Cape Ann Field Hockey Club
Frequently Asked Questions
Cape Ann FHC is a club field hockey organization dedicated to helping youth and high school field hockey players develop to his or her greatest potential and to prepare high school athletes to play field hockey in college. Cape Ann FHC is for those youth athletes who want additional practice and playing time all year long and for high school athletes who want to develop and play competitively in the off season as they work toward their goal of playing college field hockey.
The philosophy of Cape Ann FHC is to provide a wide range of opportunities for all players, both boys and girls, to develop, learn and improve. We hire outstanding coaches who are committed to a high level of training and development. We enter challenging regional and national tournaments, reward a strong work ethic and expect good sportsmanship and academic achievement all while having fun and making new friends!
Playing club field hockey is essential for those high school field hockey players who serious about playing in college. College coaches from all over the country look at club field hockey programs to recruit players. Cape Ann FHC will teach the skills necessary to play at the college level and then provide exposure to college coaches at a variety of tournaments.
Cape Ann encourages players to participate in all practices and attend as many tournaments as possible. We recognize that most of our athletes play several sports, participate in a myriad of extracurricular activities, are honor role students and have family commitments; and while there is no attendance taken or tournaments required, those athletes that are committed and that can give one hundred percent in all that they do, will be chosen for the top teams.
Cape Ann athletes that have been successful on their town, high school, and ultimately their college teams are those who have worked hard at every practice, scrimmage, and tournament and have taken advantage of as many opportunities to practice and play as possible.
Travel
- College of the Holy Cross
Youth & Academy
- College of the Holy Cross Worcester MA
- Game On Fitchburg MA
- The Park Milford MA
- The Shrewsbury Club Shrewsbury
The Cape Ann FHC welcomes all players regardless of experience, ability or age. We can provide opportunities for play to anyone and everyone interested. Each season, we enter teams in competitive tournaments. For those teams, players are chosen based on skill level, athleticism and physical and emotional readiness. There are typically 2-3 teams of about 16 players for each age group.
We take the tryout process very seriously and do our very best to place players on teams where they will play with and against others of like ability. The proper level of play is crucial for players so they can compete with confidence while still being challenged. Our coaches come from many different backgrounds and have different selection criteria but together do their best to build teams that will play well as a unit and have the best opportunity to win. We do our best to give every candidate a fair evaluation and feel that with multiple skill stations, small sided games, and full-field game opportunities we allow all players an opportunity to demonstrate their skills. We encourage players to participate in as many tryouts as possible. If legitimate conflicts arise and a player cannot make any of the scheduled tryouts, our staff may schedule a tryout by invitation. Similarly, a player may be invited by a coach to a tryout by invitation if the player comes to our attention after the regular tryouts have been completed.
For the smaller, local and regional tournaments, teams are generally entered by age group (U14, U16, U19). Depending on the number of interested athletes in an age group and the size of the roster (7v7, 11v11), there may be multiple teams entered for each age group. Players may be asked to play on different teams for different tournaments and thus have many different coaches. Over the years, we have found that kids benefit in many ways from playing with different teammates and for different coaches. Our most successful field hockey alumni often reflect on how much they learned from their Cape Ann teammates and their Cape Ann coaches. When there are opportunities to play for an older or more advanced team, players with appropriate skill level may be chosen because they demonstrate a willingness to play any position, a positive attitude, a strong work ethic, exceptional team play and advanced field sense.
The Cape Ann team fee covers additional player insurance and all practices. Tournament fees are additional, $75.00 per tournament, depending on the team fee to participate in a given tournament and the travel expenses of coaches. National Tournaments can range from $500-900. There can be no refunds of tournament fees, even in the event of a last minute injury or conflict as the fees are paid months in advance and tournament directors do not give refunds. Their costs are fixed and unchanged by a team or player dropping out. We try to add a few additional players to each roster, but it is a delicate balance between keeping the roster light so that all of our players benefit from playing time and preventing a forfeit. Cape Ann will lose the opportunity to participate if we have to withdraw from a tournament, please take tournament commitments seriously.
Cape Ann FHC is a successful field hockey club program. Our success is not measured only by the accomplishments of our athletes but also by the individual experiences of our players. Our players have fun, they work hard, they are challenged, they make mistakes, and they grow. Our coaches are obviously instrumental in the learning process, but they are also the primary reason for our players having so much fun. Cape Ann FHC recruits the best coaches in New England. Our coaches share the Cape Ann coaching philosophy to both teach field hockey and to drive athletes to excel with energy, passion and dedication. Equally important is respecting each athlete’s individual contribution to the team while allowing players to make mistakes and learn from game situations. Simply put, our coaches are the best. They are talented field hockey players and great athletes themselves, and they are great role models for our players.
Cape Ann FHC will be an important part of the college recruiting process. We speak with our players and their parents frequently and conversations with college coaches happen every day in our office and between games at tournaments. We do not typically write recommendations, as college coaches would prefer to evaluate players themselves by watching them in game situations. Unfortunately, many club coaches have falsely inflated their athletes for the advancement of their clubs and thus college coaches have learned that they can only make valid decisions through watching perspective athletes play multiple times.
As an Annual Member with Cape Ann FHC families receive unlimited access to Recruiting Director and Head Coach Chris Pothier. They work together with Cape Ann coaches to identify colleges that best fit the player’s needs & abilities. If you do not want to pay for an Annual Membership, the Cape Ann FHC website has an online player profile that players can fill out and distribute to college coaches. Players and parents should also attend the evening recruiting information events that we host, and use the recruiting information provided on our website as resources to guide them through the process.
The most important piece of the recruiting process is your academic record. The first question college coaches ask is, “What are the player’s GPA and SAT scores?” A player must work twice as hard in the classroom as she does on the field. Extra help from teachers, SAT tutoring and even summer school are common for athletes preparing to play a sport in college. The second part of the recruiting process is to BE PROACTIVE. Go after every lead, get yourself in front of coaches, ask questions, schedule campus visits, go to camps and clinics, and get to know coaches and assistant coaches. You must make every effort to sell yourself and take every opportunity to play in front of college coaches or another athlete will step up and take your spot. Cape Ann FHC will help you do this.