Today after school, members of the Stanford girls field hockey team performed a demo on the lacrosse field to raise interest for the sport of field hockey here at Paly. It looks like field hockey will become a member of the Paly sports family in the coming years.
“A lot of interest has been shown, and because it is such a new sport, it is perfectly fine for somebody to start playing in high school and then be able to play in d1 colleges,” Emily Semba, a Paly student and one of the main advocates for a Paly field hockey team said. “It appeals to anybody who doesn’t have a sport, wants another sport for cross-training during off season, or just wants to try a new and exciting sport.”
According to Semba, Vice Principle Kathy Lawrence expressed interest when several girls brought to her attention the idea of a Paly field hockey team. Interest also improved after seeing the high amount of interest demonstrated by the Facebook group created by Semba for the sport, and the high quantity of sign-ups to her e-mail list. This allowed the girls to organize a demonstration.
“A field hockey team has 11 players total, so we would need at least 30 or so girls to have a team. So that would be 4 subs for each jv and varsity team,” Semba said.
Although field hockey will not be a sport at Paly next year, the level of interest expressed leads to Semba to believe that this number will be attainable in the future. Next year, she hopes to start a club for the sport, which, as at other schools across the country, it will evolve into a fall sport.
Girls lacrosse looks to be one of the major places for recruitment for the sport, as both involve similar hand-eye coordination and playing style.
“Field hockey is really similar to lacrosse, and hopefully that will bring more attention to the sport,” Kimmie Flather (12′) said. Flather is a 3 year Varsity Lacross player and has expressed interest in playing field hockey in the coming years.
Those girls interested in playing field hockey can find details by finding the 2011 Girls Field Hockey Facebook group.