Our Mission

We are excited to bring field hockey to Lawrence, Kansas by offering clinics, camps, leagues and club teams. We hope to grow the game across the USA to become more of a household sport. Our programs are designed to teach beginner players the basic skills of field hockey, to improve player skill development and to teach the advanced players strategies, positional play, and difficult skills and tactics.

Our Goals

• Introduce field hockey to Lawrence, Kansas

• Teach you the modern game of field hockey

• Make you a better hockey player and the best teammate

• Emphasize great decision-making on the field

• Keep it fun and enjoyable on and off the field

• Provide unique opportunities on and off the field

• Help with life skills on and off the field

• Provide opportunities to play with and against our other Midwest Club teams (KC Field Hockey and Gateway Field Hockey)

• Ultimately we would love if our city would offer field hockey at the high school level. We will work hard to help schools get involved.

• Establish an active community of University of Kansas students to coach and play with us

Our History

It is our privilege to be an extension of the well established Gateway Field Hockey founded in St. Louis, Missouri by Kelly Yates. This program has been recognized nationally for 40 years, and is currently run by Kelly Yates and Kate Graft, the mother and sister of Meg Larkin. Meg also initially co-founded KC Field Hockey in 2018 with Bram Strookman, which has had immense success in a short time. With these relationships in St. Louis and Kansas City, there will be opportunities in the field hockey world to utilize their connections and programs, to help grow the game of field hockey further west to Lawrence, Kansas.

Meg (O'Connell) Larkin

Meg is a Lawrence local, a mother of four, and previously a practicing Physician Assistant of 10 years specializing in liver disease and abdominal transplant. She grew up in St. Louis, Missouri as the daughter of a field hockey guru. As a child she watched her mom, Kelly Yates, establish a field hockey empire in the Midwest and Southwest through camps, leagues, clinics and club teams. Now 40 years later Kelly Yates and Kate Graft, the mother-daughter duo, and directors of Gateway Field Hockey, continue to have one of the largest and longest running club programs in the country. In high school Meg was two- time Missouri Field Hockey Player of the year. She went on to receive her Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from Indiana University, where she was a Division 1 field hockey starter, two year team Captain, First Team All Big Ten, and Second Team All-American. She completed her Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies at A.T. Still University in Phoenix, AZ.

After getting married, Meg and her husband, settled in Lawrence, Kansas with their children. Meg also co-founded Kansas City Field Hockey in 2018 with Bram Strookman but had to take a step back after having children and no longer living in Kansas City.

Field Hockey has always been a huge part of her life and she is honored to now have the time to share the game with her own children and community. She hopes field hockey can provide athletes in Lawrence laughter, friendship, discipline and opportunities beyond the field.

Although she is a Hoosier, she's become a loyal Jayhawk fan.