Field hockey returns after 18 years

One of the buzzes in the athletic department this weekend doesn't involve the basketball or football teams. \nNearly two decades after IU fielded its last varsity field hockey team, the sport makes its anticipated return 1 p.m. Saturday against Slippery Rock in Mellencamp Pavilion.\n"It hasn't come to me that I will be playing Division I on Saturday," senior Tania Hults said. "It doesn't seem real."\nContrary to what many students and members of the community might believe, field hockey isn't new to IU. Field hockey was a varsity sport for 10 years before being discontinued in 1982. IU posted a record of 119-74-15 record during its 10 seasons.\nDr. Kay Burrus, an associate dean in the School of Health Physical Education and Recreation and field hockey coach from 1972-76, said the return of field hockey "is a great thing for the University." \nDespite the fact that IU does have a field hockey history, everything about the 2000 squad is new. \nThe team has 18 players, including nine who played together on the IU club team. Coach Amy Robertson filled the remaining spots on the roster by recruiting five freshmen and finding three other interested players on campus.\nIU will play its home games this season at Mellencamp Pavilion before moving to an outdoor turf facility in 2001.\n"The Astroturf is excellent in Mellencamp," Robertson said. "We don't have to worry about being rained out or sunburned, so I really like it. There's not a lot of space on the sidelines, so the officials won't be happy, but from a playing standpoint, it's a real favorable surface."\nDuring field hockey's first stint as a varsity sport, the Hoosiers played home games at Memorial Stadium and the former artificial surface football practice field located near Bill Armstrong Stadium. As a club sport the field hockey team played its games on the "tundra," a grass field located behind Foster Quad and some of the greek houses on North Jordan Avenue. \nRoberston is also new to IU. Robertson was named head coach on March 30 after serving as an assistant coach at Wake Forest the past three seasons. She helped the Demon Deacons post an 18-4 record and earn their first trip to the NCAA Tournament last season.\nRobertson has worked continuously since arriving at IU, doing everything from recruiting and scheduling to ordering equipment for the team.\n"I have definitely used every minute of the 24-hour day," Robertson said. "I think it's been a challenge, but it has been really fun because everyone is really eager to start a new program."\n Robertson squeezed eight practices in this spring with the existing players from the club team. The entire roster started practicing together Aug. 18 and during the two-week span some players said there has been noticeable improvement.\n "I think we're starting to click," sophomore Erica Nilsson said. "The first practice we had together you could tell we weren't playing well together, and people weren't sure of each other."\nRobertson said her philosophy is for the team to not get ahead of itself and focus on each practice individually. So far, the team has stuck to those principles.\n"When we get to practice we leave everything behind us," Hults said.\nIU's opening-game opponent is just as mysterious as the Hoosiers themselves. Slippery Rock is a Division II school in Pennsylvania located about a hour north of Pittsburgh.\n"We're open-minded to playing a very tough game, and if it's not a tough game we just want to slam it down their throats," Hults said. \n Nilsson expects the Hoosiers will be flowing with adrenaline Saturday.\n"It's going to be the hardest we play in our lives," she said. "We are going to go after the ball with 110 percent effort. We are going to be so excited." \nWhen Saturday finally arrives, Hults, who has been pushing for a varsity team since her freshman year, said, "I'm just not going to stop smiling."\nAnd so will 17 of her teammates.