07/23/14 – Field Hockey Welcome and Information

July 23, 2014 Field Hockey Blog Updates

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The KHSAA would like to welcome the field hockey coaches and officials as the newest sanctioned sport of the KHSAA.  We are excited about getting to work with you and carry on the great traditions and hopefully our united ability to help grow the sport of field hockey in the state of Kentucky.

We don’t want to overwhelm you with information in this first correspondence so be prepared for frequent follow ups. There will be a lot of information headed your way over the next few weeks.

We are doing the best we can to keep things in-line with what the Metro Area AD’s group has done in the past, but as you all know with growth comes change.  Be prepared to bend as we go through this process.

For the 2014-2015 season only:

• First date for practice – July 15
• *Number of contest limits – unlimited
• *First date for contest – August 11
• *There will be 2 scrimmages allowed before the start date.
• Online Rules Clinic – Opens August 4 and is a requirement for all coaches and officials in order to be in compliance with Bylaw 25 and to be eligible to participate/officiate in the postseason.  This is separate from the in-person training provided by Suzie and Mike on August 2nd.
• All Coaches are also required to take the online Sports Safety Course. Please check with your Athletic Director to be sure your entire staff is entered into the schools coaching personnel (this is necessary for both the rules clinic for coaches and the sport safety course).
• Regions – October 20th – October 23rd – For the purpose of consistency across the sports we will be changing what was previously referred to as districts to regions.
• State – Quarterfinals October 25, Semifinals October 27, and Finals October 29th.
• The 29th is a variation from the past schedule.  Please contact the office immediately if Wednesday, October 29th is a conflict.

*There are a few items above marked with an asterisk. These are the items that we are currently reviewing  and will be finalizing the structure for the 2015-2016 season in the coming months. Through diligent research with the NFHS, we have found that the past game limit of 28 is 10 more contests than other states allow.  With the addition of the creative tournament formats (multiple teams from the same school 7v7) sponsored by specific member schools, this would be an even further burden on school game limits.

The most likely outcome of this review will be that schools can participate in 23 contests with a straight count (meaning not counting tournaments as two, but counting each game).  This also means that the creative tournament formats would likely need to be adjusted and probably moved to the preseason (within the two three-hour per scrimmage limitations). It is strongly likely that schools would not want to participate in a tournament that counts for 7 to 9 games toward their limit.

It is also likely that the start date would be adjusted (request was made due to scheduling conflicts for the Apple Tournament prior to KHSAA sanctioning).

We wish all the teams a safe and healthy season and much more information is to come. The primary contact for the implementation of Field Hockey will be Assistant Commissioner Angela Passafiume (apassafiume@khsaa.org), and she will be assisted by Assistant Commissioner Darren Bilberry (dbilberry@khsaa.org). Let either of us know if we can be of assistance.

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