Field Hockey Junior World Cup Starts Monday at Harvard

Junior World Cup Official Site | Schedule | Tickets

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.- The 2009 BDO Women's Junior World Cup, the premier showcase for the world's top junior field hockey teams, comes to Harvard's Jordan Field this summer, with games getting underway Monday and continuing through Aug. 16.

The 16 finest women's under-21 national teams from around the world will converge on Jordan for two weeks of competition. USA Field Hockey, the national governing body for field hockey in the United States, will host the event.

The 2009 BDO Women's Junior World Cup is the largest international field hockey event ever to be held in the United States. Almost 300 athletes from sixteen nations will participate in the tournament. Held every four years, the BDO Women's Junior World Cup represents the top international event for international field hockey athletes under the age of 21. Now in its sixth edition, the tournament debuted in Ottawa, Canada in 1989, with the most recent event held in Santiago, Chile in 2005.

"USA Field Hockey is proud to host the 2009 BDO Women's Junior World Cup," said USA Field Hockey Board Chair Pam Hixon. "This prestigious event provides an opportunity to showcase the best junior hockey players from around the world, and give our juniors here in the United States a peek into the amazing future that field hockey may hold for them.

"We are very excited to have the great city of Boston as the home for this event, with the institutions of Harvard University, Boston University and Boston College providing top-level facilities and fantastic experiences for our world class athlete guests."

The 16 national teams competing in the tournament are: Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Chile, China, England, France, Germany, India, Lithuania, Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain and the United States.

General admission tickets feature all-day access to competition for as little as $5 per person. Some competition days feature as many as eight matches per day. VIP tickets featuring covered seating are also available.

In addition, members of the U.S. women's Olympic field hockey team will offer player clinics, presented every day of competition during the tournament. Players can register as an individual, as a group, or an entire team. Each clinic has a limited number of participants.

Harvard has a special place in the history of field hockey: English physical education teacher Constance Applebee first introduced the sport to the United States during a physical education seminar at Harvard in 1901.