University of Maryland’s Field Hockey Championship

The #1 ranked University of Maryland Field Hockey Team just defeated Duke 1-0 in the NCAA championship game. Being a Maryland alumn, a former sports photographer of “non-revenue” sports at UM, and a huge fan of women’s sports in general; I’m very happy at the moment.

This is Maryland Field Hockey’s fourth national championship. The Terps have hoisted the trophy in 1987, 1993, 1999, and now 2005. The careful reader will note that six years have passed between each succeeding win. Let’s just hope that it doesn’t take as long as six more years for the next one.

It’s amazing how much Title IX (and some rules changes) have moved this sport along. No doubt owing to the rules that Field Hockey and LaCrosse must be played on artificial turf, the Univeristy of Maryland has a nice stadium to host these sports. Back in the day, these sports were played on Denton Field — a grassy, sort of level fenced-in field across from Denton Hall. Spectator seating was the hill next to the field. The photographer’s area was, basically, that six inches between you and the fence (and when you were stationed behind goal…let me tell ya, those balls hurt when they zoom into you).

I’ll leave the women’s sport prostelytizing to other blog entries. For now, it’s enough for me to get bask in the outstanding accomplishment of a team from my alma mater. Go Terps! Fear the Turtle!