feb. 14

Each date involves multiple games for each team, with a round robin format in pool play. U14: 2 games (3 team-pools); U16/U19: 3 games (4 team-pools)

The USFHA released the list of qualifying indoor tournament assignments on Friday (Nov. 13) and Maryland teams will be traveling as far as central Virginia and central Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Teams must do well in the qualifying tournaments in order to win a spot in the National Indoor Tournament, which is March 5 through March 7 in Virginia Beach, Va. Winning the tournament or finishing in the top few spots secures a spot in the NIT. How many sports are awarded at each qualifier depends on the number of teams in each tourney.

Here’s the list of who goes where, listing only DC and MD teams. To see the entire list for a particular qualifier, see the USFHA site.

Clubs participating in an outdoor event this season, such as the National Hockey Festival, the Mason-Dixon festival or the Disney event in February can still get into the Champions of Tomorrow tournament on Nov. 21 (a Saturday) in McLean, Va.

Teams are guaranteed four 40-minute games on full-size fields, with playoffs at the end. As of Monday (Nov. 9) COT was looking for one more U19 teams and a couple of U16 teams.

The tournament is on the grass fields at The Madeira School.

Contact: Niki at niki@championsoftomorrow.com

Registration.

As the outdoor hockey season is winding down, hockey shifts indoors and there are a number opportunities for girls to learn and play indoor hockey this winter.

The indoor game is an extremely fast-paced game played on a hard floor with five players and a goalie on each team. Players hone their stick skills and learn how to play angles and position themselves.

• Adults wanting to get in on the indoor fun can play pick-up hockey at the Champions Field House in Rockville on Wednesday nights starting the first week of December. The sessions are co-sponsored by the field house and the dcDragons club. See this for details.
• For younger folks in Anne Arundel County, the SPark club is sponsoring three leagues starting in December at the Maryland Sportsplex and Woods Community Center (down Benfield Road from the Sportsplex). Registration is under way and the appropriate forms can be found on the SPark website.The high-school league will meet Mondays between 4 pm and 10 pm, with each team playing two 25-minute games. The sessions are on Dec. 7, 14, 21 and 28; Jan. 4, 11, 18 and 25 and Feb. 1, 8 and 15. High school players must register as a team only, no individual signups are accepted.A middle-school league for girls in 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades will meet on Sundays between 4 pm and 10 pm, also playing two 25-minute games. The sessions are on Dec. 6, 13, 20 and 27; Jan. 3, 17, 24 and 31 and Feb. 7. Girls can sign up as individuals or as a team.

  For the younger player, there’s an elementary school league on Sundays for 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. Sessions are between 4 pm and 8pm at the Woods Community Center on Dec. 6, 13, 20 and 27 and Jan. 3, 10, 17 and 24. Each meeting consists of a 25-minute clinic and one 25-minute game. Teams and individuals can sign up.

• In Howard County, there’s still room for in a high school league starting in January at the new Meadowbrook Athletic Complex in Ellicott City.Teams will compete in 25-minute, 6 v 6 games. Indoor stick, mouth guard and shin guards are required. All teams must have a goalie; goalies must provide own equipment. Registration includes team shirt, facilities and paid officials. Games will be played on Wednesday evenings. Team registrations only. Rosters set at 14. Individuals interested in playing or forming a team may contact the league coordinator. All registered teams must have a manager or coach over the age of 18 in order to participate in the league. For more information, contact Susan Markovitz at 410-313-4674.The county’s website has more information, but you’ll need to drill down to it. Click on “View Activities”, then choose “Sports” from Activity Category, then finally “Meadowbrook Park” from Location.
• In Montgomery County, the Playher club is holding tryouts on Sunday, Nov. 15 at the Rockville Sportsplex (60 Southlawn Ct, Rockville 20850) for its indoor club teams. Details here. Contact is Amanda Gordon, 240-731-5496, playherfhcoach2@yahoo.com.The same group will be holding a six-week indoor league starting in March for both high-school- and middle-school-age girls. These are 7-on-7 games played on indoor turf. Games last about an hour on Sunday afternoons. Preference is given to teams that sign up, but individuals are also accepted.

The Greene Turtle club of Baltimore is putting together an indoor tournament for younger girls in mid-January and is looking for teams now.

The tournament will be at Dundalk Community College, 7200 Sollers Point Road in Baltimore, on Jan. 16.

U14 girls will play between 8 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Girls in the U16 division will play from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. The tournament is a standard indoor event using USFHA certified umpires, official indoor rules, 6 v 6. Each team is guaranteed four games. There will also be playoffs to a championship.

Cost is $375 per team, $350 if registered by Dec. 10.

Weather cancellation date: 2/13/10

Registration and more details are at the Greene Turtle site.
Rosters and waivers are due Feb. 1. All players must be a current USFHA member.

Organizers of the annual Relay for Life indoor tournament are looking for U16 and U19 teams to compete in the benefit event in mid-December.

The tournament, which beneifts the American Cancer Society, will be on Dec. 13 at the new Meadowbrook Athletic Complex near Ellicott City, starting around 8 a.m.

Cost is $350 per team but includes a T-shirt for each player and medals for the winning team in each division. Each team will play four or five games.

All money raised goes to the Cancer Society, with the umpires volunteering their time. Two years ago the tournament raised $8,500.

Interested coaches should e-mail Shelley Chamness by Nov. 18 with the number of teams and age groups you are interested in entering.