MSU Field Hockey to Host Youth Day as the Sports Sees Growth in Michigan

In an effort to engage youth in the growing world of field hockey, Great Lakes Regional Field Hockey has partnered with the Michigan State University field hockey team for a youth day.

On Sunday, Oct. 11, kids in kindergarten to eighth grade are invited to join a youth player walkout with MSU’s field hockey team at 10:30 a.m before the team’s game against Longwood University at Ralph Young Field on the MSU campus.

Registration to participate in the event is free and after the game, youth are invited to participate in an hour-long clinic to learn more about the sport and play field hockey on the MSU field while the MSU team cheers them on.

Though field hockey is one of the most popular sports in the world, recognition in the United States has been minimal.

But interest in field hockey in Michigan schools is growing, Great Lakes Regional Field Hockey, or GLRFH, Development Director Margi Whittingham said, pointing to the addition of girls field hockey to the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s list of official high school sports for the 2025-2026 season.

Currently, no East Lansing or Lansing high school has a field hockey team, but the sport is garnering interest with the next generation of local players, Whittingham said.

Earlier this month, GLRFH did a “gym class takeover” at Marble Elementary School, bringing USA Field Hockey certified coaches and all the equipment needed to play the game, Whittingham said.

“We gave almost 300 students the ability to be exposed, to feel happy and see what field hockey is, have fun playing field hockey,” Whittingham said. “We find that doing these gym class takeovers actually helps drive sign ups and numbers for some of the community programs, because now kids know what the sport is. As parents, we tend to sign our kids up for sports that we’ve played or things that we know. So them not knowing, field hockey ‘because it wasn’t really around’ [when they were kids], helps drive participation in community programs.”

The Hannah Community Center in East Lansing has been a valuable partner in the effort to expand engagement in field hockey as the facility is hosting a fall series of youth field hockey activities, Whittingham said.

In 2025, more than 6,000 participants from elementary school to adults participated in GLRFH programs across 75 communities with the bulk of those participants in the elementary school age group, according to GLRFH’s annual report

Growing up and playing field hockey in Michigan, Whittingham recalled that in the early 2000s there were only about 15 high school teams in the state, but now with the Michigan High School Athletic Association, or MHSAA, recognition, there’s nearly 40 teams and some schools are developing junior varsity teams to accommodate growing interest, especially in southeast Michigan.

With the international popularity of field hockey, it’s been an Olympic sport for more than a century. As the United States prepares to host the Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, Whittingham said field hockey fans are excited to see the long-awaited return of the U.S. Men’s Field Hockey team as they join the women’s team in the games.

It’s been 30 years since the U.S. Men’s National Team competed at the Olympics and The United States has earned two medals for field hockey in its decades of Olympic participation. The U.S. Women’s National Team won bronze in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the men’s team won bronze at the Los Angeles Olympics.

As USA Field Hockey is trying to grow the boys’ game as well as the girls’ game, Whittingham said GLRFH is also trying to grow both areas, though MHSAA currently only recognizes girls field hockey.

With Michigan being a big ice hockey state, a lot of boys pick up field hockey fast and find it fun, there’s just a preconceived notion that it’s only a girls’ sport, Whittingham said, noting that field hockey is the only field sport for girls in the fall.

“There’s been a little bit more movement in the East Lansing area, which is an exciting thing … maybe down the road there could be something in that Lansing area … growing into a high school program, which is what we’re trying to do by connecting with Michigan State for this Youth Day,” Whittingham said. “We’re trying to gain some momentum, and having Michigan State with a field hockey team is perfect because the younger players can go see a proper game and see what it’s all about, which is exciting.”