Hawks field hockey coach Taylor Scafidi growing the game in Waltham

When Waltham High School field hockey coach Taylor Scafidi was growing up, the option to play field hockey at a youth level did not exist.

“I was a Waltham field hockey player, and the mothers I am working with were as well,” Scafidi said. “None of us received the privilege of playing youth field hockey. We didn’t even pick up sticks until ninth grade, because there just wasn’t something to help us. We were all soccer players.”

Now the opportunities for youth are growing in the city thanks to the former University of New Hampshire forward Scafidi and her team of board members (Alison Goolbis, Jamie LaCava, Lindsay Corsino and Stacey Meehan). The group put on a youth field hockey clinic over the span of three evenings at Veterans Field last week, allowing elementary school players the chance to bring their sticks and learn from the members of the WHS team.

“This is something we have been trying to incorporate over the past couple of years,” Scafidi said. “Just implementing small clinics to gain some interest. It was not until this spring that it really took off.”

More than 40 youth field hockey players attended the three-day event, a much higher number than Scafidi had seen in previous iterations of the effort.

“We had an overwhelming amount of support from parents, everyone asking what is next,” said Scafidi, who is also a fourth-grade teacher at Northeast Elementary School.“

The next step for the board is to establish an actual travel team that will compete against other towns. In the span of just one week, the group has managed to establish an official Waltham youth field hockey nonprofit to support its endeavors. Furthermore, the group will enter the Bay State Hockey League this fall with the hopes to enroll multiple teams encompassing different grade levels. The plan will be to host one practice and one game per week with everyone receiving uniforms and learning how to play the game alongside their peers. The season will be eight weeks in duration beginning in early September.

“That is what we have struggled with in the past,” Scafidi said. “Taking these clinics and turning them into a full-force league. Luckily this year we have some parents who are very serious about it.”

This spring interest from those in the city reached a boiling point. Scafidi was approached by a handful of mothers who also played field hockey both at WHS and collegiately. These parents have young girls of their own and wanted to create a pathway to generate a love for the sport among that next generation.

“We put our heads together and said, ‘What can we do that is different from the past?’” Scafidi said.

The buy-in from Scafidi’s high school players was also exceptional.

“These girls in high school are picking up sticks earlier, but not early enough,” Scafidi said. “They are just good kids and the younger girls look up to them so much. They get to see the high school kids and how cool they are, what they are a part of. That just piques their interest even more.”

More details on registering your child for the team can be found here: https://go.teamsnap.com/forms/488599.