Field Hockey Federation, Inc

History:

The Field Hockey Federation can trace its beginnings back to 1968. In that year, the late Dr James Casey saw a snippet of the Olympics about field hockey on television. The announcer said that Americans could not play this game. He thought to himself that we are good at hitting a ball as demonstrated by our love for baseball, tennis, and golf. He decided to get a group of athletes together and go win the Olympics. It did not take long for those who were involved to realize this was to be a formidable task without an organization.

In 1972, a team from Kiel, Germany was entered in a tournament in Washington, D.C. They asked the local hockey players if we could give them a game or two. At that time there were only three men’s teams in this area. A team from Vancouver and one from Victoria Canada agreed to participate in the first California Cup. The Kiel Ravens won, followed by the two Canadian teams. In the beginning the teams were composed of native-born Americans.

In the mid-seventies, the Canadians expressed an interest in bringing a women’s team and asked if the California Cup organizers could find some competition. Contact was made with the Los Angeles Field Hockey Association, and they provided three teams. Junior field hockey really began with the efforts of the late Alex Stamatovic. He had already been instrumental in making soccer popular in Camarillo. In 1982, he worked with Tom & Karen Harris to organize and incorporate the Field Hockey Federation.  In 1984 the Field Hockey Federation got non profit status as a 501c3 Youth Sports Organization. With 150 sticks provided by Allen Woods and a lot of work, the league began with four high school and eight junior high boys’ teams. A year later, girls’ teams entered the league. As soon as these teams began playing, more divisions were included in Cal Cup to allow them to play.

In 1993, a dream was realized when the Moorpark College turf Field was installed. Thanks to a donation and a loan from the Men’s Field Hockey Foundation, the artificial surface became a reality. A key element of this project was the volunteer efforts of the many players and parents under the leadership of Walt Robbins. The pavers were Mike Newton’s project. Over the years, most of the members of the Men’s National Teams have been products of the Field Hockey Federation Programs.