Welcome to McLean and Falls Church Youth Field Hockey!
In 2021, we combined the Falls Church and McLean youth field hockey programs to form McLean-Falls Church (MFC) field hockey. Our goal is to introduce the game of field hockey to kids in the area, and we want them to feel welcome and comfortable starting at any age. We aim to teach your kids the fundamentals of the game and provide them with the necessary skills should they continue to play at higher levels of competition.
We run a league in the fall and clinics in the spring.
Fall season: In the fall, we play in a league that consists of local teams such as Herndon and Great Falls and games are held locally. Although we play other towns, this is more of a "rec" league than travel sports. Participants consist of both boys and girls in grades 3-9. We typically have practices once a week and games on Saturdays. Days and times of practice vary depending on field availability. Games are 7 players per side with referees and played on artificial turf. The season runs from Late August/early September through October. Depending on interest, we may play an extended season in November for the middle schoolers in a 11 v 11 format to prepare them for high school field hockey.
All coaches for our teams are parents/adults. While we have a few regular coaches, we always need help. No field hockey experience is necessary to be an assistant coach.
Spring season: In the spring, we host beginning and intermediate clinics for rising third graders and above. These clinics are often run by local high school field hockey coaches, and assisted by their players. We also host scrimmages for high school players. These clinics are once a week, typically in April and May.
Fall 2024 Details
This fall we will run our rec league program as we have in previous years. This program is intended for beginning to intermediate players, in grades 3 - 8 (9th graders not playing on their high school team are also welcome to join).
Practice details: Practices will be held at Meridian High School (upper field) on Sunday afternoons. Practice times are tentatively scheduled as:
- Grades 3&4 -- 2:00 - 2:45 pm
- Grades 5&6 -- 2:45 - 3:45 pm
- Grades 7&8 -- 3:45 - 5:00 pm
Practices will be begin in late August and go through the month of October.
Game details: The game schedules are still being worked on by the Herndon-Reston youth field hockey program. Games will be Saturday mornings through afternoon (typically earlier for the younger kids, later for the older kids) and most games will likely be played at Herndon High School or Nike Park in Great Falls. Games are currently scheduled to begin on Saturday, Sept 7 and end on October 26 (no games planned for Columbus Day weekend).
Registration: We are planning to have registration ready the first week of August (we are targeting the evening of 8/6). Please keep an eye on emails and this web site for links to registration when it opens.
Coaches needed: All coaches for our teams are parents/adults. While we have a few regular coaches, we always need help. We are in need of parent coaches (no experience in field hockey necessary) to assist current/former player coaches who may not be able to make some Saturday games. We will be limited in the number of players that can register if we do not have more parents assistant coaching, so please consider volunteering (the time commitment is pretty small for assistant coaches). And of course, anyone interested in head coaching is always welcome.
Please email Sunjeet Randhawa at mcleanfieldhockey@gmail.com if you are interested in coaching.
Equipment
All players will need a mouth guard, shin guards, a water bottle, and sneakers or cleats. Field hockey sticks are available to borrow if you do not have your own (there is no need to purchase one for the spring clinics, but we recommend each player have one for the fall league).