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Field hockey, next to basket ball, is the most popular team game played by girls; and it is a comparatively new game here, as it has been played in America only since 1901. Miss Harriet Ballintine, Director of Physical Training at Vassar College, in her pamphlet, “The History of Physical Training at Vassar College,” gives an account of the beginning of hockey in America: “Until 1901, English field hockey was comparatively unknown in this country. Before this it had been played by men at the Springfield Training School, and to some extent at Mount Holyoke College. Dr. J. H. McCurdy of the Springfield School in writing of the game says: ‘The men at Springfield first played the game of field hockey in 1897. Regarding where field hockey was first played in this country (by girls), the girls at Mount Holyoke College had begun playing the game, I think, before Miss Applebee’s arrival in this country. They had been down to a number of our championship games. Arrangements had been made for some of our students to coach the Mount Holyoke girls in hockey, when I found Miss Applebee was in this country and recommended their getting her.’ ”

Many hockey players owe their interest in the game to Miss Applebee, notable for her inspiring coaching and the knowledge of hockey that she has imparted to her pupils.

To the devotees of this game, there is no other sport that quite comes up to it. In a game of hockey there is a spirit of freedom, of exhilaration, of gladness that comes from a true love of sport. And it has other advantages—absence of roughness, plenty of vigorous exercise in the open air, and yet not extraordinarily violent. It is a game that may be played by all types; a game that is played by a large number on each team.