USA Field Hockey News
USA Field Hockey
National Hockey Festival Returns to Palm Beach for Thanksgiving
COLORADO SPRINGS,
Colo. - The USA Field Hockey continues a long-standing holiday tradition
Thanksgiving weekend, when the sport’s national governing body hosts its
National Hockey Festival, Nov. 25-28, at the Palm Beach Polo Club in
Wellington, Fla.
The world’s
largest amateur field hockey event, the 2004 Festival features a record
226 teams from 23 states and Canada. The 3,800 athletes will compete for
titles in Women’s Age Group (Under 16 and Under 19), Women’s Open and
Mixed (co-ed) divisions. The 226-team field tops the previous mark of
223 teams set last year in Indio, Calif. A total of 709 games are
scheduled on the Polo Club’s 26 fields during the event.
The Under 19 tournament is the Festival’s largest division with 140
teams competing for 20 pool championships. In addition to providing a
showcase for the sport and the chance for athletes to compete against
players from across the country, the Festival allows prospective college
athletes an opportunity to perform before a gallery of collegiate
coaches gathered from the nation’s top programs. As part of the original
Hockey Festival in 1981, the high school division allowed teams of high
school-aged players the rare opportunity to compete against other squads
from across the country. Since that time, the small tournament has
evolved into the Age Group Division with the number of teams rising from
12 in 1981 to today’s total of 189. The level of play has also
skyrocketed from “the place where players learned to hold their first
stick” to a competitive showcase for future national stars.
In
2004, USA Field Hockey instituted a new Festival qualifying procedure
that rewards long-time Festival participants and pool winners. Teams
with at least a five-year history of consecutive Festival appearances
(prior to 2004) and teams winning their respective pools now have an
automatic invitation to compete in the next year’s Festival. All other
highly-coveted spots in the tournament are selected through a lottery of
registered teams held in the spring.
The composition
of the squads differs from team to team. The teams may represent the
core of a high school squad, an all-star team selected as the result of
a state or camp tryout, a local club team or simply a group of players
forming a team to play at the Festival. The teams are placed in their
pools based on geographical diversity and past performances at the
Festival.
One of the
Festival’s most competitive divisions, the Open Division features U.S.
Olympians such as Tracey Fuchs (’88 and ’96), Marcia Pankratz (’88 and
’96), Diane Madl (’96) Pam Bustin (’96) and Liz Tchou (’96) of Holland
Tunnel and Katie Beach (’96) and Laurel Martin (’96) of Red Rose. In
addition, Open Division rosters features current and former National
Team players as well as current collegiate coaches and all-America
selections competing for top honors.
The event marks
the sixth time Palm Beach County has hosted the Festival. The Polo Club
and Palm Beach County Sports Commission entertained the tournament in
1996, 1998 , 1999, 2000 and 2001. This year will also mark the 11th
time the event has been held in Florida after Cocoa hosted the event in
1991 and ‘92 and Orlando in 1981, ‘82 and '94.
Originating as the National Sectional Championships and national team
selection tournament in 1922, the Festival adopted its current
multi-divisional format in 1981 by introducing tournaments for high
school-aged players, club and open teams.
Additional
information on the Festival, as well as teams, results and rosters is
available on the USA Field Hockey Festival website at
www.usfieldhockey.com/festival/
www.usfieldhockey.com
Media advisory:
A complete listing of teams and rosters is available on the USA Field
Hockey website at
www.usfieldhockey.com/festival
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