First?

In an effort to add more detail to what I already know about early field hockey at the YMCA Training School (now known as Springfield College), I've been scouring that institution's collection of digitized publications from the 1890s and 1900s. In doing so I think I may have pinned down the first organized college field hockey game ever played in the United States.


The intramural game took place on Saturday, November 14, 1896, and featured a team from the Training School's class of 1898 playing against a team drawn from both the class of '97 and the class of '99. According to the November, 1896 issue of the International Association Training School Notes, "it was a closely contested match; the score after playing two 30-minute halves was 1 to 1."

I haven't found any information that would suggest that field hockey was played at any other college in the United States before this game took place. The Women's College of Baltimore (now known as Goucher College) didn't start playing until the following fall:

While 1896 seems to be the first year that the sport was played at Springfield:

So, unless or until I learn something new, I'll assume that this game was the first of its kind. Of course, it was only an intramural match -- I still haven't figured out when the first intercollegiate game took place.