STL All Sports

Miss Ballintine, director of physical education at Vassar College, saw the possibilities in the game and asked Miss Applebee to teach Vassar students the sport. With 24 sticks, which had been left at Spalding's after an Englishman had unsuccessfully attempted to interest men in the game, and a cricket ball painted white, Miss Applebee went to Vassar to introduce hockey. Later she taught the sport at other colleges, including Wellesley, Smith, Mount Holyoke and Bryn Mawr and in 1922 opened her famous Mount Pocono Hockey Camp.

Although the game gained in popularity and clubs were organized in the Philadelphia area, it was not until 1920 that an American team went to England. Partly from that impetus and the increasing interest developed in the colleges, a group of enthusiastic and far-sighted women gathered to form the United States Field Hockey Association.

Interest in the sport in the United States has increased through the years. In 1922 there were 4 local associations with a combined membership of 24 active clubs and 65 allied members; "in 1976 there were 56 local associations with a membership of more than 400 active clubs and about 1,100 schools and colleges." It is estimated that there are more than 65,000 players in this country. The sport, ideal for women and girls eager for team play where speed, accuracy of action and endurance are factors, now extends from coast to coast. Air travel now enables the teams from the Pacific Coast to participate regularly in the national tournaments.

The U.S.F.H.A. is divided into eleven sections, with local associations assigned to each section. Each local association must have at least three active clubs. The majority of the club's players are those who have graduated from high school or college and play for the sheer enjoyment of the game. The hockey association is a truly amateur group whose players pay all expenses whether in this country or abroad.

Over a weekend in November, each section holds a tournament among its local associations, and at the end the selection committee chooses the teams to represent the section in the National Tournament. This event is held during the Thanksgiving weekend, with a local association as hostess, thus taking the best hockey to all areas. Except during the war years from 1942 to 1945, this tournament has been held annually other than in 1936 when the U.S.F.H.A. was hostess for the conference of the International Federation of Women's Hockey Associations.

Sectional teams now compete for the title of U.S.F.H.A. Champion Section in which the results of the matches of all teams representing each section are used to determine the winning section. At this time no United States or Reserve team is selected, but a U.S. Squad from whichteams are named for representative matches is chosen by members of the U.S.F.H.A. Selection Committee. The U.S.F.H.A., in cooperation with the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), sponsors the National Collegiate Championship. This was first held in 1975 with West Chester (Pa.) State College, the champion.

In 1922 and 1923 the All-England Women's Hockey Association sent 8 coaches to this country. In 1925, 1954, and 1969, the Irish Ladies Hockey Union sent over a squad; English players were here in 1928, 1947, 1961, and 1971. The Scottish W.H.A. had teams here in 1931 and 1951, 1971 and 1973. The Welsh W.H.A. toured in 1957 and 1974. The year 1965 saw the visit of a combined team of players from Great Britain and Ireland. In 1966, the Jamaica V.H.A. sent a squad and in 1967, the Australian and New Zealand teams played a number of games here on their way home from the 1967 I.F.W.H.A. Conference. Teams from the Guyana W.H.A. and the women's section of the Royal Netherlands Hockey Association toured in 1968. (Australia toured again in 1973.) A Great Britain "Under 23" team toured here in 1976. The U.S.F.H.A. has progressed immeasurably and the standard of play improved by our teams visiting other countries. Teams were sent to England in 1924, to the International Conference in Denmark in 1933, followed by a tour of the continent and the British Isles; to Australia in 1938, to British Guiana in 1939, to England, Scotland and the Netherlands in 1948 and to the International Conference in South Africa in 1950. In 1956, a United States team toured Australia and New Zealand and did very very well, winning 19 matches and losing 6. However, American teams did not fare well on English tours in 1953 and 1955, but in 1962 tied England 3-3 in the feature match of the year before 55,000 at Wembley Stadium, London.

The U.S.F.H.A. has continued to take an active part in the international phases both here and abroad. In 1953, a U.S.F.H.A. team participated in the fifth triennial conference of the International Federation of Women's Hockey Associations at Folkestone, England, and then toured the British Isles. To celebrate the diamond jubilee of the All England Women's Hockey Association, a U.S.F.H.A. team played England in the first international match under floodlights at the Arsenal Stadium, London, in October, 1955. In 1956, the sixth I.F.W.H.A. conference was held in Sydney, Australia and following the conference, the U.S.F.H.A. team toured Queensland, Australia, New Zealand, and played one match in Fiji. A visit to South Africa was made in 1958, and in 1959 a representative group was scheduled to attend the I.F.W.H.A. conference in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and tour continental Europe.