COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Houston, Texas is set to host the thrilling 2025 AAU Junior Olympic Games from July 29 to 31. The AAU Junior Olympic Games are known as the largest national multi-sport event for youth in the United States. The field hockey competition will be held on a premier playing surface at Episcopal High School and will showcase fast-paced and dynamic action, highlighting top-tier talent.

With even more excitement to add this year, the boys’ division will expand into two age divisions – U-14 and U-18. This addition and shift are to better align with the current pool of boys playing. Boys teams will once again be competing in the small-sided format of Hockey 5s . The U-16 girls division is also growing, with eight teams, two more from previous years, battling it out in the traditional 11v11 format on water-based astroturf. With more teams joining the girls division, this year promises to be more competitive than ever.

Mediation—the act of working with a neutral third party to solve a problem and come to a solution—can be an extremely useful tool for any athletic team. Rather than simply arguing amongst yourselves or bringing the coach in to solve every inter-team issue, being able to use mediation to settle disputes between team members can lead to a much healthier team overall. That “neutral facilitator” could be another teammate, a mutual friend, or a trusted adult, but it’s important to get the dynamic right.

Here, TrueSport Expert Nadia Kyba, MSW, President of Now What Facilitation, is sharing the basic principles for holding a mediation session for a dispute and explaining when it works best for athletes, as well as what to do when it doesn’t.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In an effort to empower, support, and connect female leaders in field hockey, USA Field Hockey is excited to announce the addition of a new Empowerment Coaching Session. Taking place on Wednesday, May 21 from 2:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. ET at the United States Performance Center in Charlotte, N.C., this expansive offering preludes the 2025 High Performance Summit.

USA Field Hockey recognizes the need for a supportive network and resources for women and girls at every level in the sport. The Empowerment Coaching Session is the start of what is envisioned to be a growing commitment to enhance women’s roles in sports leadership as coaches and players.

The initial Empowerment Coaching Session will explore topics that uniquely affect women and girls in field hockey. Coaches will learn about the new global FIH Women in Hockey Empowerment Project that launched in November 2024. Attendees are encouraged to bring their thoughts, experiences and questions to help form this collective learning as an ongoing network.

Registration for the Empowerment Coaching Session is open to all coaches and is capped at 40 individuals. The cost is $75 per person.