New Website

We have a team website! Please check us out at http://www.eteamz.com/BearsFieldHockeyClub/

All further updates and news will be posted on the new website!

First Practice August 31st

UPDATES:

Practice
Our first practice will be held on August 31st (originally it was supposed to be the 24th) at around 1 pm.

Forms
Permission forms. Please, if you haven't handed in your signed permission slip to play you do so before the first practice.

Uniforms
A note for the older girls who are having a difficult time finding the plaid pleated skirt - you may go ahead and order a navy blue skirt instead for this first year.

It seems as though girls are having a hard time finding navy blue shin guards so for now, you may go ahead and order either the black or white ones (or pink). Please also purchase navy blue knee socks to wear over top of the shin guards. Most sporting goods stores sell them.

We are currently working on the T-shirts; waiting to get a T-shirt sponsor. In the meantime, IF it boils down to it, please just wear either a navy blue or white solid shirt to practice until we have an official T-shirt sponsor.

Fundraisers
Thank you to all the girls and their moms who helped out at the bake sale. Our team raise $117!! This money will pay for cones and nets for the field as well as practice field hockey balls. We are hoping to do another bake sale, perhaps at St. Peters in Merchantville in September.

See you on the field...

Registration forms are needed!

Hi Moms and players!

At present date we have enough girls to make a field hockey team!! That would be 11 players. I have more who have expressed an interest and taken a registration form but are not on the roster as of present. We NEED YOUR REGISTRATION FORMS before our first fundraiser on August 3rd - our bakesale. Please email Mrs. Myers and I can give you my address to mail in your forms or put them in an envelope in the St. Martha Room at Mater Ecclesiae with either my name or Mrs. Mantoan's name on it.

It's important to get your registration forms in and get on the roster. We will be ordering our T-shirts soon and will have to know how many to order as well.

We haven't put a registration cost out there to everyone yet because we wanted to see how much we would take in this summer through sponsors and fundraisers. We should definitely have an idea of the registration fee by mid August. There are a few things that you will be responsible for and here is a breakdown of the cost per player:

COSTS PER PLAYER:

Pleated Skirt ----> $11.98
T-shirt ----------> $5.00 (estimated, hopefully fundraiser will pay for this!)
Navy Blue Shin Guards ------> $8.99 (You can get these on ebay to get the best price)
Mouth guard -----------------> $0.99 (Wal-mart has these)
Field Hockey Stick-------------> $19-20.00 (The first 24 girls can have a loaner stick for the season for free! We were able to get a sponsor who paid for them. The littlier girls MAY have to purchase their own because they need a shorter stick than what we have in our inventory)
Player insurance --------------> $25.00
through USA Field Hockey. Our number one priority with the fundraisers this summer will be paying this fee per player. Hopefully, either a sponsor or the proceeds will cover this cost!

Let's try to really work hard at our fundraisers to try and offset the costs!

UNIFORM INFORMATION:

SKIRT
The game of field hockey is played in a skirt. The pleated skirt that you will wear can be found here. The color will be NAVY/GOLD. Please have these purchased before the season starts on August 31st. Please note this date has changed from the original August 24th due to vacation schedules of the coaches.

T-SHIRT
We will be placing the T-shirt order shortly which will have our logo on it! It is important to get your forms in so we can have an accurate head count.

SHOES
Regular sneakers will work fine, but cleats definitely work best! Ebay is great for a used pair of cleats. I have also seen them at second hand shops for about $5.

FUNDRAISERS:

We have two in mind:
BAKESALE - This will be held August 3rd after each Mass (8:00 Mass usually over at 9:00 - and 11:00 High Mass usually over at 12:30)at Mater Ecclesiae in Berlin, NJ. Please contact either Kelly to let us know what you will be bringing and which Mass you can help.
COOKBOOK: We are thinking of selling cookbooks before the start of our season for a fundraiser. More information to follow!

REGISTRATION DUE DATE:

Please hand your forms in to Mrs. Myers or Mrs. Mantoan BEFORE August 3rd. Thanks so much. Hope all of you ladies are enjoying your summer so far!

Update

Hi everyone!

First, we decided not to hold the car-wash fundraiser tomorrow because most of the girl players have brothers or friends playing in the Rugby tournament and wouldn't be able to make it. That being said, we are shooting for our first fundraiser - our bake sale - on August 3rd after the 8:00 Mass and the 11:00 Mass in the hall.

We are working on another fundraiser before the season starts and will keep you all posted.

We were able to purchase 24 field hockey sticks for the club. These will be handed out on a first come-first served (according to sign up date) basis.

Keep enjoying your summer and we will be updating soon.

Sign-up Sunday!

We will be holding sign-ups this Sunday at Mater Ecclesiae, Berlin, NJ, around 1:30 pm. We will also be showing equipment and getting sizes for shirts. Please email bearshockeyclub@comcast.net and let us know you will be attending sign-ups.

Field Hockey Sticks

Hello girls! Just a note on field hockey sticks for our upcoming season. The Bears Field Hockey Club currently has 24 field hockey sticks ranging from 34" to 37" in our posession for use for our team members. You do not have to purchase your own stick this season if you do not want to. We will fit you with the right size stick at the first practice. Of course you are always welcomed to buy your own as well!

Field Hockey Stick Size Chart
38" ---------------------->5'9" & up
37"----------------------->5'7" - 5'8"
36"----------------------->5'5" - 5'6"
35"----------------------->5'1" - 5'4"
34"----------------------->4'10" - 5'0"
33"----------------------->4'8" - 4'10"
32"----------------------->4'5" - 4'7"
30"----------------------->4'2" - 4'4"
28"----------------------->Under 4'2"

Welcome Bears Field Hockey Club!

Welcome South Jersey homeschooled girls to our newly formed field hockey team, The Bears Field Hockey Club. We are in the sign-up process at the moment and are calling all young ladies ages 6 through 18, who may be interested in learning the wonderful sport of field hockey! Our team is open to girls from area South Jersey homeschooling groups!

First, if you are interested in signing up please contact me, Mrs. Myers (bearshockeyclub@comcast.net) so that I can send you a sign up sheet and additional forms that need to be filled out. It is very important that any young lady interested in playing signs up before July 6th so we can order kilts, polos and other necessary equipment and so that each girl can help participate in fund raisers.

Second, we will be holding two fundraisers this summer to raise money for equipment and uniforms. Our first fundraiser will be a car-wash and water ice stand to be held on July 19th. Please check back for more information on this fundraiser. Our other fundraiser will be a bake sale, tentatively set for August 3rd after each Mass.

A little about our Patroness: Our Patroness for The Bears Field Hockey Club is St. Ursula. Ursula means small female bear in Latin. The Order of Ursulines, founded in 1535 by Angela Merici, and especially devoted to the education of young girls, has also helped to spread throughout the world the name of St. Ursula. St. Ursula was named the patron saint of students.

A little about Field Hockey: History ---> The exact origins of field hockey are unclear, but there is evidence that ancient Egyptian cultures played a variation of this ball-and-stick game 4,000 years ago. Modern field hockey was shaped in England during the 18th and 19th centuries and was introduced to the United States in 1901 when Constance Applebee, an English physical education teacher, attended a conference at Harvard and taught the game at many local women’s schools. Internationally, field hockey is primarily a men’s sport; however, in the United States, it is almost exclusively a women’s sport.

Object of the Game ---> To hit the ball from within the striking circle, through the opponent’s goal, to score points. The team with the most goals at the end of the game, wins.

Equipment ---> The primary equipment in field hockey is a stick and a ball. The stick has a flat side and a rounded side. Players may only hit the ball with the flat side, or the “striking surface,” of the stick. Players also wear protective equipment, including mouth guards, shin guards, and optional face protection. Uniforms consist of a jersey, a skirt, and knee-length socks. The home team usually wears a light jersey and the away team wears a dark jersey. Goalies wear a different color jersey than their teammates, as well as additional protective equipment, including goalie pads, chest protector, facemask, throat protector, and other optional padding.

Positions ---> There are 11 players on the field per team, including the goalie and 10 field players. Formations often consist of four forwards, three halfbacks, three fullbacks, and one goalkeeper, known as a 4-3-3 formation. Variations, such as the 5-3-2, are also used, depending on the coach’s strategy.

Forwards: Primary scorers who spend most of their time between the midfield and the opponent’s goal.

Midfielders: Must be able to play both defense and offense and have the stamina to run the field in the transition between offense and defense. Also called “links.”

Fullbacks: Primarily defend the opposing forwards and attempt to clear the ball when it gets close to the goal. Some coaches assign a single defender, called a “sweeper,” who plays closest to her own goal behind the fullbacks.

Goalie: Stands in front of goal to block shots with her body and stick. Must have quick reflexes and ability to communicate defensive strategies to teammates.

Our tentative first practice of the season is scheduled for August 24th at the field at Mater Ecclesiae Church in Berlin, NJ, around 1:15 pm. I will be bringing my stick to Mater's Rugby practices this summer if anyone is interested in checking out what some of the equipment looks like.

A special word of thanks goes out to our co-founder, Kelly Mantoan, who has been working so hard to help organzie sponsors and donors as well as a myriad of other things in helping get this team off the ground. Please keep Mrs. Mantoan in your prayers for the impending birth their son.