After playing so well in the pool round, the United States men’s national team’s dream of making a qualification tournament for the Olympics hit a Jersey wall with a 4-1 loss to Cuba. That means the team can only finish as high as seventh, and needed to finish fifth in order to make one of the three last-chance qualification tournaments next year.

It’s a regrettable result for these hard-working young men. The team could have gone through the preliminaries undefeated if a couple of breaks had gone its way.

But, like has been the case the past 100 years or so, the men’s field hockey team participated without any sort of existing developmental apparatus for the young player — albeit participation amongst males was starting on an uptick in some places. High-performance centers for men are being established across the country, and that effort will, I am certain, continue.

Too, you are having male players in some states becoming leaders on their teams: Allentown William Allen (Pa.) was perhaps about three inches from a 2005 state championship thanks in large part to Lamar Long, a forward/attacking midfielder of considerable skill.

But male players in states which allow them on girls’ teams are not the solution to participation: that has to come when boys play on boys’ varsity teams. There are enough coaches of current girls’ and women’s teams willing to lend a hand if it does not take away their time from their programs. But given the single-gender nature of the sport, and the way that sports seen as single-gender are treated (wrestling, gymnastics) by NCAA institutions, having men’s college field hockey one day would be a net benefit for the game nationwide — if not the continent. Look at how collegiate women’s field hockey in Canada has been dying on the vine the last two decades.

But as for this country, we’ve previously discussed the possibility of varsity boys’ field hockey, a definite possibility in some places. There is one other nagging question, however: when should boys’ varsity field hockey take place in the school calendar? In the fall, where it conflicts with football and soccer? Or in the spring, where it conflicts with baseball and lacrosse? Or, perhaps, should it be played in the summer in school districts which have gone to year-round schedules?

What do you think?