All club teams that participate in a USFHL National Championship Pathway event, including but not limited to the USFHL Play-In Qualifiers, Regional Club Championships, and National Club Championships, must have a roster of eligible players as outlined in this document to compete.
If there is no Participating Club within 50 miles, then lives within 150 miles of the Club, then lives within the same State as the Club (except the 5 NYC Boroughs & Long Island are treated separate to NY State), then next closest Club by GPS mileage
Player has competed with the Club in at least 1 National Championship Pathway event in the two previous seasons (currently 2024 & 2025)
Player has played their final NCAA game within the past 12 months & was a member of the Club as a senior in high school
The objectives of the USFHL Player Eligibility Standards & Player Affiliation Database are to
The Player Affiliation Database on the USFHL website is the one & only source of club affiliation for each player for all USFHL National Championship Pathway events. Players can only participate in USFHL National Championship Pathway events with the club that they are affiliated with in this database at the time of the event. Affiliation approval is based on the Player Eligibility Standards outlined on this page.
Students actively enrolled in university must play with the Participating Club local to their university and should follow Section I using the location of their university. This standard includes university students of all ages, including undergraduate & graduate programs.
A Player is considered an active US National Team athlete if they live in Charlotte, NC full-time as part of the centralized training program for the USA Men’s or Women’s National Team. These athletes may participate (and are highly encouraged to) in USFHL National Championship Pathway events. As the teams live & train in the same location, in order to prevent the concentration of National Team athletes on the same Club, these athletes are eligible under one of the below standards and must submit proof with their request accordingly:
Players with more than 1 residential address and players that live in more than one place for at least 1 consecutive month during the year will follow the Player Eligibility Standards, using their primary residence (if they own multiple homes) or their legal address at the time of his/her first event participation that Annual Season (if they live in different places for at least 1 consecutive month at a time). Examples are below.
If one of the Player’s residential addresses is outside of the United States, he/she must be actively living in the United States at the time of the event and should use his/her legal residence in the US to follow the Player Eligibility Standards in Section I.
Example #1: Own multiple homes
Player A lives in Boston, MA and owns a beach house in the Hamptons, NY that they frequent on weekends throughout the summer. Player A’s primary residence is Boston, MA and secondary residence is the Hamptons. Player A is required to play with a club from Boston.
Example #2: Live in different places for at least 1 consecutive month
Player B lives in Miami, FL from November – April and Boston, MA from May – October. The Regional Club Championships (RCC) are in April. Player B can request club affiliation for a Miami club based on his/her April residence and participate in the RCC in April and the NCC in July with the same Miami-based club OR Player B can wait until May and request club affiliation for a Boston club based on his/her July residence and participate only in NCC with the Boston club if they qualify.
Players with multiple participating clubs within 50 miles of their residence can choose which club that they participate with each Annual Season and must submit the Club Affiliation Form to transfer between Participating Clubs. Once a player has participated with a club in a USFHL National Championship Pathway event in any given Annual Season, he/she can only participate with that club in that season.
Players can transfer to another Participating Club at any time from August 1 – January 1 at the beginning of each season. After January 1, all transfers will require additional written approval from the previously affiliated team.
The USFHL National Championship Pathway events are only open to players actively living in the United States. Players should not fly into the country for the sole purpose of attending a USFHL National Championship Pathway event, regardless of their citizenship status, legal residence, or length of stay. Clubs will sign an attestation before each event that all players actively live in the United States at the time of the event and clubs will be held accountable for any violation.
Players that play or coach in another country and may or may not have a US citizenship and/or legal residence in the United States are ineligible to participate in USFHL National Championship Pathway events at any time during the season.
Please navigate to the 2026 USFHL Annual General Meeting recording to hear the Free Agents explained: Link Here
Free Agents can fill out this form at any time throughout the season to be offered to a Club based on the Player Eligibility Standards in Section I.
For the USFHL National Club Championship, the Men’s & Women’s Divisions have different Free Agent Standards outlined below:
Player A lives in Jacksonville, FL. There are no Participating Clubs in Jacksonville, FL, but Player A would love to be considered for a team and participate in the USFHL National Championship Pathway. There is no Participating Club within 50 miles or 150 miles, so Player A will need to participate with a club in the State of Florida.
Player B lives in Syracuse, NY. There are no Participating Clubs in Syracuse, NY, but Player B would love to be considered for a team and participate in the USFHL National Championship Pathway. There is also no Participating Club within 150 miles of Syracuse AND there is no Participating Club in NY State (not including NYC + Long Island). Player B’s Player Eligibility goes to GPS mileage and based on the current Participating Clubs, the closest are in Philadelphia, PA (~250 miles).
Player C recently played her final season with the University of Michigan and has no remaining NCAA eligibility. She played for LoneStar FH as a senior in high school. She graduates from the University of Michigan in May and plans to move to Washington DC in June for her new job. She would love to start participating in the USFHL National Championship Pathway events.
Player C has a few options:
If Player C chooses A and the team does not qualify for NCC, she cannot then also do B or C. She is no longer eligible for B as soon as she is approved for another Participating Club, and she must wait until the next Annual Season and request a club transfer for C.
Player D lives in Houston, TX, is affiliated with Albion FHC, and participates in the South Play-In Qualifier in December with them. In January, she moves to Philadelphia, PA for work. Player D is ineligible to transfer to and participate with another club for that same Annual Season regardless of her location. For the next Annual Season, Player D can choose to continue playing with Albion FHC or request a transfer to a local club in Philadelphia.
Player E participates in the men’s division and lives in Washington DC. He travels to NYC once a month to participate in NEFHA games with a Participating Club there, which adds up to about 4-5 weekends during the season. Player E wants to play in the Regional Club Championship with a club from Washington DC, so he requests affiliation based on his legal residence and is approved. He participates in the RCC with the club, and they do not qualify, but his NEFHA team does qualify. Player E wants to play at the National Club Championship. He is not allowed to transfer to his NEFHA club regardless of eligibility, having already declared his affiliation and participated in an RCC that Annual Season with another club. Player E should now enter his name as a Free Agent as described in Section X to play at NCC.
Additional documentation to validate current address must show full legal name & address and is including but not limited to the below items (unless otherwise stated above):
An NCAA team is defined as “a college athletic team that is part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).” College-aged athletes that do not play on an NCAA field hockey team are allowed to participate in the Regional Club Championship per Section VII in the Player Eligibility Rules. However, in order to preserve the participation of adults that may be affiliated with an NCAA team, we must abide by the below NCAA Bylaw:
17.10.8.1.2.2 Involvement of Coaching Staff. No member of the coaching staff of a member institution may be involved in any capacity (e.g., coach, official, player or league/team administrator) at any time (during the academic year, vacation periods and summer) with an outside team that involves any student-athlete with remaining eligibility from the institution’s field hockey team except as provided under Bylaws 17.1.1.1, 17.32 and 17.34.1.
Recruiting is defined by the NCAA as “any solicitation of prospective student-athletes or their parents by an institutional staff member or by a representative of that institution’s athletics interests for the purpose of securing a prospective student-athlete’s enrollment and ultimate participation in the institution’s intercollegiate athletics program.”
Any female Players with remaining NCAA eligibility (likely aged 18-22 years old) must review this bylaw and recruiting definition. If the Player agrees that she is not actively involved in recruiting and does not plan to actively engage in recruiting to play field hockey on an NCAA Division I, II, or III team, the Player must submit the following declaration with her Club Affiliation Request or email it to the Board directly at execboard@usfhl.com:
“I, <insert full name>, have read and understand Bylaw 17.10.8.1.2.2 and the definition of “recruiting” for an NCAA field hockey team, and I, <insert full name>, am not actively rostered on an NCAA field hockey team, am not currently engaged in recruiting to play on an NCAA field hockey team, and do not plan to engage in recruiting to play on an NCAA field hockey team in the future.”
Any Players with remaining NCAA eligibility that the Board has not received the above declaration from with their full name are not approved to play.
United States Field Hockey League (USFHL): The United States Field Hockey League
USFHL Board of Directors (the “Board”): The Executive Board for the USFHL
USFHL National Championship Pathway: All events hosted by the USFHL and sanctioned by USA Field Hockey on the path to winning a National Championship, including but not limited to the USFHL Play-In Qualifier, Regional Club Championship, and National Club Championship
USFHL National Club Championship (NCC): USFHL’s National Club Championship held in July and sanctioned by USA Field Hockey to crown the only Men’s & Women’s National Champion each year
USFHL Regional Club Championship (RCC): Each USFHL Region’s qualifying event for NCC
USFHL Play-In Qualifier: Each USFHL Region’s second-tier qualifying event for RCC
Annual Season (the “Season”): The USFHL annual season runs from August to July, concluding each year with the USFHL National Club Championship
Eligible Field Hockey Club (the “Club”): A Club offering active memberships, regular practices, and participation in any adult field hockey events in the United States
Participating Field Hockey Club (“Participating Club”): A Club that has participated in at least 1 USFHL National Championship Pathway event in the past 2 Seasons
Participating Player Athlete (the “Player”): A player seeking eligibility to play for a Participating Club at USFHL National Championship Pathway events
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