By Kirsten McKenna
Ayanna McClean led the Women’s Field Hockey team in a pre-game chant before the inaugural match of the Hofstra University Field Hockey Stadium against the Yale Bulldogs on Fri., Sept. 14. As the senior captain cheered, “Who’s House?” her teammates responded, “Blue’s House!” True to the cheer, the brand new Field Hockey facility, located on North campus, is the team’s very own house.
Previously, the Women’s Field Hockey team shared the James R. Shuart Stadium turf with the Hofstra Football and Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse teams. As Shuart Stadium serves as the site for various NCAA, Nassau County, and New York State High School championship games, the women will finally have a place to call their own.
Field Hockey Head Coach Kathy De Angelis is looking forward to beginning the tenth year of her tenure at Hofstra in a new stadium. She said, “It is extraordinary to be in a brand new facility. It’s an amazing stride for women’s sports and the field hockey program.”
The field hockey team was notified a year ago that the new field hockey stadium was going to be constructed. The Shuart Stadium turf was renovated with a FieldTurf system- suitable for the Hofstra’s football and lacrosse teams, but not a substantial surface for Field Hockey.
The new Field Hockey Stadium is equipped with Sportex HockeyGrass Club HockeyTurf Elite, the official artificial turf system of the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA), bleachers, and a press box.
Though Sportexe? is predominantly Field Hockey turf, De Angelis says the change in turf will take some getting-used-to. The coach said, “I told the girls, play as if you’ve been playing on the turf.”
The field, formed of synthetic nylon, provides optimum performance. However, the field’s water treatment during halftime made the field slick. Junior forward Charlia Warner stated, “The water makes the field slippery, and that slows the ball down.”
According to De Angelis, after the girls are secure with their footing, “It [the turf] should make a one- hundred percent difference in terms of skill and ability.”
Fellow CAA members such as James Madison University and the University of Massachusetts utilize the Sportexe turf.
Before the inaugural match against Yale, in which the Pride lost 6-2, the girls practiced on the newly- constructed field only once before Friday’s match.
Prior to the Field Hockey Stadium’s completion, the team hosted home matches and invitationals at Columbia University and practiced on indecent playing fields. Junior goalkeeper Nadine Surak recalled the inclement practice conditions: “The surface we were practicing on was uneven, 60- yard field.”
Coach De Angelis and the girls are thrilled to practice and play at the new Field Hockey facility.
(Jeff Herman)