While any sport can teach young athletes lessons that can last a lifetime, that’s especially the case for field hockey. It’s the perfect sport to teach players about the value of teamwork and how they all need to work in harmony as a unit in order to achieve success. Having some top players is great, but if the rest of the team isn’t all moving in the same direction, it’ll be hard for them to accomplish their overall goals. With such great lessons on the way, when is the earliest time somebody can start playing field hockey?
The sport can vary by age, gender, and skill level. There are a number of youth local leagues available that can act as feeders for nearby high school programs. When looking at the youth divisions, there are four general categories, which include Under-8, Under-11, Under-15, and Under-19. These divisions are broken down even further into four more categories.
The Peewee category is for field hockey players between the ages of 6 and 7. Games for this category happen on a field that’s half the regulation size with seven girls at a time. Quarters are 10 minutes long, with a 10-minute break at halftime. For the Midget category — which is for ages 8-10 — 11 players will play on a regulation-sized field, which is 100 yards long. The length of play remains the same, though, with 10-minute quarters and a 10-minute halftime break.
The Junior category is when things start to change, which is for field hockey players aged 10-12. While there are still 11 players participating on a regulation-sized field, there are two levels of play (recreational and competitive). Also, the quarters of play increase from 10 to 25 minutes, but the halftime break remains the same at 10 minutes. The School Programs category is the largest of all, ranging from ages 12 to 18 for field hockey players. This category consists of hockey programs and school try-outs. The biggest difference here is the period of play changes to two 30-minute halves.
Whether you’re a beginning field hockey player or an advanced high school player on the varsity team with aspirations of playing in college, we know you can improve your skills with us at one of our Revolution Field Hockey Camps this summer. We welcome field hockey players of all ages and stages to join us because we have a process in place to begin training once you check-in and step foot on the field. The application questions we have you answer prior to camp starting help generate initial skill groupings and scrimmage teams for the first session, and once our coaches get a chance to evaluate everyone at camp, they’ll be able to make modifications from there.
The majority of our campers range from the age of 10 to 18 years old, but there are some camps that cater more to high school field hockey players, and other options (like half-day camps) that are available for players between the ages of 6 and 10. If you’re looking at specific Revolution Field Hockey Camps, the age ranges and specifications are outlined on each camp’s page.
