On a sunny afternoon last Friday, American sports history was made at the Muirlands Middle School in La Jolla when two high school boys’ field hockey club teams played a game — what is believed to be a first in history. La Jolla High School (LJHS) hosted El Capitan High School in the historic match-up, and the two squads are scheduled to play a three-game series. Nick Conway, who is the head coach of the USA. Field Hockey men’s national team, coached LJHS while Sandy Martinez led El Capitan. Conway and Martinez organized the series as a pilot project aimed at gaining awareness and interest in the sport for boys. “The bigger picture is to try and get guys playing field hockey in America,” Conway said. “We wanted to start a program in San Diego to see if it’s possible.” Field hockey has a long history and a huge following internationally in both the men’s and women’s game. But for some reason when the game was introduced in America it was designated a girls’ sport and it has unyieldingly stayed that way ever since. There are some men’s club teams in a few areas around the country but not one high school or college team has ever emerged. It is hard to imagine how this could happen in a country so crazy about athletics. “America is the only country in the world (where people play field hockey) that it’s not a prominently culturally powerful sport for men,” Conway said. El Capitan was chosen as one of the designated schools largely because of Martinez’s previous work in exposing the game to guys. She has recruited men and boys to play in coed leagues for years in San Diego and she even put together a men’s club team that ultimately disbanded because it didn’t have anyone to play. Martinez also has ties to the game at the national level, as her son played for the USA under-21 team. “It’s about giving the boys an opportunity to play this game because I think it’s a great game,” Martinez said of the initial series. “We haven’t had a chance to expose as many boys in the U.S. and this is an opportunity for them to fall in love with the game I love.” Martinez is also the coach of the girls’ field hockey team at El Capitan. While it’s obvious why the Vaqueros would be chosen to play in the inaugural game, the selection of La Jolla was a slightly different situation. Conway’s wife, Paula, is the Vikings girls’ coach as well as a teacher at LJHS. She helped provide access to the school and a second team was soon formed. To recruit players, Nick Conway was allowed to attend P.E. classes and invite interested boys to join the team. After an initial surge in popularity, players were required to make a commitment to practice almost every day. The result was a solid base of boys looking to try a new sport — or at least one new to them. Inside the game El Capitan’s Travis Kemsley put his name in the record books when he scored the match’s first goal early in the opening half of the boys’ field hockey game between La Jolla High School and El Capitan High School. Kemsley took the ball in a crowd in front of the net and lifted a shot past the LJHS goalkeeper. Cody Warford provided more Vaquero firepower when he scored just a few minutes later to make it 2-0. Kevin McKeown scored the only goal of the second half to give the visitors a 3-0 victory in this groundbreaking game. The second leg of the three game series was to take place at El Capitan High School on June 17. The final match will be held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista in conjunction with the Men’s Junior National Championship on July 10. For more information visit www.usfieldhockey.com.