By doug mckenzie
Staff Writer
The North Jersey Field Hockey Association is not your mother’s field hockey league.
That’s the message that members of the long-standing league are trying to get out to prospective players as the new fall season rapidly approaches.
In fact, now entering its 76th season, the NJFHA is gaining in popularity among younger players, though it still includes its staple of past-their-prime performers.
"Most of the women in the league are in their 30s, but we’re having more and more young players find out about us through our Web site [www.njfha.org]," said Lisa Coster, the president of the league, who will be playing in the league for her eighth time this fall. "Our youngest player is 19, while our oldest player [Dr. Lillian Wright of New Hampshire] is 83. She travels down every now and then to play. Granted, she’s not your typical player."
Coster, a Pittstown resident who played scholastic field hockey in Connecticut before playing in college at the College of Worcester in Ohio, found out about the league shortly after graduating from college, and has found it to be exactly what she was looking for while trying to remain active in the sport.
"I’m a perfect example of a player who moved here and found out about the league at the perfect time," she said. "There is an entire group of people who have been transplanted into the area and have found the league."
Coster added that the eight-team league is constantly looking for new players, and has been finding them with each passing season of late. Heading into this season, which begins Sept. 7, the league currently has about 130 players. While the league does include a large number of former collegiate players from nearby schools like Montclair State University, Upper Montclair; The College of New Jersey, Ewing; Rutgers University, New Brunswick; and Kean University, Union, it does not include any active college players, since the games are played in the fall.
"Last year we were just short of 20 new players, and the numbers continue to go up," Coster said. "Every year, more and more women find out about us, and come to play."
Coster added that the number of players coming out of central New Jersey is also rising. Last season, a total of 14 players came from Monmouth County, while five came from nearby Middlesex, and eight from Ocean County.
Mary Huguenin, of Sayreville, is one of the local players who found the league and is looking forward to another season this fall.
"It’s a very competitive league with a pretty high level of play," said Huguenin, a 1995 graduate of Sayreville War Memorial High School who went on to play at Montclair State. "There is a big range in the age of the players, but that’s part of what makes it interesting.
"You play with so many different age levels, you’re always learning," she added. "It’s interesting to learn the game from the older player’s perspective, and it’s nice to jump back in and be part of a team while playing some competitive ball."
The 70-minute games are played at Kean University through Nov. 22. The teams are self-coached, while the players also self-substitute, guaranteeing that every player gets her fair share of playing time each week. The teams are named after the different counties their players hail from.
The cost of joining the league is $82 for new players, and $70 for returning players, and covers the field costs, insurance and uniforms.
While the league is highly competitive, it maintains the same ideals and goals set forth when it began 76 years ago.
The NJFHA originally competed with other leagues, according to Coster, while also hosting club teams from throughout the country, and as far away as England.
"The sport was very different back then though, "Coster said. "It was a lot more formal. It has become a lot more refined over the last few decades, and is much faster than it was even 10 years ago."
At Kean, the games are played on turf, which helps to accelerate the action as well.
"The younger players have made the game faster and faster," Coster said.
When the NJFHA starts play next week, a group of newcomers will get their first taste of the league’s competitive play, and Coster believes they’ll be instantly hooked.
"It’s a great way to continue playing this great sport, which continues to grow in popularity across the state," she said.