ADAMS TWP — Field hockey is coming to Mars — with an assist from Pine-Richland.

Jason and Emily Bowser have committed themselves to bringing the sport to the Mars Area School District. They have a daughter, Anna, in seventh grade at Mars who had been playing field hockey in Pine-Richland's developmental program.

“She really enjoys the sport,” her father said. “But you can only play on their developmental team until sixth grade.

“Our daughter wants to continue playing field hockey. The only way to do that was to develop a team at Mars.”

With the help of current P-R field hockey coach Donna Stephenson — who brought the sport to Pine-Richland in 2004 — the Bowsers have formed a club team in Mars this fall for girls in grades 7-9. Stephenson has helped put together Sunday clinics for those girls.

All the team is doing this fall is holding those approximate 90-minute clinics each Sunday.

“Our goal is to debut this team as a high school sport at Mars in two years,” Emily Bowser said. “Right now, we're teaching the girls the game. I'm learning it myself.”

She is serving as an assistant coach on the squad.

“I've player a number of sports — basketball, rugby, soccer, hockey, softball ... I'm willing to learn another one,” Mrs. Bowser said. “This is all about athletic opportunity for the girls.”

Kaitlyn Larkin is another assistant coach. The head coach is Stephanie Van Ingen, a Cranberry Township resident who had been Stephenson's assistant coach at Pine-Richland.

Van Ingen is a former Division I field hockey player at Syracuse University.

“Donna connected me with the Bowsers and what they're trying to do at Mars,” Van Ingen said. “They asked me if I wanted to coach and I'm excited about it.

“I feel like I'm ready to become a head coach and I'm thrilled to be able to bring field hockey to another school district.”

Stephenson said she welcomes the neighboring competition — and more opportunity for high school girls to get involved in the sport.

She's donated a bunch of field hockey sticks and manuals on drills, practice routines and how to start a program to the budding Mars team.

“I decided to start a team at Pine-Richland after seeing 30 girls get cut from the high school soccer team,” Stephenson said. “Field hockey gave those girls another option, another sport.

“We put a sign-up sheet in the athletic office and there were 30 girls on that list our first year. It's just grown from there. No doubt, that can happen at Mars.”

Pine-Richland has 100 girls in its developmental field hockey program. The Rams have been to the WPIAL title game the past three years in a row and won their first WPIAL championship last fall.

“I want to see Mars succeed as a program because more local competition would benefit all of us,” Stephenson said. “Not enough schools in this area have field hockey.”

Only 20 WPIAL schools offer the sport. Pine-Richland is one of 10 Division 1 schools, joining Allerdice, Fox Chapel, Hempfield, Mt. Lebanon, North Allegheny, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Peters Township and Upper St. Clair.

“I know it's a new sport and people are used to the sports they already have,” Stephenson said. “But there is plenty of room for this. We just won the league in field hockey and Pine-Richland still has strong girls soccer and volleyball teams. There are plenty of athletes to go around.

“Schools like Seneca Valley, Butler, Shaler, Hampton ... they should all have teams. Those schools are plenty big enough.”

The Bowsers will eventually have to wrire a letter to the school district asking for acceptance as a varsity sport, demonstrate enough girls in the system are interested in playing, then be approved by the school board before gaining admittance into the WPIAL.

“It's a process,” Mr. Bowser said. “I'm just rallying the troops.”

“There are a lot of girls here at Mars eager to learn a new sport and try it out,” Mrs. Bowser said. “I'm confident this is going to happen.”