When it’s played on artificial turf, field hockey is fast. When it’s played indoors, five on five, it’s even faster.
“The speed of the game is multiplied by 100,” said Kelly Terwilliger, the head coach and owner of the Maine Majestix field hockey club. “It’s a great spectator sport.”
Two of Terwilliger’s indoor field hockey teams, the Majestix Under 19 club and the Under 16 team, recently qualified to play in the USA National Indoor Field Hockey tournament. The U19 team, which won a Northeast region qualifying tournament at Smith College last month, will travel to Richmond, Virginia, on Feb. 22-24 for its tournament. The U16 team qualified for nationals with a fifth-place finish in its qualifying tournament, and will play in nationals March 1-3 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
The Majestix U19 team went 2-0-1 in pool play, then defeated North East Elite Silver, a club based in Salem, New Hampshire, 4-0 in the championship game to win its region, which featured teams from New England and New York. That puts the team in Pool A at the national championship, playing against other regional tournament winners, Terwilliger said.
Both the Majestix U19 and U16 teams are made up of players from central Maine. Six of the U19 Majestix have made commitments to play college field hockey: Skowhegan’s Maliea Kelso (Northeastern), Bhreagh Kennedy (University of Maine), and Elizabeth York (Hofstra); Messalonskee’s Kaitlyn Smith (Colby) and Autumn Littlefield (Boston College) and Belfast’s Brooke Richards (University of Massachusetts). While the national championships are an opportunity for players to catch the eye of college coaches, particularly those in the U16 who are more likely to be undecided on their college plans, Terwilliger said coaches like to check on the development of their committed players, too. The head field hockey coach at Colby, Terwilliger said she’s anxious to see how players heading off to the college game in the fall have improved.
The speed of indoor field hockey, played on a hard surface about the size of a basketball court, Terwilliger said, is a challenge and helps players prepare to advance to the collegiate level.
“It’s an opportunity just to fine tune skills,” Terwilliger said.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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