March 21 was a historic day for high school field hockey in the state of Michigan and one that has been a longtime coming, and one that many dedicated people have been working very hard to accomplish for decades. In March, the Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) approved a series of proposals during its Winter Meeting in East Lansing that lay the groundwork for the inaugural MHSAA-sponsored girls field hockey season that will be played beginning this week.
The Playoffs Begin
Pioneer will host Regional 2 with a field including Skyline, Huron, Greenhills, AA Gabriel Richard, Canton, Northville, Novi and Wixom St. Catherine. The Pioneers (seeded No. 1) open their state playoffs with a home game against AA Father Gabriel Richard at 6 p.m. on Tuesday (Oct. 14) with the winner facing the winner of Canton-Greenhills at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 17 at Pioneer.
Huron defeated Novi 2-1 and will face Skyline at 5 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 13 at Skyline. The winner will face the winner of the Wixom St. Catherine-Northville game at 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 17 at Pioneer.
Dexter (seeded No. 3) ended up in the Clarkston Regional 3. The Dreadnaughts (11-3-4) will host Birmingham Seaholm at 7 p.m. on Monday (Oct. 13). The winner will play the winner of Cranbrook-Kingswood-Bloomfield Hills game at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 16 in Clarkston.
The state semifinal games are on Oct. 22 at Huron with the finals at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25 at Northville HS.
MHSAA partnership
“Through years and decades, our sport of field hockey has consistently discussed the hope of becoming part of the MHSAA,” said Jane Nixon, the most successful high school coach in the sport who has built a dynasty at Pioneer HS. “The enormous responsibility of scheduling, rules/regulations, officials, and organization of the State Tournament, fell upon the efforts and dedication of the few elected board executives, who were coaches, nominated by members of our state coaching organization. It’s exciting to be part of our Michigan High School Athletic Association for the recognition of our sport, athletes and potential growth.”
Keely Tamer, a former standout player during her time at U-M and one of those dedicated stewards of the sport, also was thrilled to see the field hockey score a big goal with the MHSAA partnership.
“It is great to have support from MHSAA for the sport of field hockey,” said Tamer (right), who has coached Dexter to multiple state titles over the years. “The clarity for schools that may consider adding field hockey is valuable to help the sport grow. Additionally, the visibility for the sport and the athletes within the sports community in Michigan is an important step to growth. In many ways the sport has been played in the shadows, and while we have seen great success for the athletes and teams, those successes have been barely noticed in the wider athletic community. While MHSAA involvement will not change this overnight, it is an important partnership for growth, visibility and development.”
The MHSAA Council approved four proposals put forth by the Field Hockey Committee, including one that set the first practice date for this upcoming season as Aug. 11, 2025, with the first contest date Aug. 15 and the first MHSAA Final to be played Oct. 25. Another approved proposal implements MHSAA Handbook regulations setting contest limits for teams at 18 dates and four scrimmages, introducing the fifth-quarter rule and creating guidelines for multi-team tournaments and cooperative programs.
The Council also approved a proposal for a single-division MHSAA Girls Field Hockey Tournament with four Regionals. The Michigan Power Ratings formula will be used to identify the top four teams statewide during the regular season, and those teams will receive top seeds and be placed one apiece in each Regional, with the rest of the Regional assignments then based on geography.
Field Hockey history
It’s important to understand a small part of the history of field hockey – especially in Michigan.
Field hockey began at Michigan State University in 1972 and U-M started its program the following year. Field hockey became an Olympic sport in 1980, and the following year the NCAA held its first D1 Field Hockey Championship. In 2001, the Wolverines won the NCAA D1 Field Hockey Championship – they finished second in 1999 and again in 2020.
In 2004, Chelsea HS field hockey began as the Washtenaw Whippets. In 2015, the NCAA D1 Tournament was held in Michigan (Ann Arbor Ocker Field) for the first time. In 2020, USA Field Hockey started a Michigan Chapter to help grow the sport in the state. In 2024, Northwestern defeated Saint Joseph’s 5-0 in the NCAA championship game held in Ann Arbor. Also in 2024, Dexter HS graduate Abby Tamer, daughter of Chris and Keely Tamer, represented the USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics, becoming the first Olympian in U-M program history.
So, relatively speaking, field hockey has seen a steady growth in Michigan over the years. Steady, but not exactly speedy.
“Historically, the sport had been overseen and administered by the member team coaches,” said Tamer, who has been one of those member team coaches. “While this system was effective when there were fewer teams, it provided challenging in the more recent past. Transitioning to the sanctioning via MHSAA allows the coaches to focus on coaching and normalizes the sport. It is something that I have been in favor of and am thankful for the step we have taken. I feel that most coaches were in favor of the MHSAA’s involvement in the sport.”
Nixon is definitely one of those coaches.
“Field hockey is the third most popular sport in the world for men and women, so hopefully we can generate some enthusiasm and interest for this crazy sport, right here in Michigan,” Nixon says. “Our hope is to increase participation and the number of high schools offering field hockey as a varsity sport. Being a member of the MHSAA will allow us to network with other sports within the state, along with access to resources that will enrich and strengthen high school field hockey in Michigan.”
This initiative to become part of the MHSAA gained momentum once the league established the new role of a “Commissioner,” along with a Board of Directors, who were all athletic directors. The first commissioner was Lorin Cartwright (longtime retired athletic director from Pioneer), followed by Meg Seng (longtime retired athletic director from Greenhills School) and Board President Eve Claar (current athletic director at Pioneer), and they all supported this effort and have been instrumental in making this happen. “They have worked with the MHSAA and provided leadership and guidance, to our coaching membership, throughout this transitional process,” said Nixon.
In 2013, in an effort to meet some of the challenges that schools were facing, the postseason tournament was split into two Divisions with Division 1 housing the top performing teams and roughly only 25 percent of the league. About three years ago that process was changed to have two divisions based on school size.
“This transition accompanied a transition at the leadership level, the coaches transferred leadership to a group of athletic directors and a league commissioner,” Tamer said. “This format was more closely aligned with MHSAA. Now, MHSAA has decided to have just one tournament for the member schools. Which, based on our current size, this is appropriate. As a coach, I am excited for this format. I think it will make for an engaging playoff season for both athletes and fans.”
Tamer adds that it remains to be seen how the MHSAA’s involvement will impact growth.
“For existing programs we have seen several that were operationally acting as a club within their school become elevated to varsity status and are receiving more support from their school,” she said. “We are seeing conferences with existing teams add it to their menu of sponsored sports which we feel will help lead to growth. These are all positive immediate changes that we have already seen happen.”
The Michigan State Chapter of USA Field Hockey and has been in place for years for USA Field Hockey members in Michigan to enjoy their love of the game and find opportunities to train and play. The Chapter was created to help increase opportunities for everyone to play field hockey in Michigan.
Additionally, The Michigan Chapter of USA Field Hockey is fielding inquiries about the sport and have relationships with field hockey organizations in the state to help new programs emerge. They have set up four grants for new programs including a set of goalkeeper equipment, stick packages for P.E. programs in the school curriculum, starter packs for new umpires and participation in a new coach mentor program.
Similarly, Great Lakes Regional Field Hockey has a grant program to offset cost for uniforms and other initial expenses while the Michigan High School Field Hockey Coaches Association has coach education resources to support all coaches. Any community that is interested learning more about starting a program can reach out to MHSAA or to the Michigan Chapter of USA Field Hockey at michiganpresident@usafieldhockey.com.
