GROWING THE GAME
The Washington Wolves field hockey club is not just focused on developing athletes and preparing them for the next level of their field hockey careers, we are also passionate about making field hockey more accessible to athletes, particularly young women and girls in low-income settings. Through our work as Tuliyo Sports Inc., we are working to transform the lives of young athletes, especially girls and young women in low-income settings.
PROVIDING SUMMER CAMP OPPORTUNITIES FOR PROGRAMS
We work with coaches and programs in Montgomery County to provide summer camp field hockey opportunities for their players. Our focus is schools and programs that have limited budgets and field hockey experience in order to help grow the sport and give their players access to club-level practices and skills development. For programs that need to grow their sport and who have a hard time fielding a team for the fall season, we offer free opportunities in the summer in hopes that it will encourage more girls to join and commit to playing field hockey at their high schools.
SUPPORTING FIELD HOCKEY IN UGANDA
Video highlights from our field hockey clinics and equipment donation in December 2022.
PARTNERING WITH THE HOPE HOCKEY SKILLS FOUNDATION
The Hope Hockey Skills Foundation is a social enterprise that runs a huge variety of programs aiming to introduce and develop field hockey among the Ugandan youth. Tournament, mixed hockey camps, female-only camps, and life skills courses are among the vehicles that the team uses to break through many of the barriers facing children from deprived areas. More than 12,000 children have now passed through the program, which operates in four areas of Uganda: Kampala, Mbarara, Kabale and Kumi.
Tuliyo Sports helps provide the equipment they need to continue doing the incredible work that they do. It is the love and passion they have for field hockey that drives them and we will continue to support them in their quest to grow the game. We provide them with balls, cones, whistles, and other gear they need to help them continue the amazing work they are doing.
HOSTING FREE CLINICS AND SUPPORTING LOCAL YOUTH PROGRAMS
In addition to equipment, we offer free clinics and training sessions to players in the community who are often coaches as well. We expose these athletes and coaches to new skills and drills that we are using with our club program so that they have the opportunity to learn new styles and concepts of field hockey.
In the future, we plan to send guest coaches to continue to develop the sport in Uganda and develop player-to-player relationships with our club members and Wolves alumni.
Equipment donations to the field hockey community at Lugogo
Donating field hockey equipment to young athletes that often do not have equipment, especially safety equipment in their size.the field has a metal bin that players can borrow equipment from when they are playing on the field.
Supporting Ugandan club teams, especially women's teams
Supporting local field hockey club teams with the sticks, shoes, uniforms, pinnies, safety equipment and goalie gear they need to be successful. Our top priority are the women's field hockey teams that often don't have their own gear and equipment and have to borrow it from their counterparts on their men's team.
Supporting primary and secondary school teams and players
In addition to free clinics and skills days for the players, we also provide equipment to the coaches of primary and secondary school teams. The Uganda Hockey Association holds several tournaments for these age groups at the stadium. Most of these young players (girls and boys) live in the surrounding low-income settlements, and their passion for field hockey has them coming to the field every day of the week So having equipment they can borrow and organized playing opportunities gives them purpose and discipline as well as an activity to do and a place to be every evening.
Credits:
Thank you to all our Wolves players and families (current and past) as well as other donors, such as the Fairfield University field hockey program, for supporting this important work. We could not do it without you!