The Departure of Field Hockey

Overall, field hockey is a sport unknown to many not only in Texas, but also in the South (Eisen, 2006). It has a very strong presence on the East and West coasts, but does not have the same following in other parts of the country. As an IM sport, field hockey had a fairly short run of four years, which left a lot of questions for me to answer. It seems to have started at Trinity because at one time there was enough interest in the sport to propose starting an IM sport and then it had enough people to create a decent team. From there a lot of different terms come into play like the equipment, comprehension of the rules, basic skills needed to participate and, proper number of players.

After talking to a former Trinity player (Terri Gill, 1973-1974), she was honest about her experience, which did not meet her expectations so she did not participate in the IM sport more than a year. This just shows that perhaps another reason the sport did not stick about is because Trinity did not market it well enough so only those already acquainted with the sport took interest, and it did not match the intensity level they were used to, or provide them with proper equipment, which made them lose interest. While many clubs participated, the Gammas being one who often were the champions of field hockey specifically (IM Rules, Regulations & Records, 1971- 1975), it was not enough to keep it around. Talking to Ashley, a Gamma alum who had no idea field hockey ever existed at Trinity, but would’ve been interested and knows others who would have as well, it shows perhaps a chance for the sport to come back.