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Monday, October 6, 2008
Hockey Without Skates...or Ice
Fort Worth, TX
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As ice hockey catches on in North Texas, its outdoor cousin – field hockey – has actually been a mainstay in private schools for years.
When most of us think about fall sports in North Texas, it is football for boys, volleyball for girls, and cross-country for both.
Golf and tennis have fall seasons, as do swimming and diving, but even they do not compete for the opportunity to advance to region or state until the spring.
One sport, however, has a rather long history in the area, especially among private schools, and many people may not even know that it exists locally.
Field hockey, which can best be described as a hybrid of ice hockey and soccer, has a strong following at such schools as Fort Worth Country Day, Trinity Valley and All Saints, and Country Day coach Paige Chisholm said the sport has served as a lifelong passion for her.
“If Country Day was not among the original few schools that played field hockey, it was one of the first,” Chisholm said. “I started playing in the fifth grade. That was when I was introduced to it. I never imagined I would have a career in the sport...I enjoy coaching it, because it doesn’t have a club system. Youth sports have not infiltrated it, and all of the stuff that goes along with that.”
There are four Tarrant County schools that compete in field hockey, including Country Day, Trinity Valley, Oakridge Academy in Arlington and All Saints.
Chisholm played for Country Day back in the early 1980’s.
“The stick is a composite, kind of like a tennis racket, that has a little hook on the end,” Chisholm said. “One side’s flat and the other side’s rounded, so you can only use one side of the stick, and you use a round, hard ball...you kind of have to take ice hockey, soccer and lacrosse, and put them all together to get an idea of what it is like.”
Chisholm said the rules and lineups are most similar to soccer, in that 11 players take the field, including 10 field players and a goalie, and players can be carded.
A green card is warning, a yellow card means the player must leave the field for five minutes and a red card means the player is ejected.
The game is played in two, 30-minute halves.
Country Day competes in the Southwest Preparatory Conference, and Chisholm said that she has never had a problem fielding a team, as the Falcons currently have three squads.
“I think field hockey attracts kids because it is unique, and it is not something they have played their entire life,” Chisholm said. “You come in, and you feel like you’re on an even playing field. You don’t feel like, ‘this person has been competing their entire life, so I will never be able to compete with them.’”
Chisholm has been the varsity head coach at Country Day for the last five years, and in that time, her team has won one state championship, the first in school history, and played in another one.
“What happens is, you have a North zone and a South zone, and you play each team in that zone,” Chisholm said. “The top four go to the division I tournament and the rest go to the division II tournament.”
There are 18 teams between the North and South zones, and Country Day competes in the North zone.
Chisholm said the most important quality to have as a field hockey player is stamina.
“The fitness requirements are pretty extreme,” Chisholm said.
“Imagine soccer, but then add a stick and have to lean over and run with it. It adds a whole new element to the fitness aspect.”
Country Day had one of its U16 players, Annie Heinzelmann, selected to compete in the Junior Olympics, and another varsity player is currently being recruited.
Midfielder Ashley Espy recently made an official visit to the University of Maryland, her first choice for college, and said what made her fall in love with the sport is the fact that it is not as common as some of the others from which she could choose.
“It’s not a very prominent sport down here,” Espy said. “It’s just so interesting because there is so much that I don’t know about it, which makes it so appealing. It’s so different, and that makes it a lot of fun.”
Country Day’s biggest rival is Trinity Valley, and their games each year have been nicknamed “The Battle of Bryant-Irvin,” as both schools are on the same road.
Espy, who also plays softball and runs track, said the sport can also become quite physical, but said that is just part of the game.
“I definitely have some bruises and cuts,” Espy said. “It’s not really like hockey-hockey, but there are those times when people will chip the ball and it can hit you in the face. That happened to me. Thank goodness for the mouth guard.”
Espy said her ultimate goal would be to one day play in the Olympics. •
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