Tampa Bay fieldhockey

Tampa Bay fieldhockey - the grasshoppers

08-06-08 Miami Surf Five-a-side tournament Result and Report is online
For more information please go to tournaments

12-22-07 TB Grasshoppers are officially on facebook
Please poet your photos and comments here as you like!! Facebook is a free web service and community board offered to anyone. www.facebook.com. Register is less than a minute and we are at the “TAMPA BAY GRASSHOPPERS FIELD HOCKEY TEAM” group.

12-04-07 Veterans Weekend Hockey Festival Result and Report is online
To see results please navigate to tournaments

09-17-07 TB Grasshoppers invites to Veterans Weekend Hockey Festival
For more information navigate to tournaments

AMAZING - Look at this I hope to see some of the grasshoppers do this tricks next time I visit Florida. Yours Antje

06-29-07 Florida Field Hockey Association
Established in the Spring of 2007 by Derek Aspinall who was about to form The South Florida Field Hockey Association, but with some friendly persuasion formed the Florida Field Hockey Association (FFHA). FFHA was introduced in order to both secure the development of the game and to help promote the sport of field hockey in the Sunshine State.

Field hockey has long since existed in Florida - we are sure that you are all aware of the fact that Florida has played host to the largest nonprofessional field hockey tournament in the World, namely the National Festival, held at West Palm Beach for a number of years now. The biggest problem encountered by many teams in this state has been player retention - this was mainly due to the fact that no regular/organized competition could be sort.

The FFHA is made up of eight club teams located in the state of Florida, all of which have a team representative that makes up the FFHA committee.

The FFHA is working diligently in order to support its associated teams by establishing more playing opportunities through the introduction of both the Miami and Florida Cups (that are competed for on a monthly/bimonthly basis) and are currently looking into the long term benefits of an in-state league (more information shall be available in the Fall of '07).

If you are involved in a Florida-based team that is not associated with the FFHA and are interested in joining us, please contact us at floridafha@yahoo.com. If you are a player currently living in the state or are someone interested in playing the sport, go to the FFHA MEMBERS page to see if there is a team near you!

06-16-07 Things to be aware of:
June 16-17 and June 17-24: Women's National Championship, Virginia Beach, Va.
June 26 - July 1: Men's Junior National Championship, Chula Vista, Calif.
June 30 - July 8: USA Field Hockey Open Camp, Babson College,Babson Park, Mass.
... read more at www.usfieldhockey.com

04-11-07 Midweek practice session at West Meadows Community Club
This week we begin our midweek practice session on Wednesday evenings from 6.30.p.m. at West Meadows Community Club, 8401 New Tampa Boulevard, Tampa, FL 33647

02-07-07 Mark these dates on your calendar.
1. February 10th after practice we are going to Orlando to see some hockey at the AAU tournament at Disney
2. Saturday 24th March 2007 we are going to Miami for the Florida Cup 7 a-side tournament.

05-09-06 HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO OUR MOTHERS
At this time of the year and on behalf of all Tampa Bay Grasshoppers, we wish our dear members who are mothers and those who are expectant mothers to be a VERY HEALTHY, HAPPY AND ENJOYABLE MOTHERS DAY. Also for the wives of our male Grasshoppers a VERY PLEASANT AND ENJOYABLE MOTHERS DAY. For those of us who are fortunate to have our mothers alive today we wish those mothers A HEALTHY and ENJOYABLE MOTHERS DAY filled with Gods Blessings.
Just to mention a few mothers who we have not seen awhile but have not forgotten their contributions over the years, Muie Sewell, Leslie, Pam, Lisa, Jennifer, Rebecca Allena congratulations and good luck mommy to be, and Cherryl. Yes we miss you all and hope you will be able to join us in the near future.

04-26-06 What a way to spend a Sunday!
A pleasant good evening to all grasshoppers. What a way to spend a Sunday! On behalf of Tampa Bay Grasshoppers, I want to thank the Brancas Club for making it to Tampa on Sunday last. Everyone had an enjoyable day and it was all made possible by Nick, Robbie, Frederico, and Juan.
A note of thanks for fellow Grasshoppers who ventured out and demonstrated great rivalry, team spirit. and a wonderful display of great hospitality. Special thanks to Susan and Kathleen for the food and transporting of the goal post, the competitive spirit of the Whittaker sisters Tara and Tammi, and the support crew of Ravi, Roland. Charles Nigel and our loan martial arts hockey player Chris. Our own personal photographer Mike thanks for all of your efforts in making it an enjoyable Sunday after Easter. The two youths Derryck and Cameron your contribution is duly noted. Now we have to plan bigger and better events.

12-18-05 End of Season, Christmas party
Everyone is welcome even if you have not been coming to practice. We would love to see you. We will meet at Kathy's Condo after practice.

10-14-05 More pictures of the grasshoppers
Here are more pictures of the grasshoppers. Click picture for higher resolution.

Close to the goal

The team

Ravi in action

Thanks from the coach: "I want to thank Robbie and the members of Brancas, along with Claudia, Anna and the wonderful ladies of Aventura for hosting us this past weekend. I would also like to thank all the New Yorkers, Vickie who got to the field earlier than she gets to a Malvern game, Christine, Nigel, Andy and Carina for coming down and contributing to the efforts of promoting field hockey in Florida. I do hope Thomas was able to get his luggage from JetBlue, as that is what kept him from not attending. Peter and Tony of Manatees thanks for joining us to make it an enjoyable day. Finally I want to thank those Grasshoppers who made the commitment and attended, showing good team spirit. I do look forward to your continued support and effort in this venture."

Sunday 13th November 2005, we will be hosting both Brancas and Manatees. Kathy has received the approval from Clearwater Authorities to use the field on the Sunday. Therefore we would like all those who did not make it last week to be present on Sunday the 13th to support your teammates who represented you last week in Miami and to show our southern compadres our northwestern hospitality.

09-30-05 Invitation Hockey Festival 2005
The Tampa Bay Grasshoppers welcome all new and returning players to Hockey Festival 2005. We again emphasize the key words of “Having fun” for the entire tournament. This year’s tournament fee is $90.00 per player. The uniform shirts will be provided, and you have to walk with your black shorts and white socks. Mouth guards and shin pads are highly recommended. All players/participants must sign the “WAIVER” form, so kindly down load it from the USFHA web site, print it and fill it out, and fax it to Jeff.

The world's largest amateur field hockey event, USA Field Hockey's National Hockey Festival traditionally attracts more than 3,500 athletes from across the United States, Canada, Europe and the Caribbean competing for titles in men's and women's divisions including women’s age group (Under 16 and Under 19), boy's age group (U16, U19), women’s open, men's open, sectional, masters (women 35+), veterans (men 30+) and mixed.

08-19-05 2005 Fall Field Hockey - September 10th meeting with the parents
2005 Fall Field Hockey is an instructional intramural program that focuses on Field Hockey fundamentals, rules, and techniques of the game. We the Grasshoppers will provide instructional assistance to pass our love of fieldhockey on to beginning players.

Season Dates : September 17, 2005 to November 19, 2005
Age Groups : Boys and Girls 10-18 years
Field Location : Practices will be held at Belmont Park, 1535 S. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., Clearwater, FL
Times : Practices will be held Saturdays 9 – 11 AM.

There will be a mandatory parents meeting on Saturday, September 10 at 10 AM at the Long Center, 1501 North Belcher Road, Clearwater. The meeting will be in the Athletics Office Board Room located on the second floor.

download the flyer

08-18-05 Grant from Penn Monto
We have received the grant from Penn Monto and we have ordered the following package from Penn Monto: Youth Team Super Saver $1099 24 Patriots (Sizes 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36") 2 Dozen Practice Balls 2 Penn Monto Trainer Balls 24 Pair Shinguards 24 Mouthguards 2 Pair Goal Legguards 2 Pair Goal Kickers 2 Helmets 2 Pair Guantlet Gloves 2 BP4 Chest Procters 2 Practice Folding Cages w/ Nets

04-30-05 Practice tournament at Ft. Lauderdale
Ft. Lauderdale is hosting a 7 a-side mini practice tournament this weekend. The Grasshoppers are traveling down for another weekend full of hockey and fun.

04-13-05 Elections
The middle of April is upon us as we forge ahead to develop field hockey on the West coast of Florida. Practice will be at Philip Jones Park in Clearwater beginning at 10.00.a.m. sharp. Depending on the numbers in attendance we will have our first annual general elections. So far I have received two notices of members who are unable to attend. I have attempted on different occasions to find out who will be attending practice or who isn't attending practice, but to no avail. If there aren't enough members at practice for our AGM, I will have to postpone it to another day. I always think positive so here is to seeing the rest of you on Saturday with all of your enthusiasm.

03-31-05 Goal Cages have arrived
The Goal Cages have finally arrived. Now it's the real game!!!

03-31-05 Tournament Pictures
Here are some of the pictures of the first tournament of the Tampa Bay fieldhockey club.

Miami ladies team

SV Armien Austria men team

New York men team

The grasshoppers

New York ladies team

03-20-05 Thanks
The members of Tampa Bay Grasshoppers would like to express their deepest gratitude for your participation, camaraderie, sportsmanship and encouragement during this past weekend of our first annual field hockey tournament. We hope you all had an enjoyable weekend and are looking forward to next years tournament at a new venue. We also wish we can come up with a proper plan to play each other every month thus forming a Florida Hockey Association where we can grow as a unit in promoting and developing the sport we love. We would like you to visit our guestbook and tell us what you thought about the tournament both positive and negative as a way of improving our standards. Looking forward to hearing from you and wishing you an enjoyable and healthy 2005.

01-12-05 Tampa Bay fieldhockey will host their first tournament
Dear Member of the Field Hockey Community, we at Tampa Bay Grasshoppers wish you a happy and prosperous New Year. We are planning a mid March tournament to coincide with the visit of SV Armien Hockey Club from Austria. They will be arriving on Friday 11th March and we are hosting the tournament on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th March 2005. The purpose of the tournament is to unite all Florida Hockey organizations with the idea of getting a Florida league started. The idea is to have a weekend every month for one of the teams to host the others. So far with Grey Dogs/Florida International in the Miami area, Aventura and Branca are in the Ft. Lauderdale area and us in Tampa. We can play each other thus encouraging many to come out and play both social and competitive hockey. It will be a lot of fun for everyone. The experience players could teach the young and up coming players, and the youngsters will learn a lot about the rules of the game and other fundamentals from seeing other experienced players from other countries. The tournament will consist of two divisions one for the ladies and one for the men. It is our wish that each area will be able to bring both a ladies team and men’s’ team. The cost per team is $250.00

12-10-04 Festival Pictures
Here are some of the pictures of the Field Hockey Festival.

we are the teal team

more teal team

teal team close

end of the game

12-03-04 Festival Results
Our joint Tampa Bay, NYC team placed 6th out of 13 teams in the mixed division of the Field Hockey Festival Thanksgiving weekend in West Palm Beach. The fields were excellent, the weather cooperated and the camaraderie was the best. Our Saturday evening party was outstanding. Randy invited us to his sister and brother-in-law's home which was about 15 minutes from the field. The tournament will be at the same spot next year, so save the date and plan to join us.

12-03-04 Donation of 8 used hockey sticks
We received a donation of 8 used hockey sticks from players at the national festival. These will be in addition to the sticks that a couple of the suppliers have offered to give us. Thanks to the donators for the great support to get our fieldhockey program running!

10-06-04 Latest update of the FIH Rules
The FIH Executive Board agreed to the recommendations of the Hockey Rules Board to simplify fieldhockey. The new amendments simplify the game but do not alter its fundamental characteristics.
For more information download the US Field Hockey News. download.

09-14-04 Youth Program - Free Hockey Clinics
Many thanks to Susan and Susan's sister and Margo and our anchor Jeff for arriving early Saturday morning to help start our youth field hockey program. We are planning to have FREE clinics the first 4 Saturdays in October. In addition a city of Clearwater person will be there. We will have a BBQ and offer hot dogs and hockey. On those 4 Saturdays our club team will practice from 10-12 and the clinics will be from 12-2.
FREE FOOD AND HOCKEY!!!
Everybody who is interested in learning more about fieldhockey is invited to join.

08-12-04 Practice Saturday August 14 and Tournament Info
Antje wants to have the information about our tournament in March so she can post it to the website so some teams from Germany and the Netherlands can come too!!!
Susan sent out press releases to some newspapers in the area. Roland and I are helping to finish the list so we can begin sending updated press releases as we have news to report that will bring in more players.
Yes, there will be regular field hockey practice this Saturday, August 14 between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Belmont Park in Clearwater.
We met last week. We were worried about the rain but it co-operated. We had cloud cover but no rain!! When weather looks if as it does for this weekend, please call either Jeff or me any time after 8:00 a.m. on Saturday

07-02-04 Youth Program
We officially started preparation for our field hockey youth sports program which will begin the Saturday after Labor Day September 11.
We will have two official seasons (Fall and Spring) but then if everything works out OK we will add a Summer season. We will take the month of December off.
The youth program will begin at 8:00 a.m. and last until 11:00 a.m. The adult program will be between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. (Times could shift slightly one way or another depending upon the number of players who register and the number of adults who play.)

The City of Clearwater is going to purchase goals and nets, line the field, provide sticks, pinnies, shin guards, mouth guards, cones, balls, a first aid kit and city support with registration, officials, publicity and insurance for the youth players. They will also train us to give first aid (a handy skill to have) and train us, our parents and players for sportsmanship.

06-19-04 New field until Thanksgiving
We will be at a different field from now until Thanksgiving because the football players use the Phillip Jones Field between now and then.
We will meet and play at the Belmont Field which is located at 1535 South Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in Clearwater. We will play from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.

From the intersection of Route 19 and Gulf to Bay (State Route 60):
Go West on Florida State Route 60                                   2.7 miles
Make a slight Left onto Court Street (FL 651 South)            .7 mi.
Go Left on South Missouri Ave. (FL 651 South)                  1 .2 mi.
Turn Right onto Woodlawn Street                                        .2 mi.
Turn Left on Greenwood Ave. .1 mi.
End at 1535 South Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue at the Belmont Park Field.
Estimated Time:    10 minutes                     Estimated Distance: 5.24 mi.

04-24-04 Back by popular demand in two weeks -- the field hockey beach party
Two weeks from today, Saturday May 8 we are planning a beach party. I will prepare sandwiches, veggies, fruit and drinks and cookies and pack them in a cooler. After practice we will head off to the beach. By then the water will be warm enough to swim in.
Next week, Saturday, May 1, we will have guest players. Jeff can fill you in with information about them but they will swell our numbers and make our local play even more fun. I will send you one more e-mail this week to remind you about practice.
Our party today was a success. No one left hungary.
Have a great week. Remember if you need us this if our contact info:

We will have practice at Philip Jones Field this Saturday, May 1, between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.

04-12-04 Regular Hockey Practice but Revised party date
We had a FANTASTIC practice Saturday. Antje's family was visiting from Germany and all of them are field hockey players--her mom, her dad and her sister. There were 10 of us on the field and our scrimmage was lots of fun and envigorating. If you were not there, please join us in the up coming weeks. We have several events to prepare for: 1) a yet dateless mini-tournament on the East Coast of Florida (May or June) 2) the National Hockey Festival in Palm Beach during Thanksgiving time 3) the visit by a foreign hockey team next Spring. They specifically want to visit this area. We can make new friends and play hockey at the same time. So, come to practice and bring a friend or two with you.
The hockey party has been postponed a week. It will be Saturday, April 24 right after practice. Players decided it would be easier to chip in a little money and I would buy the food. We are going to have BBQ chicken and whatever else I can find that will taste good with it. I will put a map and directions to my condo with next week's e-mail.

We will have practice at Philip Jones Field this Saturday, April 17, between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.