UMass Field Hockey vs Maine 8/27/22. UMass No.19 Mia Smith, powers the ball powers the ball up the field in the 1st Qtr. photo by J. Anthony Roberts

EDITORS NOTE: This story is part of a Title IX-focused series created by UMass’ Journalism 332 Sports Writing Class. Tennis Turf

On Sept. 16, the field hockey team hosted UMass’ first Flagship 50 game. The team honored former field hockey alumni on the field in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Title IX. With UMass royalty in attendance, the Minutewomen dominated, beating Saint Louis 6-1.

“It meant a lot to us because we weren’t just representing our team on our home turf, but we were representing all of UMass and all of the UMass field hockey teams that came before us,” UMass freshman Mia Smith said. “We’re always looking to find some way to show how much it means to us every opportunity that we’re given to represent others.”

On June 23, 1972, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights passed Title IX of the Education Amendments. This law not only protected students from discrimination based on gender in education or institutional activities, but offered young women the opportunity to be a part of a team.

“It was a turning point in history,” Smith said. “Women were no longer being looked down upon at any institution that followed Title IX. Women’s struggles and stories were really being heard, and action was being taken, as well as preventing these struggles from occurring again.”

The Title IX game was an important reminder to fans and players that while much progress has been made, there is still work to be done to ensure that women’s sports receive the same amount of funding and coverage as male sports.

While men’s teams like football get the luxury of practicing in state-of-the-art facilities and weight rooms, the field hockey team shares the top floor of Boyden Gymnasium, the same gym UMass students use for intramural sports like basketball. This year, the Minutewomen’s senior day game was not streamed on ESPN+ due to a scheduling conflict with men’s ice hockey, a game that started four hours after the start of the field hockey game.

Smith, a Yorktown Heights, N.Y. native, was recruited to play for a UMass program with a history of winning, including multiple NCAA tournament berths and Atlantic 10 championships. The most recent conference championship title came in 2016 and included a victory in the NCAA play-in game and a double overtime loss to then No. 2 Maryland in the first round.

In the following years, the Minutewomen have appeared in two A-10 title games and two semifinals. This fall, Smith’s freshman season, UMass fell to No. 1 Saint Joseph’s 3-0 in the 2022 A-10 championship.

Smith said the painful loss will stick with her for a while.

“With any loss, it shows you how great it feels when you win,” Smith said. “Just reinforcing the point that every win should be treated as if it could be your last, or it shouldn’t be a given in any case scenario, and you have to work for it.”

Despite the field hockey team’s success over the years, it struggles to fill the stands at home games. Even with multiple postseason runs under its belt, the team receives little coverage compared to the male sports on campus.

“In general, I definitely think that there is a disparity (between women’s and men’s sports coverage),” Smith said.

“Girls in general are just constantly being compared. I feel that so many people view girls just as smaller men. When it comes to athletics, we’re often almost inferior to male sports. People watch male sports more, they’re more funded, they’re more advertised, things like that.”

According to Smith, one way of managing this partiality is having a woman as a head coach, especially one of head coach Barb Weinberg’s caliber. Weinberg was a two-time All-American and three-time All-Big Ten selection at Iowa. She then went on to serve as an assistant coach at Iowa, Maryland (including two NCAA title teams), American and Wake Forest before taking over at UMass.

“Having a coach who has grown up playing (field hockey), played it in high school and is a woman, I think she’s able to connect with us so much more about the struggles of being a female in athletics,” Smith said.

“How it can kind of affect us, especially in points where for so many years, we would receive back-handed compliments like, ‘Oh you’re so good for a girl.’ I think it means a lot showing how fantastic of a coach she is on top of being a girl.”

During Smith’s transition from playing high school to college field hockey, she switched positions from midfield and defense to a high center forward. As the 2022 season progressed, she became comfortable in the offensive gameplan, allowing her confidence to grow. As Smith’s confidence grew, so did her voice.

Smith’s competitive nature was contagious to her team. Both Weinberg and Smith’s teammates leaned on her to be vocal in team meetings and before and during games. She constantly embraced the moments when the ball was on her stick. When the lights were the brightest, Smith came alive.

In the A-10 semifinals, UMass held a 3-1 lead over Lock Haven before the Talons scored off of a penalty corner and made it a one-score game. On the wrong side of a momentum shift and down a player due to a yellow card, the moment looked bleak. Desperate for a spark, Smith entered the game and became the catalyst and nailed the dagger.

Mia Smith with the response! 🙌 Q3, 10:41 | UMass 4, Lock Haven 2#RollUMass x #Flagship 🚩 pic.twitter.com/kbz0e2RJuU

Even when trailing against Saint Joseph’s in the championship, Smith never gave up.

“Statistically speaking, a game where one team is up 2-0, it’s the most likely where a comeback would happen,” Smith said. “I always try to think of it logically speaking. If this has happened before, we can do it again and we can come back from this deficit.”

When asked about how Weinberg would describe Smith, she had nothing but kind words and high praise for Smith.

“Shamelessly herself,” Weinberg said. “That’s what I love the most about Mia.

“Even as a freshman, she is not scared to say exactly what’s on her mind. She’s always authentic and herself… I think that shows incredible leadership qualities for the future. Owning your role and not being scared to speak as you are.”

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