Summer Field Hockey:
Voorhees Clinic Teaches The Basics

Friday, August 14, 1998

By Gary Steiner
SJSports Staff Writer

A field hockey clinic for girls ages 8 to 13 was held this week at Voorhees Middle School as part of the Voorhees CER Summer Program. The clinic was hosted by Ellen Regn, coach of the freshman field hockey team at Cherokee High School. Coach Regn, originally from Gibbsboro, played field hockey for her alma mater Eastern High School, and in college at the University of Iowa. "I enjoy working with the young kids here at the school," she said. "I wanted to give back to the [Voorhees] community, since that's where I grew up."

Assisting Coach Regn with the clinic were three present and future South Jersey field hockey all-stars. Adrienne Booth, recent graduate of Cherokee High School and soon to be freshman at Rutgers University, was a standout in both high school field hockey and lacrosse. Two Eastern High School students, Ashley English, a junior, and Lori Hillman, a freshman, were also helping to teach the young players. Miss Hillman was recently selected for the 1998-99 U.S. Women's National Under-16 Field Hockey Team.

Coach Regn emphasized basic skills in the clinic. The girls were broken up into four groups by age, and each group drilled in the basic field hockey skills: dribbling, receiving, driving & shooting, and pushing & passing. Then on the last day of the four-day clinic, then girls were grouped into teams of mixed age for scrimmages. "The scrimmages force the kids to learn to work together," said Coach Regn. "Because they have to play with teammates of different ages and skill-level, they learn teamwork."

Photos by Art Redd