Bethany Seifert

10/17/2017

Currently in the United States, field hockey is a female dominated sport and it’s rare to see a male participant. In fact I have had the opportunity to play amongst a male in the field, and it’s unfortunate that the majority of female athletes won’t be able to claim the experience within their hockey careers.  Whether there’s a stigma that the sport is too feminine, or a male’s masculinity could be shattered by the way he looks in a skirt, females are statistically more likely to participate. But that hasn’t always been the case.

Field Hockey, in its current form, dates back to as early as 19th century.  Originating in the city of London, England, field hockey was originally compared to rugby with sticks because of its violent tendencies. It’s partly because of these tendencies the sport became very popular amongst the male populace.  This dominance lasted until 1900’s when women began to explore and adapt the sport to make it their own. When women began creating their own version of the game,  the amount of physical contact decreased significantly, and in a sense the game changed as a whole. Aided by medical sciences, safety became a main priority. The however goal from now a days is still the same as before; get the ball past the keeper into the opposing team’s goal. The team with the most goals scored by the end if the game ultimately wins.

Field Hockey reached its peak of popularity during the year of 1985 when the first international tournament took place. Unfortunately around the same time, males running in skirts together became a taboo within the US. Now considering that worldwide field hockey is the third most played sport world wide, this title wouldn’t be held if it was a women’s only sport. The majority of the world has worked past this stigma and allowed for both  womens and mens sports teams. Yet the united states, still stuck in its primitive past, provides a majority of women only teams, which only allow for men to play if they flash the “title 9” card. Its obvious that united states sports associations can’t provide male field hockey teams without the proper supply and demand, but if the idea of male field hockey players was promoted, maybe advancements could be made to normalize the beloved sport within the USA.