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Andre
08-01-2005 9:58 am
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comments
Congratulations to all players selected.
Meanwhile, when is the USFHA going to officially announce that they have killed the men's program? The senior men have not had an activity in over a year (the Pan Am Cup June 2004 in Canada) and the Under 20 men have not had any direction or communication since February 2005 when they finished fourth in the Junior Pan Am Games in Cuba.
If you go to the US Field Hockey web site you will see a full page of announcements, results, and stories..all about the women...but not one word about the men. If you explore further within the web site to the staff/personnel page you will see a couple of names on there that purportedly work with the men (national coach, high performance, etc)....these individuals should be ashamed to cash their pay checks (if they are actually getting one.) Shameful.
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Guest
08-02-2005 7:43 am
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Andre
You'd better give USFHA's website another glance.
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Peter Munsing
08-02-2005 7:52 am
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Futures shows the sham
In America boys are always told "you can't play with girls because you're inherently superior." Yet again, no boys make the futures finals which show that there is an element of politics and bias to the selection.
While USFHA has to take a leadership position on this, clubs also have to follow the lead of the Mavericks and some of the West Coast club by being more open to the really young players--i.e. the 8 and up boys. Clubs can't wait until the kids are 14 or 15 and expect them then to become really interested in a sport that will only marginally support them.
College clubs can reach out to the community which few do. Universities have the valuable turf fields that can help the sport get better at all levels but they remain very often off limits.
USFHA might look at the geographic distribution of players and wonder what it says about being a "national" team when the largest part is from the Keystone state, whatever the gender of the players..
Congratualations to the girls, but also let's look at what needs to be done to grow the sport in the many areas of the country where it's non-existent, for girls as well as boys.
What is going on in Canada for those areas where there don't seem to be many clubs (i.e. anwhere outside of Montreal, Toronto, BC?) What is done to grow the sport for boys at the jr high and h.s. level?
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Mr Reality
08-04-2005 10:51 am
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Geographic Distribution
Peter you touched on our number one problem. The reason so many people bash the USFHA is that they have eliminated opportunitites for many players to break into the high performance program early on. They do this by giving PA the most slots at the national futures tournament therefore the most girls playing and getting picked. This has been going on for years as PA signed on to the futures program in a big way and they sign up the most athletes. Other states have lagged behing because of the lack of information out there. Coaches from successful programs do not necessarilly share infor so you get pockets of participation but in other areas no participation. The system rewards PA for having the most players playing FH. It has now come full circle over the past 10-15 years and PA dominance means more PA coaches at the highest level and they naturally connect to the PA players etc. If you look NJ had the same advantages a few years ago when they had a very active futures coacing community. THat has since died down a bit but poltics plays a role there is no doubt. A lot needs to be done and the geographic narrowing of the community will only cause the sport to stagnate. Grow by addition strengthen the pool of athletes by giving MORE kids a chance not less, and please USFHA so not continue to only try and develop a few young players look to develop many players and when they reach the age where they can be productive players you might actually have more to choose from. Development of a player is directly proportional to the opportunities you present so give the players more chances, open up the process and stop resticting opportunites because of regional favorotism.
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The "real" reality
08-04-2005 12:44 pm
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Mr. Reality's screed
With apologies to Dave Ross, let's read Mr. Reality's screed "real slow."
"They do this by giving PA the most slots at the national futures tournament therefore the most girls playing and getting picked."
Well, you contradicted yourself with a subsequent sentence:
"PA signed on to the futures program in a big way and they sign up the most athletes."
Yes, they do. Pennsylvania has more athletes in Futures than any other state. And of course, they also have more hockey-playing high schools and prep schools than any other state in the Union. The Futures formula is based on PARTICIPATION. And at one time, Massachusetts had a terrible participation record -- meriting perhaps 3/4 of a team, the rest filled with a couple of Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire kids. Now they have about 1 1/2 teams in Futures.
"PA dominance means more PA coaches at the highest level and they naturally connect to the PA players etc."
Red herring! PA coaches in Futures stay in PA.
"Coaches from successful programs do not necessarilly share information so you get pockets of participation but in other areas no participation."
Let's re-reference Massachusetts. Why did they get better? Because their field hockey coaches' association got a new president who didn't see Futures as a threat.
"Development of a player is directly proportional to the opportunities you present."
So ... I guess your kid didn't get into FDIC? Futures Elite? the Can-Am series? Or any of the myriad programs which have sprung up since 1998?
"Stop resticting opportunites because of regional favoritism."
And you're from ... where?
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Opinion
08-04-2005 1:18 pm
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You need to get the schools to adopt this game. Somehow, somewhere. I know that Santafe Prep had an all boys team to play with in Albuqerque New Mexico. It just has to start there to have a men's team. After which the men's USFHA can wean off from the current pack of non-sense. I assure you that, the sport will flourish once the umbilical cord is cut.
Just make it a clean break. I think that there are enough men in the US today who can be garnerd to create another Applebee like effect. From there its a matter of time.
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Andre
08-04-2005 1:29 pm
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actual count
of the 48 players selected, over half (25) are from Pennsylvania, the rest scattered in ones, twos, and threes. Looks like Pennsylvania is the undisputed field hockey capital of the USA.
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Kellie
08-07-2005 10:02 am
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Can-am challenge
Andre: your comment about going to the USFHA site to see results is humerous! I have to read about our athletes at the CAN-Am challenge from a Canadian newspaper! There's nothing on the USFHA site including the correct names of the players who are attending!
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The "real" reality
08-09-2005 3:46 pm
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One more thing to consider.
Do you realize that, since NCAA competition began in 1981, Old Dominion or an ACC team has been in the championship game all but twice?
Do you further realize that the last time a team outside the ACC or the Colonial Athletic Association won the NCAA title was in 1986?
And where was that? Iowa.
How many field hockey teams are there in Iowa high schools? None.
It's all relative.
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Peter Jones
08-09-2005 6:03 pm
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The "real" reality's statement on NCAA champions
your statement was porovocative and almost correct. i think you forgot
2001 Michigan (18-5) def Maryland 2-0
Otherwise, there has been a remarkable concentration of power.
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The Real Reality
08-09-2005 7:19 pm
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A Few Facts
Natl Champions 2001........ Michigan
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doolz
08-10-2005 3:46 am
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hey i would like to congratulate these girlz on their selection, i met a number of them last year when they were in australia and they are great girlz....... p.s well done linds xoxo
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FHObserver
08-11-2005 7:45 am
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Pennsylvania
Funny, in reading the comments regarding Pennsylvania field hockey and the National Futures Tournament, I agree that US Field Hockey does it wrong. They seem to select a certain percentage of players from the regions based on the number of players in the region, not the quality of play. After watching the Pennsylvania regional tournament, the NFT and Jr. Olympics I felt that there were players at home in Pennsylvania with far more skill and athletic ability than those picked from other regions. If the Futures program is an Olympic development program, why are they taking a percentage from each region rather than the best athletes from all regions? Quality field hockey is being played all over the country. It seems that Pennsylvania is the most competitive as evidenced by the number of players and the record of the Pennsylvania based teams. Many players from Pennsylvania are never out of season. They play for their highschool, an indoor club, an indoor league, and a summer league. Hard work pays off. As far as superior coaching, I am not sure. I have seen girls play in pickup leagues with no real coaching, yet improve their games tremendously by just playing and playing. It is true that they learn from the competition, but a large number of "touches" never hurt anyone.
I agree with another comment however. It is time for US Field Hockey to expand the opportunities for players. They need more "national" teams, not fewer. They need more people in their "pipeline" not fewer. Stop trying to identify "great" players at such a young age and then riding them into the ground. People grow and change daily, you can't tell who will be great at 23 when you pick them out at 16. Pick more 16 year olds and you you have a better chance of developing one or two great 23 year olds.
Look at the ruselt of recent international competitions. It should be obvious that it is time for a change.
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