Western Pa. and Michigan are working together to 'grow the game' of field hockey; 'superwoman' Mallory Federoff explains

Growing the field hockey scene in the Pittsburgh area has been an ongoing project with a lot of people involved in making it possible. 

Mallory Federoff (Weisen), a USA Field Hockey coach, umpire and owner of Upswing Clinics, is one of the biggest. A field hockey player and graduate from Middleburg High School — where she still holds the record as leading scorer with the field hockey team at 94 goals and 60 assists — Federoff took her career to Penn State.

As a Nittany Lion, she was named a NFHCA DI All-American and graduated with honors in 2008 with a degree in kinesiology. Now, Federoff is using her talents and knowledge to help the next generation of players through her own clinic and through USA Field Hockey.

She's helping to "grow the game." 

“This summer, I was asked to join the Western PA Growth Committee,” Federoff said. “We teamed up with Great Lakes Region Field Hockey to come up with ways to grow the sport and the level of play within our region. I'm the chair of Coach Education and did an online clinic in June with plans to offer more coaching courses in the future. 

“I've noticed growth more in the commitment of players to play and train throughout the year — not just during their high school season. Girls are participating in more camps, clinics, clubs, US Hockey Programs, etc. When I first came into the area, only a handful of girls put a lot of extra time in the off season. Now there are many more.” 

Federoff has only been in the Western PA area for seven years and the growth has been slower compared to the other sides of the state. She said the challenges have been with how many high schools and colleges actually offer field hockey as an official sport and how many youth clinics are being set up in the area.

The closest Division I field hockey schools are Penn State and Kent State (OH), with Slippery Rock (D2) and Washington and Jefferson (D3) being tiers below. Finding coaches for teams has also been a challenge, Federoff said, but she has been setting up youth clinics through Upswing and USA Field Hockey to help the area start to thrive. 

“Field hockey is significantly more popular and the overall skill/level of play is higher on the other side of the state,” Federoff said. “The Western PA Growth Committee is trying to encourage and organize more. I personally offer youth camps, clinics and lessons [through Upswing]. The local clubs also offer opportunities for youth.” 

With Great Lakes Region Field Hockey now in the picture, the goal is to help the sport grow faster in both Michigan and Pa. GLRFH asked Federoff to teach an online coaching clinic in the summer to add to their online coaching and education resources, something that is available for anyone in all states. That is where the relationship between the two of them started. 

“The Great Lakes Region already has an organized structure with some resources that we (Western PA) could benefit with some of their insight and guidance,” she said. “The Western PA Growth Committee meets every other month via Zoom. Great Lakes Region Field Hockey is also on the call to provide insight and recommendations that worked well within their region. During the meetings, each committee chair presents an update and then we all have a discussion on the next steps for each subcommittee.” 

Federoff continues to coach Upswing Clinics, where she hires current and former D1 athletes to coach alongside her, including her friends who are current D1, D2 and D3 coaches, who guest coach with her when they are available.

She's also an umpire with USA Field Hockey. In 2021, Federoff won the USA National Umpire of the Year Award.

She worked three D1 conference tournaments and was selected to the D1 NCAA Final Four for the second year in a row, where “not many people knew that I was 4.5 months pregnant while umpiring the NCAA D1 Final Four that November,” she said. 

“Receiving the actual award was special because it was also USA Field Hockey's 100th Year Anniversary,” Federoff said. “The 2021 Hall of Fame Inductees and the annual award winners were included in a very large celebration. Another memorable highlight from that night was my former Penn State Coach and Olympian, Char Morett-Curtiss, was the keynote speaker at the event.” 

Even with that award and clinics and being the local rules interrupter for the PIAA Pittsburgh Field Hockey Chapter on her plate, Federoff knows her work isn’t done.

When it comes to growing field hockey into as popular a sport as it is in the Central PA and Philadelphia areas, she knows it will be some time before the sport can flourish in the Western part. 

“Even though we have a few competitive local HS programs, they are not being challenged consistently throughout their regular season,” she said. “Schools in other districts throughout the state have a ton of great players and programs, so they are training and competing at a higher level more consistently. “The...phrase ‘iron sharpens iron’ couldn't be more true with our situation.”

Photo: Submitted, Mark Palczewski