WELCOME TO GRAA FALL FIELD HOCKEY 2023! 

Welcome all to GRAA Fall Field Hockey 2023!  

This site is broken up into 2nd grade, 3rd/4th grade, 5/6th grade and 7/8th grade teams.  

-  Grades 3rd-8th will have 8 weeks of games starting on the weekend of September 9th.  The last game weekend would be October 28th.  Game schedules should be out by mid August and will be added into Sports Engine.  

- There are 3 divisions: 3rd/4th grade (plays 7v7 on a short field, 5th/6th grade and 7th/8th grade  (plays 11v11 full field).

- Grade 8 All Star Game: Saturday, November 4th 

- 7th/8th Division End of Season Tournament will be Sunday, November 5th.

**Please note GW Field is shared with Glen Ridge High School Sports as well as other GRAA Sports.  Schedule changes can occur during the season, so please stay up to date with Sports Engine for practices and games/scrimmages.  There's a Sports Engine app available to download and you would need to search for each grade specific GRAA Field Hockey team.  Scrimmage/Game rosters are based off of Sports Engine RSVP.

GRAA FIELD HOCKEY 2023 MISSION STATEMENT

GRAA Field Hockey is open to players in 2nd-8th grade. There are three levels to this program...

1) 2nd grade clinic: This is an instructional clinic that teaches the basic skills of field hockey and introduces playtime and positioning.  Players will incorporate skills with games and friendly scrimmages against each other.  

2) 3rd/4th grade clinic/travel:  This is an instructional clinic that teaches the basic skills of field hockey and introduces playtime and positioning during scrimmages against other towns.  Playtime and positions are based on an equal rotational basis to allow kids the chance to learn all aspects of field hockey.  The program is intended to give the kids a fun learning experience, and either an introduction to field hockey, or to build upon the skills they already have.  Games will be 7 players vs 7 players on a shorter field.

3) Junior Varsity Travel: The GRAA Junior Varsity Travel program is open to 5/6th graders.  It is focused on developing knowledge of field hockey and introducing playtime and positioning during games for all kids who wish to play.  Playtime and positions are based on an equal opportunity basis to allow kids the chance to learn all aspects of field hockey.  The Junior Varsity travel is intended to give kids a fun learning experience, and either an introduction to field hockey, or to build upon skills they already have.

4) Varsity Travel:  The GRAA Varsity Travel program is open to 7/8th graders.  This program is geared toward further developing and honing the skills, awareness and fitness level of players on travel teams.  Our mission for the Varsity program is to properly equip players for high school level field hockey.  This means our coaches follow two main guidelines:

     a) GRAA coaches work to build a strong competitive team.  As compared to the Junior Varsity Travel Program, there is a greater emphasis by coaches to field a winning team similar to the high school atmosphere and grouping kids with greater skill sets together on a team accelerates their learning by elevating their expectations.

     b) Of equal importance, our coaches give each player fair and substantial playing time during games and throughout the season, which is a critical component to continual skill evaluation and development.

All players will be provided a fair and unbiased opportunity to develop their skills (specifically during game play), and coached through the areas where they need development.  We recognize that these are still young players learning and developing the skill set they will need to succeed.

GRAA Varsity players will develop skills to play across multiple positions, which will prove valuable to both team and the individual players as they move into high school.  Coaching staff evaluates throughout the season with an emphasis on optimizing them for success.

PRACTICE SCHEDULE

GRAA Field Hockey practices/scrimmages/ home games take place on George Washington Field.  The field is a turf, fenced in location off of Baldwin Avenue in Glen Ridge.  Please be respectful of the rules upon entering the field.  

*TBD practice times will go out once High School practice/games schedules get posted and we coordinate with other GRAA teams on shared field space.  **Please note this season practices for 3rd-8th grade will be on Saturday and games on Sundays.

2nd grade

Saturday  - 8-9am    Sherman Field

 3rd- 4th grade

Saturday - 2-3:30pm    George Washington Field

Sunday - Game day (time varies)

5/6th grade

Monday & Wednesday   6-7pm    Forest Avenue Field

Saturday - 3:30-4:45pm    George Washington Field

Sunday -  Game day (time varies)

7/8th grade

Tuesday & Thursday- 6-7pm   Forest Avenue Field

Saturday - 4:45-6pm    George Washington Field

Sundays -  Game day (time varies)

GRAA is in search of a new GRAA Field Hockey Commissioner

Current Field Hockey Commissioner Julie Albers has led the program in recent years, but as her daughter is in eighth grade, the time is right to seek a replacement. Julie will stay on for the remainder of the Fall 2023 season, giving the new commissioner the chance to shadow her in the role. The new commissioner would formally take over at the conclusion of the fall season.

Commissioner responsibilities would include:

* Overall responsibility for the program, reporting to the GRAA Board of Directors

* Leading and managing the Field Hockey Board

* Coordinating with coaches

* Communicating with parents

* Registration and rostering

* Budgeting

* Rostering kids and creating a distribution list.

* Ability to have tough conversations with Board Members, parents and/or coaches

The new Commissioner can be a current coach, parent, or someone in town with interest in the sport. 

If interested, please fill out this form: https://graa.sportngin.com/register/form/482519340.

The deadline to apply is 9/28/23 11:59pm EST. 

Thank you,

GRAA Board of Directors

Required Field Hockey Equipment

In order to practice and play ALL players must provide:  Field hockey stick, goggles, mouth guard & shin guards.  *Cleats and turf shoes are optional, but note the turf and grass fields tend to get very slippery when wet.

A good resource for field hockey equipment locally is All Lacrosse on Valley Road in Montclair (http://alllacrosse.com/all_lacrosse/Welcome.html). An excellent online resource for field hockey equipment and merchandise is http://www.longstreth.com/.

Please use the sizing chart to assist with choosing the correct fitting field hockey stick.

GRAA liaison to Field Hockey