The Evolution of the Jackals Program
Welcome to a new year of Jackals Field Hockey! We welcome all of our new participants and thank our returning families for their continued support of our program. The Jackals Program has made tremendous progress in a very short time and our current goal is to distinguish ourselves as the premier club team in the DC area. As always, we will continue to provide high level coaching for athletes of all abilities as we continue to advance in our plight to win our pools in premier national and local tournaments.

At Champions of Tomorrow, we are committed to provide the skills, strategies and solid team concepts that aspiring young athletes need in order to excel at the high school and college level. We are committed to providing a healthy, positive coaching environment where young adults can coach successfully and have fun.

In the 2008-09 club year, we sent one U19 team to the National Hockey Festival in Indio, CA, three teams to the Disney Field Hockey Showcase, and four teams to the National Indoor Tournament (NIT) in Virginia Beach, VA. In our fourth year at the (NIT) we qualified one U19 team for the C/D pool, where they recorded only one loss. Our U16 team finished second at their qualifier to earn a spot in the K pool, where they finished fourth in their pool with a 3-1-3 record. A second U16 team was only a goal away from qualifying; depth we will build on during the next season. We hope to send two teams to Festival in Palm Springs and hope to again return to the 2010 Disney Field Hockey Showcase, as well as qualify multiple teams for the National Indoor Tournament in 2010.

As we continue to evolve the club to meet the developmental needs of our athletes, we have added the Jackals Academy – a new entry point into club field hockey for the less experienced player, which will focus on intense skill development during weekly training sessions, coached league play in the weekly snap court league, and less tournament play, with participation in one tournament. Athletes whose skill development is not at a level required to play at the Select and Elite levels may be recommended for the Jackals Academy based on their performance during tryouts. Athletes may also voluntarily opt to enter the Jackals Club program at the Academy level due to time or other restraints. All three levels of club play will provide the field hockey athlete with a strong winter training program to continue to develop their skills in the off-season.

Congratulations to the class of 2009 as they move onto collegiate field hockey:

Ellen Suttle Division I, Northeastern University
Shannon Disbrow Division I, Northwestern University
Emily Kleinburd Division III, Gettysburg College
Megan Foy Division III, Frostburg University

• Overview of the Jackals Club Year
• Jackals Winter Indoor Field Hockey Season
  • U16 and U19 Players
  • U10/U12 and U14 Player

Overview of the Jackals Club Year

The Jackals Club year begin with Spring tryouts and selection of our Festival teams, and spring/summer teams. A second tryout is conducted in the Fall near the end of the high school season to complete our indoor team rosters for the Winter season.

Outdoor Festival Team Practices
U16/U19: @ Location TBA
Summer – Weekday (Wednesday) (TBD)
6/10, 6/17, 7/8, 7/15, 7/22, 7/29
HS Season – Sundays 9/27, 10/4, 10/11, 10/18, 10/25

Fall Season:
Activity is limited during the Fall to allow athletes to focus on their high school field hockey seasons. The Jackals Festival teams will continue to participate in outdoor practice sessions on some Sundays as they are able. U14 and younger - Fall is a time for our younger Jackals to develop their FH skills during practice and participation in Fall leagues.

Winter Season:
Winter Club season kicks into high gear in November, at the conclusion of the high school season. There is generally 1-2 weeks after the high school season for the Festival teams to scrimmage and make final preparations for outdoor play at the National Hockey Festival on Thanksgiving weekend. Following the conclusion of the National Hockey Festival on Thanksgiving weekend – everything moves indoor.

Final indoor team lists are posted following Fall tryouts (Indoor teams carry a maximum of 12 players, with 6 players on the indoor court at a time) at which time practices focus completely on the indoor game, and the skills required to be successful. Teams will practice weekly on Mondays, and participate in the Indoor Snap Court league at the Champions Field House on Tuesdays. League costs are included in dues this year.

Teams will be scheduled to compete in several tournaments (number depends on team level) to prepare them to compete successfully in their National Indoor Tournament (NIT) Qualifying Tournament. US Field Hockey provides a fixed number of spots in qualifying tournaments throughout the country to select the top U16/U19 teams for national competition. Teams in the U14 age bracket do not have to qualify to enter the NIT, but rather are awarded a spot by lottery, through a first-come first-serve application process that opens near the first of January. Each club files an application with US Field Hockey in September to request a qualifier assignment for each U16 and U19 teams that is seeking the chance to compete in the NIT. US Field Hockey notifies applicants by late November of their qualifier assignments. In some cases the number of applicants exceeds the tournament spots available, and teams are placed on a waiting list.

A culminating goal of the season for many teams is to prepare to compete well and place in their qualifying tournament to earn a spot at the NIT. The number of teams that advance to the NIT depends on the number of teams competing in the qualifier. For more information about the rules and structure of the NIT, visit the US Field Hockey website, and read about the NIT under “Events”. The season culminates with the NIT in March 2010 (*only teams that qualify participate in this tournament) which is held at the convention center in Virginia Beach, VA.

Jackals Field Hockey Practice Schedules

The winter indoor season time commitment includes once weekly evening practice (Mondays), once weekly league game play (Tuesdays) and tournament play over four or more weekends, depending on the team.

Practice Policy:
In order to be fair to those dedicated members of the team who are playing with the Jackals, should any athlete miss more than 5 practices she will be dismissed from the team without reimbursement. That translates to about an 85% attendance expectation. The teams cannot evolve without a high level of commitment from each individual athlete. Like all teams, athletes get out of the Jackal’s program what they put into it. During Spring/Summer league the attendance policy is relaxed in consideration of Spring sport commitments, camps and summer vacations.   Please see your coach with any questions regarding this policy and inform the coach in advance when you are unable to attend practice or a tournament.

Team Rosters:
Jackals chosen for Select or Elite teams will be assigned to specific indoor teams, at the conclusion of the Fall Tryout.   The indoor roster is smaller, with a maximum of 12 players per team, thus we usually have more teams when we head indoor.  Coaches will continually evaluate players during the first few weeks of the season and make adjustments to team rosters, as coaches’ observe player skill development and work to find the right successful combination of players on each team.

We frequently enter teams in multiple tournaments at multiple locations throughout the tournament season. Every attempt is made to provide the best competitive playing opportunity for our teams that will prepare them to be successful in national competition. 

We will attempt to provide teams with their schedule of assigned tournaments at the beginning of the season. However, changes will occur as new tournament information becomes available and we adjust the schedule to meet the evolving needs of the team in order to best prepare them for successful competition.  

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