Billiken Field Hockey

[billikenfan05]

As the unofficial board champion of the “Olympic sports” in which Billikens compete I feel compelled to start a field hockey thread and update the board on their progress. 

I’ve said it before: what this new coach has done the last couple of years is miraculous. If you thought the women’s basketball teams history was bad the field hockey program has gone multiple years without winning games. They are now 2-1 on the season with wins against Colgate and LIU Brooklyn. These are not what you would call quality wins. Last year they won 4 games, 0/8 in conference. I think a goal for this year should be to win at least one game in conference and exceed the total wins from last season. They played a lot of 1 goal games last year late in the season so they are close to being truly competitive for the first time in program history. 

If you want an introduction to the team the Colgate game is available on demand for free online through Stadium.

https://watchstadium.com/videos/143231

 

[Billikenbooster]

Years ago when I was at SLU med school, would have been in ‘69-‘70, I had a physiology professor who was from the Netherlands, I believe. My recollection was that he played field hockey for his national team, perhaps in the Olympics. 

SLU’s team was excellent then, as his reputation was great. 

Can anyone add or correct my recollection?

mhg

[billikenfan05]

Field Hockey now has more wins than Volleyball after beating Lasalle Friday 3-2 in a shootout. They play Indiana next who is a very beatable opponent for them. http://www.slubillikens.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27200&ATCLID=211773936

[kmbilliken]

Are they underfunded? This was their second conference win in eleven years. Nobody is that bad, unless they are not competing on a level playing field.

[billikenfan05]

17 minutes ago, kmbilliken said:

Are they underfunded? This was their second conference win in eleven years. Nobody is that bad, unless they are not competing on a level playing field.

I just think that historically they’ve been a title 9 equalizing afterthought. Field Hockey is nothing outside of the east coast. The blue blooded private colleges dominate the landscape and we play in an east coast conference. This coach has made the bold move to recruit the second tier talent out of the Netherlands ,and it’s workjng for her. Previous coaches tried to recruit the east coast and St. Louis and that was never going to work. she’s young, hungry and is putting together competitive teams. 

[billikenfan05]

It’s an incredible fall day so I thought I’d check out Senior Day at sport port. This facility is really nice. While they have done better the skill level disparity between 13-2 SJU and SLU is very apparent. There’s a pretty nice sized crowd out here. 

[billikenfan05]

Billikens battled hard against the #10 team in the nation but lost 5-0. Basketball assistant Michael Wilson was there supporting as were the basketball managers doing their best 05 impression with less profanity. 

[philliken]

This isn't to troll or rub salt in a wound; but hot dang.  We've talked about the possible need for changes to the volleyball and tennis programs; but field hockey is in rough shape right now.  They are 0-15, and are now ranked dead last in the nation.  Only 8 goals scored in 15 games this season.  I know not much has been expected of this program, but this is ugly.  Could there be a point where they'd decide to scrap the team and add something like women's lacrosse to keep the Title IX balance?  Again, I'm not being sarcastic, I'm seriously curious if this is something that is possible.  Theres a lot of travel money being spent on a team that hasn't really been competitive in a long time.

https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/fieldhockey/d1/ncaa-field-hockey-rpi

[Bills71]

Field hockey is womens!

[757billiken]

They need an on campus facility. The fact they need to get in vans to go to practice and games is a joke. Treat it as a joke, it will be seen as a joke. On that list, I think there are only four teams west of the Mississippi River....Cal, Stanford, SLU, and Iowa. I might have missed some.

[cheeseman]

26 minutes ago, philliken said:

This isn't to troll or rub salt in a wound; but hot dang.  We've talked about the possible need for changes to the volleyball and tennis programs; but field hockey is in rough shape right now.  They are 0-15, and are now ranked dead last in the nation.  Only 8 goals scored in 15 games this season.  I know not much has been expected of this program, but this is ugly.  Could there be a point where they'd decide to scrap the team and add something like women's lacrosse to keep the Title IX balance?  Again, I'm not being sarcastic, I'm seriously curious if this is something that is possible.  Theres a lot of travel money being spent on a team that hasn't really been competitive in a long time.

https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/fieldhockey/d1/ncaa-field-hockey-rpi

In order to scrap the program they will need to add another sport to meet NCAA D1 requirements - what new sport would you suggest?

[philliken]

14 minutes ago, cheeseman said:

In order to scrap the program they will need to add another sport to meet NCAA D1 requirements - what new sport would you suggest?

In my post, I posed the thought of Women's Lacrosse.

[billikenfan05]

2 hours ago, 757billiken said:

They need an on campus facility. The fact they need to get in vans to go to practice and games is a joke. Treat it as a joke, it will be seen as a joke. On that list, I think there are only four teams west of the Mississippi River....Cal, Stanford, SLU, and Iowa. I might have missed some.

Completely agree. I mentioned on the podcast that they could build a field hockey facility on top of the Olive Compton garage. It's not unprecedented and would be a great solution to limited space. They need to bring Tennis back to campus as well. Beyond the softball field has enough space but is used for intramurals, I'd tell them to kick rocks honestly. It amazes me that in 11 years as athletic director May has not made it a priority to bring those two sports back to campus. I can't remember if he was AD when they brought T&F to the Med Campus.

[billikenfan05]

2 hours ago, philliken said:

This isn't to troll or rub salt in a wound; but hot dang.  We've talked about the possible need for changes to the volleyball and tennis programs; but field hockey is in rough shape right now.  They are 0-15, and are now ranked dead last in the nation.  Only 8 goals scored in 15 games this season.  I know not much has been expected of this program, but this is ugly.  Could there be a point where they'd decide to scrap the team and add something like women's lacrosse to keep the Title IX balance?  Again, I'm not being sarcastic, I'm seriously curious if this is something that is possible.  Theres a lot of travel money being spent on a team that hasn't really been competitive in a long time.

https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/fieldhockey/d1/ncaa-field-hockey-rpi

It's frustrating. I don't know if scrapping it is the way to go but something needs to change. All they do is hire first time coaches to babysit.

[billiken_roy]

you guys are griping about situations to the wrong people.   get in front of the BoT to make your case.  they control the purse.

[Box and Won]

32 minutes ago, billikenfan05 said:

I mentioned on the podcast that they could build a field hockey facility on top of the Olive Compton garage. It's not unprecedented and would be a great solution to limited space. 

The last time I was in Milwaukee, I noticed that the Milwaukee School of Engineering did this with its garage.

[billikenfan05]

Just now, Box and Won said:

The last time I was in Milwaukee, I noticed that the Milwaukee School of Engineering did this with its garage.

BING-FUOKING-GO

[cheeseman]

3 hours ago, philliken said:

In my post, I posed the thought of Women's Lacrosse.

Sorry, I missed that.  Are there enough women lacrosse teams available close by?  Wouldn't they have the same field issue?

[courtside]

Belmont U is building a new 830 space parking garage with 6 new tennis courts on top of it. There will be locker rooms and coaches offices attached as well. Previously they rented the courts at the nearby Centennial Sportsplex, a little over 2 miles away. (also home to Ohio Valley Championships)

The growth of D-1 college lacrosse is now up to 73 men’s programs and 113 women’s programs. 

[Speyburn]

Field hockey plays on a watered turf field at Sport Port.

Watered pitches are safe surfaces, as the water layer absorbs impact better than a sand-filled pitch does. A watered pitch also gives players the ability to control their slides.

Falls on these surfaces are less likely to leave players with abrasion injuries to their skin, as the surface of watered pitches is softer and cooler to play on.

Hockey balls move at a consistent speed on watered surfaces as the grass blades form a denser, faster surface without sand infill.

A faster, more responsive style of play develops on a water pitch, with a ball that runs more freely than it does on sand, where it can become sticky during the game.

Players find their sticks last longer on wet turfs, without being worn by friction on sand, reducing the cost of replacing sticks.

The ball bounces consistently on the denser watered grass surface and at an appropriate height, compared with the ball bounce produced on a dry pitch.

[billikenfan05]

People need to send their concerns and suggestions to Chris May. No matter what some on this board will assert, it’s on the Athletic Department to present plans to the BoT to have money allocated.