Catching Fire For Indoor Hockey?

Indoor Hockey Is Heating Up!
CATCH THE FIRE!

Get Ready For GENIUS INDOOR!

 http://www.fieldhockey.net/indoorsticks.html
Are You Ready For GENIUS LEVEL INDOOR HOCKEY?

The 2015 ALL-BOYS INTERNATIONAL INDOOR HOCKEY TOURNAMENT

The Intention of hosting the First ALL BOYS INDOOR HOCKEY TOURNAMENT
was to provide an incentive for boys to play field hockey.  There are few opportunities
for boys to play with other boys in a tournament situation.  By creating an event
where boys from all over the USA could come together to play, we had hoped to
spark interest and increase visibility for the boys and men who play.

In an effort to stir interest, we opened the tournament to other hockey playing nations,
notably Canada and South Africa, who had planned to each send several teams.
This would have been a rare opportunity for USA, Canadian, and South African boys
not on their national teams to meet and compete, sharing their interest and skills,
and enthusiasm.

Sadly, we are informing our friends in Canada and South Africa that the event will be
postponed until January 2015.

The total number USA boys registering did not reach critical mass sufficient to host
a worthwhile indoor tournament.  There will be no tournament this year.

The 2015 ALL-BOYS INTERNATIONAL INDOOR HOCKEY TOURNAMENT, sponsored by Dita,
 will be held at the end of January.  A cap of eight teams in each of the following age
divisions will be invited: Under 12, U 14, U 16, and U 18.
Once the first three slots in each division are filled by USA players, we will accept application from
Canadian, Mexican, South African, Dutch, Australian, and Chilean boys teams.
Age divisions without a minimum three USA teams will be eliminated.

We are also willing to accept bids for hosting the tournament at other locations within the USA,
should interest and large numbers of players justify the move from the venue of the
Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center facility.

The goal remains the same, to provide an event that helps answer to question:
Where can boys play hockey?

tournament@boysplayindoorhockey.com

Share Your Passion for Your Sport

Field Hockey Life magazine celebrates our sport in a way that opens the experience to those who have perhaps never picked up a stick and felt the exhilaration of clobbering a ball.

The magazine, through articles, but primarily via compelling images, offers a look into the life and passion that is field hockey.
It attempts to demonstrate that there is room to participate and enjoy this healthy, athletic activity in many different levels and in many wonderful ways.

FH Life pictures a sport the entire family can play for a lifetime.

Field hockey is an INCLUSIVE and healthy pastime.

Past issues of the magazine are available through this link.

Share your love of this sport by passing on a copy of the magazine to someone who has yet to discover the
benefits of lifelong well being that field hockey offers.

Happy Hockey!

Get Your Genius On

There are but a few companies
in the entire world which focus solely
upon the sport of field hockey.

The rest think they can copy our sticks
and sell them as a sideline
to their real business of: lacrosse,
small appliances, shoes, make-up,
or whatever.  To those merchants,
field hockey sticks is a sideline.

For Dita, Grays, TK, and Gryphon,
it's a passion.
Play smart.
Get your genius on!

2013 Dita Sticks Are Released !!!

Kat Sharkey and her USA Teammates*, standing behind her, show off their Dita sticks.

Whether you prefer to get your stick from your local, authorized Dita retailer, or online, the new full range of Dita EXA, Terra, and Giga sticks are now available.

Remember to check with your authorized retailer about which models they stock.

 * Torrie Albini, Michelle Kasold, Stephanie Fee, Lauren Pfeiffer, and Kelsey Kolojejchick

The Continuing Goggle Problem

I really don't want to beat a dead horse. But I do wish it would die, by being withdrawn. The high school use of so-called safety goggles is unlikely to be reversed.  There are those who see additional equipment as enhancing the game.  Yes, it enhances the profitability of the game for those seeking to sell goggles, by millions of dollars.  It creates an illusion that it makes a player safer.

There is a good reason that field hockey has always had a better safety record than other team sports.  Respect and reason were designed into the sport.  Part of the reason field hockey players wear so little padding is because of mutual respect. If one is vulnerable, one knows better than to tackle from the blind side.  It is the reason there are rules about dangerous play.  It is the reason everyone plays with the stick held at the top by the left hand. It is the reason behind using the flat side of the stick.

As stated recently in a Yahoo feature about dangerous sports, field hockey didn't even get on the radar. Football, softball, cheer leading,  lacrosse, soccer, and ice hockey had higher casualties; in numbers and in ratio to participants. CLICK FOR FULL ARTICLE. The study was taken before high schools were manipulated into mandating goggles. In the USA the wearing of goggles was required by the organization that dictates high school sports.  Those who manufacture and sell the goggles would like to increase their business. The perception that goggles make one safer helps widen their market.

Umpire and field hockey organizer, Cris Maloney, observed that younger children are being targeted for goggle sales. "I was sickened the other day," Maloney said, "when I saw a pair of little, tiny goggles at a sporting goods store labeled for field hockey. I am also sickened when I see youth programs and middle schools requiring them. Not only because the kids are wearing something so counter intuitive to developing field hockey skills but because the camp owners and middle school athletic directors probably think they're doing the right thing.

The thing is, when a kid gets hurt because of the goggles, their parents will realize that the goggle requirement was specifically designed for high school age athletes playing in games strictly governed by NFHS rules being enforced by two certified umpires---not camp activities, not middle school games. Those things are completely outside the scope of concerns considered by the NFHS. Lawyers are going to have a field day when a little boy or girl gets hurt in a middle school game or at a camp that required the kids to wear goggles."

Those who know the sport, understand that the wearing of goggles, rather than decreasing risk of injury, increases danger.   This is why USA Field Hockey prohibits the wearing of goggles at all its sanctioned events.  Some other  groups have bucked the trend and prohibited the wearing of the goggles.  Last year at  least one school required goggles at their camps.This year they don't.  Below is the statement directly from the website of the Ocean Atlantic Field Hockey Association ( http://www.oafha.org ) :

Avoiding the Dangers of Wearing Goggles 

Use of goggles is banned at all Ocean Atlantic Field Hockey Association events because they are dangerous. Players wearing goggles have restricted and/or distorted vision which creates dangers for themselves and the players around them. Further, goggles are hard and can injure other athletes during collisions (lacerations, bruises, and in some case concussions). In addition, when an athlete wearing goggles falls to the ground the goggles can causes injuries that would not occur if the athlete fell to the ground when not wearing goggles. In two completely different incidents, girls wearing goggles who fell to the ground broke their nose and received lacerations when the goggles were ripped across their face when they hit the ground.

The Magic of Striving to Reach Your Goal

There are those who are content to be carried downstream, like a styrofoam cooler or oar that has fallen overboard into the river, swept away.  The water carries them where the water flows.

Then there are those who choose to strive for the goal they wish to reach.  I think they are called field hockey players.



Play GENIUS Level Hockey  
 We chase the ball, to reach the goal of our choice.

The Black & Blues of Field Hockey and Frozen Peas

Stephanie Fee is not showing off her bruise on purpose.  Bruises happen.

Bruises are injuries that repair themselves.
A little ice and elevating the area so blood flows easily to the injury helps speed the healing process.Treating the area with cold helps during the first day.

I keep three bags of peas  in the freezer. The first two are used to offer TLC to the black and blue contusion. The third bag is for dinner.

Oh, and Stephanie has a 2013 Dita EXA 200 It's almost the same color as her bruise.

Sand Hockey and Beach Hockey

Beach or Sand Hockey

The New York Times published images of Canadi an soldiers playing hockey in the sand during the Gulf War.  Some like to claim that as the beginning of beach or sand hockey. Not necessarily so.

The guys shown are not Canadian, but Tunisian. Sand hockey only became visible, thanks to the New York Times photo of the Canadians.

 

Come and experience one of the only Beach Field Hockey tournaments in the United Stated!
In the tradition of all of our other beach sport tournaments, Morey’s Piers is proud to offer you a chance to play Field Hockey in a new and exciting way. Teams will compete on the beaches of Wildwood, NJ and enjoy the waterparks during the day and the famous Wildwood boardwalk and amusements in the evening. Mark your calendars now.
Team registration and packet pickup will take place on Friday, July 19, 2013 from 5:00 to 9:00 PM only at the Wildwoods' Convention Center.  Tournament and Gameplay will take place on Saturday and Sunday July 20 & July 21, 2013.
For more information contact our Beach Sports Coordinators at 609-522-3900 ext.1195 or Leslie LaFronz (Tournament Director, www.rapidfirefh.com) at 201-312-7125.  You can also email us at beach.hockey@moreyspiers.com.

Forget Those Stupid Goggles

Even without those goggles that cause more injuries than they prevent, field hockey is safer than these eight Sports:

FOOTBALL
ICE HOCKEY
CHEERLEADING
SOCCER
LACROSSE
BICYCLING
POLE VAULTING
BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL

Read the article.  Field Hockey is a safer sport than many.

Click for full article



 at Dita Field Hockey North America, where true passion and GENIUS abound!

When Field Hockey was More Popular Than Football Amongst Men in the USA

Few know that at the beginning of the twentieth century intercollegiate football was nearly prohibited by President Teddy Roosevelt.

Northern Iowa University tells its own story of men playing field hockey during that time. 

"Beginning with the 1903 fall term, instead of participating in one hour of military drill three times a week, the men were required to participate in some sort of physical activity four times a week for forty-five minutes.  They could choose among basketball, tennis, football, field hockey, track, cross country, and golf.  Basketball and tennis were the men's most popular choices, but football, track, and field hockey were close behind.  The other two sports attracted few students.  The student newspaper speculated that compulsory athletics for men would help to build stronger intercollegiate teams at the Normal School". 
 
 Read The Story of an American University's Long, yet almost forgotten,saga of field hockey for Both men and women.

at Dita Field Hockey North America, where true passion and GENIUS abound!

Hockey: A Family Tradition of Excellence

For Ian Scally, field hockey is an heirloom passed down from generation to generation. His father and grandfather played in the Olympic Games and his aunt competed in several World Cups. At every level of play, Scally remains true to the core reason he and his family played and still play field hockey – because they simply enjoy it.













at Dita Field Hockey North America, where true passion and GENIUS abound!

Left Hand at Top of Stick

For the benefit of the purists who know that the left hand is at the top of the stick,
here is Stick Boy not looking in the mirror at himself.

email for more information

Or visit the website





Sponsored by Dita

Men Coaching Field Hockey?

As long as one lives in the USA, and not anywhere else in the entire world, one sees that there is only one sport exclusive to women:  field hockey.

Once upon a time other sports were the exclusive domain of men.  Along came Title Nine and the world changed.  Or, rather we thought it changed.

This morning I came across an old blog from a woman who has coached ice hockey questioning what gives a man the right to coach women's field hockey.  Well, the same right she has, perhaps?

Men have been playing field hockey in the USA since the tail end of the nineteenth century, more invisibly as not.  This lack of visibility and lack of scholastic teams for guys have helped support the myth that field hockey is territory exclusive to females.  At some bygone time ice hockey was known as Boys hockey and field hockey was called Girls hockey.
Pink and blue sports are an antiquated notion.

Field hockey does need both men and women, as players, as coaches, as umpires, as promoters, as everything else.  Take a good look at the most successful NCAA Division I field hockey programs and you will notice the diversity of the coaching and support staffs.
Strong programs are built with the strongest building blocks: diverse individuals with special knowledge, skills, and talents.

Men with international field hockey experience have played a role in the success of those teams who are prominent in NCAA Division I.  It is a smart use of talents and diversity, not a gender issue.  The top programs in the USA hire their coaches from the ranks of women who have competed on an elite, international level.

 Steve Jennings, shown above, happens to coach at American University.
Marcia Pankratz, to the left, is head coach at Michigan. Both were members of USA National teams with considerable international experience.




Ask either coach if they coach alone.

This is genius level hockey.

What If You Found a Sport That Made You Smile All Your Life?

 What is the point in playing a sport?  Will it make you rich?
Does it guarantee a free college education? People talk about a tangible reason to participate in a sport as an end game.

The real end game may sound silly to you and to some parents, and certainly to that lacrosse coach, who brags that boys love lacrosse because they can get college scholarships and after graduation play professionally,
but there is only one real end game.

It is the same end game we all have, the one that makes life worthwhile:

The endgame is making ourselves healthy, happy people.

That is the endgame that comes with life.

I hate to sound like I'm preaching, but the yoga people have loads of men and women looking for a way to give meaning to themselves and structure and mindful,
dare I say, happiness....and health.

I believe there is a more proper end game.  Perhaps some fool themselves into believing college is an end game.
College is barely 1/4 of the way on this path.  If that is the endgame, and it foolishly seems to be, then they spend the other 3/4 of their lives finding a new end game. Don't get me wrong about college.  I highly value a broad liberal arts education.  It helps your mind prepare for where the road leads you.  It does not prepare your body.

I believe that hockey, in each of its varied forms, can be an activity that can provide life long health and well being. It is of more value as a social community, and place where we can join the better part of the world.

I have told those boys who could possibly play field hockey internationally that few other sports send national teams all over the globe.  That lacrosse coach probably doesn't care that lacrosse players might visit Canada, at best. While my friends who play ice hockey, have played in a few European countries.
My field hockey pals have traveled the globe, like rock stars, (yes, in some countries field hockey players are like rock stars): NZ, ZA, AUS, FR, IN, KOR, NL, DE, IRL,  DK, IT, BRA, ARG, CHILE, and on and on, and Canada.

The lacrosse dudes pay to go those places, as tourists.

Travel does broaden you.  It increases your brain power, fills you with new ideas and memories.  Hitting a ball with a stick doesn't necessarily do much by itself.  But if you hit that ball back and forth with other people, as you run down a field or court, when you stop and look up, you might just be amazed at how far you have come, how you are filled with well being, and maybe by the smile you still have on your face.

Indoor hockey can do this for boys.

Boys need to smile, too.

Boys Play Indoor Hockey

Informational website
sharing information
about where boys can play
the sport of
"Original Hockey".



click the domain name, 
BoysPlayIndoorHockey.com, above,
to be taken to the boys website

Who Told You You Could Play Field Hockey?

Question:

Who told you you could play field hockey?  

Did your mother tell you that she grew up playing field hockey, so you followed in her footsteps?  Did you go watch her play and were inspired to see her so engaged by her passion for the sport?

Who influenced your decision to play? Was it your mother? Sometimes fathers encourage their children by playing with them.

All things being equal, which sport is a father who has played baseball,
football, ice hockey, soccer, basketball,  and tennis  most likely to pass on to his son or daughter?

Note that field hockey is not on that list.  He wasn't allowed to play field hockey.

Now, ask a father who did play field hockey which sport he is likely to pass on to his daughter (or son).

Ask Manzar Iqbal or Peter Jones.  I am sure there is a much, much longer list.

The "What Is That Boy Holding?" Project

At the National Indoor Tournament, in Richmond, photographic portraits were taken of boys and
men holding field hockey sticks.
 
The photographs were not action images, but studio portraits, showing that regular males choose to play Indoor Hockey.

The sole purpose of this photographic project is to make more boys aware that boys can play and have played in the USA since the 1920s.

The photographs will appear in FH Life magazine, as well as used for recruiting posters, and for online publicity.

The participating boys and men, who numbered around 100, were asked why they choose to play indoor (and/or field) hockey.

The answer was unanimous:

"I love the sport and love to play!"


How can I get more involved with this project and creating opportunities for boys to play?

This project is sponsored by Dita.


Photo credit: Allison Earnest Photography

The Best Family Plays

The entire Best family plays field
hockey. Dad, Garrett Best, grew
up playing in California.
He is known for his wicked smash
of the ball. He has shattered balls
and bend goal posts.

Currently he umpires and is known
in some field hockey circles as
"The Stick Whisper",for his ability
to repair both sticks and a player's
technique.

Mom, Miki, started playing after
hanging out watching her older
sister play high school hockey.
She has played and coached,
and is personal coach to two
budding players who just might
realize the dream of one day
playing on the
USA Men's National team.



Visit Miki at her other full time job, other than taking care of two little boys and one big man.

2013 EXA 500 - Hollywood Premier

The 2013 Dita EXA 500 is available, but supply is limited.
This ultra light, but powerful stick is a favorite on The USA 
National teams. 

Across the "pond", Dutch star Eva de Goede plays with the EXA 500

Playing Roller and Field Hockey

I grew up playing ice hockey, but once exposed to field hockey and indoor hockey, I knew there was more to life than frozen water.

Playing one sport doesn't mean you must forsake all others.  Brij Singh is a perfect example of a player who knows he doesn't have to choose.  While balancing on rollerblades, he displays two sticks from two hockey sports.  Not shown is his floor ball stick.

Now, on a personal note, being an ice hockey player, I am confused by the boards behind Brij.  If these were ice hockey boards, they would mean that Brij is a really tiny guy.  Ice hockey boards are about three and a half feet tall.




Brij and I have one prime thing in common: the love of playing a game with a stick and a ball.




Check out the latest at Dita Field Hockey North America, where true passion and GENIUS abound!

 

Another Field Hockey Tattoo

This field hockey tattoo, showing three sticks entwined with ivy and capped with a rose was posted by a person known only as STEPHGK

I would like to find her and hear her story.  Who is she?



All she has that identifies the image is the following:

"Inkwell Tattoo, LaGrange, KY. Field Hockey Tat to rep me and the bond between me and my sisters. "





Check out the latest at Dita Field Hockey North America, where true passion and GENIUS abound!

I Love My Sport

There is no question that this particular head coach loves field hockey.  One doesn't have to wear that love on your sleeve, but she has chosen to express, graphically, that her sport is not a passing infatuation.












Check out the latest at Dita Field Hockey North America, where true passion and GENIUS abound!

New Model Dita Turf Shoes

 Over the past several year a big running shoe company has imposed their footwear upon
the field hockey community.  They make comfortable and fashionable running shoes.

Yet, as stylish and comfy as their shoes are,
field hockey players seem to fall more frequently
while making cuts, moving sideways, circling around, changing direction.  Running shoes do that.
They are built to move forward, to look pretty, and fit just so.

When both teams or two players competing for a win are wearing these fancy running shoes, then it doesn't much matter. Both teams and players have the same comfortable, stylish,  DISADVANTAGE.


Now, if one player, or one team is wearing Dita,
which team has the advantage of not taking a tumble while making cuts, moving sideways, circling around, changing direction?

There are three new models in stock.

Dita Turf Shoes:
What You Wear On Your Feet 
To Stay on Your Feet!


For those who wonder why  Dita Turf Shoes are better for field hockey.  One, they aren't designed by and for runners.  Dita turf shoes are designed by and for Olympic medalists, with orthopedic surgeons.

Over the past five Olympics, ten teams wore Dita Turf Shoes.
Out of ten teams who wore Dita Turf Shoes, NINE WON MEDALS. 

The last time a  field hockey team wearing Dita Turf Shoes didn't medal was 1984.

FH Life Magazine Winter Issue Released

The latest issue of FH Life ,
the magazine of USA Field Hockey
is now available.

If you are a member of USA Field Hockey,
you'll get your copy in the mail.





If you aren't a member, you can subscribe to the magazine.

Otherwise, you will receive a free copy of the most recent issue of
FH Life when you place an order for Genius Level Hockey gear
with Dita.  If you already receive the magazine,
share the magazine with a friend.

Ringette? How is That Hockey?

Cut the head off a long ice hockey stick.  Replace the ball or a puck with a big rubber donut, or "ring", and you have what you need to play ringette or floor hockey.

If you want to keep track, at this point you may want to start drawing a family tree of hockey.
ORIGINAL HOCKEY,  i.e. "field" hockey, is the Adam & Eve.  The variation of Ice Hockey branched off the tree in Canada, but it wasn't until 1875 that the modern rules for the game were transcribed.

Jump to 1963, in Ontario, for the invention of Ringette.  Ringette was designed as ice hockey for figure skaters.  It has since evolved into Gym Ringette and Inline Ringette.

At its core, it is another branch of hockey, still true to the spirit and joy of the original version.
It resembles broomball, which is yet another story.












Check out the latest at Dita Field Hockey North America, where true passion and GENIUS abound!

Roller/Inline Hockey - A Plastic Puck

If you don't know the origins of the hockey puck, it is a slice of the center of a field hockey ball.  On ice a puck glides and a ball rolls.  Take a ball on ice and it rolls.  Take it on grass and it still rolls.

Take a puck off ice and it sits there, waiting to be struck with a stick.

The version of hockey closest to ice hockey is roller or inline hockey.  The use of a plastic, instead of a rubber puck, and the hard flat surface that allows participants to speed around on wheels make this a fast game.  The rules and sticks make it more like ice hockey.
Field hockey players find this variation quite attractive.

Brij Singh, a long time field hockey and indoor hockey player shares his attraction to roller hockey (and floor hockey):

"I am naturally an ice hockey player. I adore the game, but never got involved. Roller hockey began as a opportunity to create friends and play a game similar to the one I love. Soon, I began to make more advanced teams, and started to branch out into other forms of media to learn. Through a series of YouTube videos, I came upon floorball, which spiked my interest into this unique and creative hybrid of hockey and team handball. Both roller hockey and floorball spike my interest due to the social, informal nature of these unique games, along with the competitive scene of National Teams and World Cups."

Take off the skates and shorten the stick and what sport do you have?
Indoor hockey. How many roller hockey players have discovered the origin of their game?
They might have as much fun as Brij Singh, as he crosses over and back between the various types of his ball and stick games.


Check out the latest at Dita Field Hockey North America, where true passion and GENIUS abound!

Bloody Hurling and Camogie, Our Irish Cousins

Once you get over the obvious, find the sticks the women above use to play Camogie, the womens' variation of mens' Hurling. I am informed that most camogie players also play field hockey,  who knew?  Camogie sticks, known as camogs, are more or less the length of field hockey sticks, with a wide flat head,not quite so large as used to pull pizza out of an oven.

My Irish cousins play these free wheeling sports, hurling and camogie, and there is good cause to wear helmets. Though relatively rare the sport is romantically seen as a cross between a drunken brawl and a riot.  In fact, it is another lively variation of ORIGINAL HOCKEY, safe enough to wear no shin pads  or gloves. The introduction of helmets is a modern innovation.  This is not such a bad idea, as unlike most other versions of hockey, Hurling does not discourage high sticks.  Hurling is a thrilling variation of hockey, filled to overflowing with energy.

Invented in Ireland, MADE IN AMERICA.  Hurling has a healthy following in the United States.  As  suggested in previous posts, field hockey players and hurling players would find the other sport quite familiar.  There is a special quality that gives field hockey and hurling a special flavor.  Those curious to have a taste might be surprised  by the number of active Hurling Clubs in the USA.

Let's imagine you already know how to play, but live where no club exists.
Here is a model of how to create a club.
(It is a valid model for starting a field hockey club at the same time).



Check out the latest at Dita Field Hockey North America, where true passion and GENIUS abound!

The Poetry of Hockey Captured

More in the powerful series of clips
promoting Indian Field Hockey.


Click each the image to watch the 30 second spot.


Feel the POWER.

Play THE Sport 








Check out the latest at Dita Field Hockey North America, where true passion and GENIUS abound!

Camanachd,How the Scots Spell Hockey

Camanachd (also known as Shinty) has been played in the Highlands of Scotland for over 2000 years. It's a game of the stick and ball variety with ties to Irish Hurling, Ice Hockey, and Golf, and bearing more than a few similarities to Field Hockey (ORIGINAL HOCKEY). 


Shinty is played in the USA, primarily Seattle, Portland, and Berkeley.


Two suggestions: Find someone who plays shinty and politely inquire if you may try Camanachd.  It is an exhilarating rush to play! 

Make sure you bring a few extra field hockey sticks, so the guys wielding their "camans" can heft a much lighter field hockey stick and take a test drive of our sport.

In earlier classic shinty games, player wore kilts. It only makes sense.  






 Check out the latest at Dita Field Hockey North America, where true passion and GENIUS abound!