Field hockey rules for beginners

The basic rules of field hockey are actually quite simple. However, for those individuals who have no previous knowledge on how to play the game, it can be quite tricky to understand. Below are some field hockey rules for beginners:

Photo Credit: Field Hockey 4U

1. You must play the ball with your stick. Neither your feet nor your hands may be used.
2. Each team is made up of 11 players, which includes one goalie.
3. You cannot be off-sides in field hockey.
4. You should never hold the stick cross-handed. Your left hand should always be above your right.
5. You can only hit the ball with the flat side of the stick, using the other side is considered dangerous.
6. Each game consists of two 35 minute halves with a five-minute break in between.
7. Players wear shin pads and gum shields for protection because the game uses a hard ball for play.
8. Each goal is only worth one point.
9. When a ball causes evasive action by players it is considered dangerous.
10. Unless it is a defender, players are not allowed to play any ball that is above shoulder height.

To learn about these rules and discover many more, visit the sites below.

Sources:

Fieldhockey.org

Rulesofsport.com

BBC Sport

By: Halle Sobczak

CMU Field Hockey Facts!

In order to learn some more things about the field hockey team here at Central Michigan, we are going to look at some of the history. The first year that CMU had a field hockey program was in 1973, under the direction of head coach Marcy Weston, in which the team went 6-1-2. Including Marcy, the Chippewas have had five head coaches throughout the history of the program (
Patti LaLone-1974-75, Mary Bottaro-1976-1985, Christy Freese 1986-2014 and Molly Pelowski 2015- Present).

Photo Credit: CM-Life.com

With the help of the of these coaches, the Chippewas have and overall record of 369-420-26 and a 123-155 in MAC. Also, with respect to some of these coaches, the University has been fortunate to excellent student athletes represent them as well.

Season Records:

Goals

1. Donna Provenzola (1976) - 29
2. Helen Epple (1985) - 22

Assists

1. Megann Burns (1997) - 16
2. Erica Takach (2004) & Kim McCormick (1980) - 14

Points

1. Donna Provenzola (1976) - 61
2. Helen Epple (1985) - 46

Shutouts

1. Sue Procter (1977) & Sue Roegner (1976) - 12
2. Cheryl Littman (1980) - 11

Career Records:

Goals

1. Donna Provenzola (1973-76) - 62
2. Marge Rausch (1978-81) - 43

Assists

1. Samantha Sandham (2005-08) - 34
2. Tracy Lefever (1995-98) & Kara Labeta (1995-98) & April Hammer (1997-2000) - 27

Points

1. Donna Provenzola (1973-76) - 132
2. Samantha Sandham (2005-08) - 110

Shutouts

1. Roegner (1975-76) - 25
2. Nacy Franke (1982-85) - 22

Photo Credit: CM-Life.com


By: Michael Greenwood

Change of Scenery: Freese to Pelowski

Photo Credit:cmuchippewas.com

The 2015 season was the first season in 28 years in which the Central Michigan field hockey team took the field without the guidance of Christy Freese. Christy, who took over as head coach in 1986, led the Chippewas to an overall record to an overall record of 226-327-6. Also, Freese was received Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year three times in 1987, 1989 and 2002.

Moving forward, the Chippewas had a tall task to replace the all-time winningest coach across all sports in Central Michigan history. With this in mind, the Chippewas decided to make Molly Pelowski the new head coach of the field hockey program on February 3, 2015.


Prior to being named the head coach at CMU, Pelowski played for the University of Michigan as a exceptional goal keeper. When Molly graduated, she held six goal keeping records and helped the Wolverines win four Big Ten Regular season championships and the 2001 National Championship. Interestingly, from 2006-2008 she actually came to Central Michigan and was a graduate assistant, under Christy Freese, before she moved on to be an assistant coach for Michigan State. She was an assistant for MSU for seven years, with the teams averaging eleven wins per season.

Photo Credit:CM-Life.com

Looking forward, and her first season as head coach under her belt, look for things to improve. The team ended with an overall record of 2-15 in 2015, under the first year head coach, but the addition of Pelowski's first recruiting class (Sarah Mesko, Willow Guenther, Abigail Ebersole) should turn things around.

Photo Credit: cmuchippewas.com

By: Michael Greenwood

Player Spotlight!!

For this player spotlight, we will be focusing on one of the International members of the field hockey team, Maude Stalars. Maude is from Rhode-Saint-Genese, Belgium, who transferred to Central Michigan University from College Cardinal Mercier, in Braine-Le-Comte, Belgium, in 2013.

However, in an article on CM-Life, Maude explains the difficulty of being an international student in a foreign country:

Photo Credit: cmuchippewas.com

"I thought it would be quite similar to what it was life in Belgium, but it was more different than I thought. It was hard adjusting to the language and I really had a culture shock because people dress differently, speak differently than what I studied, the schooling system (is) different, it (is) quite different."

Thankfully for the Chippewas, Stalars has been able to work through the difference in culture and has become an important player for Central Michigan. In 2013 she appeared in all 19 games and started in 14 of them. However, Maude really demonstrated her talent in the 2014 season when she finished second in the team in shots (25) and third on the team in assists (3). Also, because of her efforts, she was named First Team All-MAC and was selected for the All-Academic team for the Mid-American Conference, with a cumulative GPA of 3.45. Finally, as Junior, she played in all 17 games for the Chippewas, while being second on the team in goals (4), second on the team in points (9). Although she wasn't selected for the All-Conference team, like the previous season, she was selected to the MAC All-Academic team, while majoring in International Business.

With Maude only being a Junior, the Chippewas are likely to rely heavily on the experience of the international Mid fielder, as she prepares for her last season at Central Michigan University.

By Michael Greenwood