The 2018 High School Field Hockey season has come to an end and we are excited to release the final Regional Top 20 and National Top 25 Rankings!  A total of 192 teams out of the 2,200+ teams across the nation made the list.  For each region, we have ranked the top 20 teams and listed an additional 12 teams that were “Others Considered” (OC).  Beyond being recognized for their exceptional performance this season, these 192 teams have also earned an invitation to the first ever 2019 MAX Field Hockey National High School Tournament to be held September 20-22nd at The Proving Grounds (Conshohocken, PA) where they will have the opportunity to Prove it on the Field against the top teams in the nation.  Complete details, including scheduling, registration, travel resources, and the official invite list will be available early next week.  Check out the available details at the link below and stay tuned for complete details and registration!

Learn More about the 2019 MAX Field Hockey National High School Tournament

 

Some Notes on MAX Field Hockey’s Ranking Methodology:

Ranking the top High School Field Hockey programs across the different regions and the country is complicated and subjective.  We have worked extremely hard over the past five years to develop a strong knowledge and understanding of the top programs in each area and have made connections to local coverage and individuals that assists us in comparing teams from the different areas.  We obviously love to see head-to-head results when available, but even then, Team A may beat Team B and lose to Team C, and Team B may beat Team C.  So how do you rank those three teams?

Our Ranking Methodology revolves heavily around strength of schedule and historical success and dominance.  In the case of Teams A, B, and C- we would look at those team’s schedules in depth- who has a tougher schedule– do they have any ranked wins/losses, are any of those teams ranked results more impressive than the others– did one of those teams win it all the previous year– is one of those teams trending up (or down) lately.  Once we have a big picture comparison of the teams, we make our best decision.

In comparing different states and regions that never face off on the field, we tap into our other content areas and knowledge.  We may look at College Commitments, Player Rankings, and regional/national selections like the National Futures Championship.  No one of these areas is relied on solely, but rather looked at as a part of the big picture to determine level of play and competition.  So if we have two teams that are both 20-0 on the season and won their state or conference championship- and Team A has 5 or 6 players committed to play Division I, a couple ranked in our Player Rankings and several NFC selections, we would probably rank that team above the other team that had one Division I college commitment and/or player that made NFCs or our Player Rankings.  We may also look at what clubs the players are playing for and how they do at the big national tournaments.  If we have video on the teams to compare, we look at that and we always invite and welcome (and often seek out) feedback and ranking suggestions.

Up Next:

MAX Field Hockey’s Postseason Player and Coach Awards will be released throughout December and early January. We like to factor in the local and state awards and wait on the majority of those to be released before finalizing our awards.  Please help us collect all the major awards for our Player Award Central: [View the Player Award Central].  Email any missing awards to admin@maxfieldhockey.com.

We are also still filling in missing Postseason tournament information and championship photos to our Postseason Central: [View the Postseason Central].  Please email us anything we are missing to admin@maxfieldhockey.com

 

Congratulations to all of the teams who finished the 2018 season ranked among the top teams in their region and across the nation!  We look forward to additional coverage on some of these teams throughout the following weeks.

VIEW THE FINAL NATIONAL TOP 25 RANKINGS

SELECT A REGION TO VIEW FINAL REGIONAL TOP 20 RANKINGS

FEATURED SPONSORS:

A special thank you to the following sponsors for helping make our High School Postseason Coverage possible!  Please check out and support their great events and organizations!