2021 National Hockey Festival Returns to Tampa Bay

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Field Hockey is excited to announce that the 2021 National Hockey Festival will be returning to the beautiful Tournament Sportsplex of Tampa Bay in Florida. The 40th edition of this traditional Thanksgiving weekend event will take place from Thursday, November 25 through Saturday, November 27 and USA Field Hockey is proud to continue the relationship with the experienced staff of the Tampa Bay Sports Commission and Visit Tampa Bay to deliver this exciting event.

The Tournament Sportsplex of Tampa Bay is a multi-sport championship facility designed to bring elite tournaments to the area. The facility, located in southeast Hillsborough County, is centrally located to the airport, interstates and downtown Tampa. The Sportsplex is a 15 full-size field venue, including one championship field, that all have professionally maintained Celebration Bermudagrass® playing surface. This state-of-the-art venue is managed year-round by the Tampa Sports Authority (TSA), who also manages Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and several golf courses around the Bay area. The TSA’s professional grounds team will deliver a competition surface quality that will be second to none. Since the 2019 National Hockey Festival, the Sportsplex has been further improved with the expansion of parking facilities and improved food vending.

“We are delighted to be returning to Tampa,” said Simon Hoskins, USA Field Hockey’s Executive Director. “The venue is purposely built for elite tournament play and the area is so well served by major airports in Tampa as well as nearby Orlando. We look forward to an awesome National Hockey Festival in the Florida sun.”

“We could not be more excited that USA Field Hockey will be returning to Tampa Bay in November,” said Jason Aughey, Tampa Bay Sports Commission Senior Vice President of Sports Tourism. “Bringing the National Hockey Festival, one of the premier field hockey events in the country, back to our community has been a major priority of ours. Since hosting in 2019, Tampa Bay has experienced exponential growth and development, thanks to significant renovations and capital improvements, most notably at our Sportsplex of Tampa Bay. Combining all that our destination offers with the recent upgrades the Sportsplex received, we’re confident that we can assist in taking USA Field Hockey’s flagship event to new heights this fall!”

The Tournament Sportsplex of Tampa Bay is located 10 minutes from more than 6,000 hotel rooms and the downtown Tampa Bay area, which features an array of restaurants and entertainment experiences. There are attractions less than 20 minutes away including Busch Gardens, Adventure Island the Florida Aquarium. Supported by a strong airport with more than 83 nonstop routes and 21 carriers, Festival participants will be able to find convenient and affordable flights that will place them within 15 minutes of the majority of major hotel brands and 25 minutes from the competition venue.

“Aside from having a strong venue asset that is fit for field hockey, we are very excited about the prospect of hosting Festival again in a city that is so accessible for visitors,” said Lisa McCoy, USA Field Hockey’s Director of Nexus and Programs. “We are thrilled to be working with a destination partner that will be able to help us deliver a convenient destination experience for our tournament participants in sunny Florida. The design to have a visitor’s destination airport, hotel and competition venue within a 25-minute radius is well planned and the community is eager to make our constituents feel at home. Feedback about the 2019 Festival and the Sportsplex was extremely positive.”

Registration will open on Wednesday, June 2, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. ET. The 2021 Festival will offer play in the U-12 Co-Ed 7v7, U-14 Girls 7v7, U-14 Girls 11v11, U-16 Girls 11v11, U-19 Girls 11v11, U-19 Boys, Adult Mixed 11v11 and Women’s 11v11 divisions. All USA Field Hockey Member Clubs should mark their calendars as more information will be communicated prior to the date.