While many clubs seek regional or national accolades and achievements, the Club Field Hockey Team aims to provide a carefree environment for students to play the sport and have fun.
“This club is more informal and light-hearted,” Tina Green, president of the club, said.
According to Green, who took over as president last spring, the club in the past has always tried to organize social events for the members whenever possible.
Although the club is not as competitive compared to other sports clubs at the university, it still tries to organize friendly games against other field hockey clubs around the region.
Two years ago, the club traveled to the University of South Florida to compete in a tournament against Towson University and the University of Tampa.
The club’s main obstacle was low participation, which meant they were unable to take part in travelling as a team.
“We could not travel last year because we could not get enough members to stay active in the club,” Jessi Dipette, treasurer of the club, said. “Since our team was not large enough, we could not get a large enough budget to sponsor these types of events.”
This year, it seems that the participation dilemma may have taken a turn for the better.
According to Green, the club received 90 signatures during Cane Fest. During the club’s first meeting, almost 20 people attended and participated for the first practice.
“It’s a huge improvement over last year so far,” said Dipette. “Everyone in practice today seems really enthusiastic.”
The club is implementing new measures to keep members interested and able to commit to the club.
Jenna Jacobs, captain of the club, said that flexibility of the practice schedule was another problem they faced last year. Members often had conflicts on practice days.
“This year, we’ve managed to get more time slots allocated for team practice, so we are able to cater to the majority on whether they prefer trainings on the normal weekdays or even the weekends,” Jacobs said.
According to Dipette, this year the club is also trying to collaborate with other club sports in the university to organize friendly games that everyone can play.
“We want members to know that we are not only a field hockey team, but a group which has fun and socializes,” Jacobs said.
The club tentatively trains on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the Intramural Fields.
For more information, contact umiamifieldhockey@gmail.com.