Spring League is the main field hockey season for our junior players. We welcome new players in all age groups.

Our goals for Spring League are to:

• Have fun!!
• Foster friendship and belonging
• Learn and develop field hockey skills
• Build self-confidence and leadership
• Promote sportsmanship
• Instill a life-long passion for sport

If players wish for more field time, more skill development or more competition, we offer these Spring programs in addition to Spring League:

• All ages - Free “New to Field Hockey” skills sessions
• U11-U15 – free weekly skill development sessions with Club Coaches
• U11-U18 – free weekly Goalie clinics with top-level Goalies
• U12-U16 – High Performance Development program – weekly skills development led by professional club coaches
• U14-U18 – High Performance teams – try-out based training teams who undertake weekly skills development led by professional club coaches and who compete at the Club Championships and India Club Tournament

WVFHC Mission Statement
"To provide opportunities to all members of our community to develop lifelong skills as field hockey players, coaches, and umpires in an atmosphere that fosters enjoyment of sport, sportsmanship, teamwork, and the pursuit of personal excellence"

At WVFHC, our primary focus for the Spring League season is creating a fun environment where playing with friends can be enjoyed year after year. To that end we create teams in a non-tryout, non-evaluation program. Players can remain with the same team from U6 to U18, strengthening their sense of belonging and teamwork every year.

Why don’t we tier our players for Spring League teams?
WVFHC is proud to offer Spring League as a non-tiered program allowing kids to play for the sheer fun and love of the game.

Why? Research shows that youth participation in sport is on the decline. A growing body of opinion is that we (i.e. parents and sport organisations) are creating a culture which focuses on high sporting achievement at an ever-earlier age. Many sports and clubs start tiering players from an early age, using try outs or evaluations to place players in teams according to their ability.  The joy of “playing” is being eroded from sport, and as a result, for many kids, it just isn’t fun anymore or they don’t feel “good enough” to continue. So they hang up their cleats/ skates/ swimsuits and leave sport behind.

Playing on a team offers the chance to contribute to something bigger than yourself, to learn how to work with others, to experience success and failure together, to take calculated risks and experience the consequences, and learn the values of sportsmanship. We also offer other complementary Spring programs  where players can develop their further develop their skills and play more competitively.

If you are interested in more information about why we follow this philosophy, please see these related articles:

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2016/06/01/why-70-percent-of-kids-quit-sports-by-age-13/?utm_term=.2072e28556df
• http://changingthegameproject.com/about/
• https://vimeo.com/233269552

Each year teams are made up of players who played on the team the year prior, with additions of players who are new to the Club or who played elsewhere.  Each age group has a coordinator who is responsible for making up the teams each year with assistance from the Head Coordinator.  Guidelines are followed to promote fairness, equal opportunity and distribution of players from different schools:

• Teams are made up of children from various schools. School-based teams will not be formed. Wherever possible, children will be placed with one friend whom they have requested.

• Players registering before January 31st will be given priority when team placements are made, honouring requests where possible.

• When all teams are full, a waitlist will be started. Players must be registered before being placed on the waitlist. Order on the waitlist is based on registration date. Should a spot on a team become available, the first person on the waitlist will be offered the spot. If this person declines the spot, the next person will be contacted. A decision on the part of the waitlisted player must be made within 24 hours of being contacted.  Please note that coaches and managers do not choose who fills empty spots on their team.
  

• All returning players who register before the registration deadline will automatically be placed onto their previous team. If you wish to play on a different team you must complete the Player Transfer Request Form found in the left column of this page. Not all transfer requests will be granted. If we cannot accommodate your transfer request, players are returned to their previous team. 

A huge amount of thought, time and effort go into making the teams. Please be respectful of our volunteer age group coordinators. If you are positive and encouraging to your child about whatever team he/she is placed on, your child will be too.

1. Running shoes or turf boots for artificial turf. Soccer cleats are not permitted on Rutledge Field but are allowed on other artificial turf fields.
   
2. Shinpads - soccer shinpads.
   
3. Mouthguard - standard plastic sports mouthguards can be purchased at many sports stores. To mold the mouthguard to the shape of your mouth so it is more comfortable, place it in boiling water for about a minute. Then take it out and hold it in your mouth for a minute.
   
4. Field Hockey stick