40 years of excellence
our history
Gateway Field Hockey is proud to celebrate 40 years of growing the love of field hockey in St. Louis, MO! Since 1984, Gateway has grown from a single summer camp, into one of the most prominent and successful clubs in the country. Our flag ship program (Elite Club) is consistently ranked in the top 10 in the USA and #1 in Missouri through our success at various national level tournaments. We are proud to offer a variety of field hockey programs for all skill levels of athletes in grades PK-12! Whether you are new to the sport, want to do well at high school tryouts, or play at the collegiate level, we are confident we have a program to help you reach your goal.
our story
Gateway field hockey was founded and is owned and directed by long time field hockey coach and umpire, Kelly Yates. A St. Louis native, Kelly Yates, was a member of the 1979 Southwest Missouri State University National Championship team. After college, she returned to St. Louis where she coached at a variety of high schools as well as serving as the Head Coach for Saint Louis University for nine seasons. In 1984, Yates saw the need to grow field hockey in the midwest so she decided to start Gateway Field Hockey as a play off the St. Louis arch and the "Gateway to the West". Gateway Field Hockey grew from one camp to over ten camps thriving various cities in the Midwest and Southwest into the 1990s. In the 1990s Gateway Field Hockey began the Gateway Field Hockey Club by taking three teams (Team Gateway St. Louis, Team Gateway Midwest, and Team Gateway Southwest) to the National Field Hockey Festival. In the late 1990s Gateway Field Hockey expanded with recreational leagues during the fall, winter, and spring in St. Louis. In 2000, Gateway Field Hockey Club expanded to a full service year-round club and attended the first annual AAU Disney Field Hockey Showcase where they placed 2nd in the inaugural event. Both Kelly's daughters (Kate and Meg) as well as many of our club coaches today were members of the Gateway Club teams in the 90s and 2000s... Since inception, Gateway has been at the forefront of field hockey clubs leading the way for many clubs across the country.
In 2008, Kelly’s daughter, Kate graduated college and came back to work for Gateway while teaching and coaching locally in the St. Louis area. Prep Club, Elite Premier, Learn to Play clinics, tournaments and much more have been added to the program offerings in the late 2000s. In 2015, Gateway moved their outdoor home from Soccer Park to SportPort International, with the building of a beautiful water-based turf field and numerous field turfs. We now offer a wide variety of programs for any level of athlete from ages 4-19 years old. Gateway Elite Club is continuously ranked the #1 club in Missouri and in the top 10 in the USA! Since inception, Gateway has guided over 500 to help reach their dreams of playing field hockey in college! We are excited to being going strong in 2024 and we invite you to join us this season and see what Gateway is all about!
Our main programs
seasonal leagues
Gateway Leagues are the premier field hockey leagues in St. Louis, MO offering skill development and game play for athletes of all ability and experience levels in 1st-12th grade during the fall, winter, and spring seasons. Beginning in 2000, Gateway began offering professionally run field hockey leagues and we continue to provide high quality instructional game play each season on top of the line turf fields. Our leagues consist of multiple divisions within each age group to allows for beginner, intermediate and advanced players to develop their game at a comfortable level.
seasonal Mini Sticks
Mini Sticks is the perfect opportunity for girls and boys ages 3-6 years old learn the game of field hockey in a fun, informative, and exciting environment. Our coaches do an excellent job introducing the athletes to the most basic skills while developing them to be able to play small sided games and of course keeping it super fun and engaging! Mini Sticks groups are created based on friend requests and age and typically includes 2-3 coaches per team providing an excellent coach:player ratio.
seasonal Prep Club
Gateway Prep Club is a great program for athletes that want to to refine and enhance their skills, develop game tactics and train/play twice per week. All Prep Club programs include one practice during the weekdays and one game on the weekend (Sunday). Prep Club divisions run similarly to the league and are divided by grades (1st/2nd grade, 3rd/4th grade, 5th/6th grade, 7th/8th grade, and high school).
Year Round Elite Club
Gateway Elite Club is our most advanced program and includes all seasons of training, league game play, one summer camp, and tournament opportunities. Our teams compete regionally and nationally at various tournaments throughout the year. Gateway Elite Club is for players looking to elevate their individual and team game to the next level through our U8-U19 divisions. Gateway Elite Club is the top ranked club program in Missouri by the USA Field Hockey national ranking system in addition to a top 10 ranking throughout the entire country. We have a robust and competitive elite club program with multiple teams in all the age divisions.
tournaments
Gateway Field Hockey is proud to host three premier field hockey tournaments in the midwest. The Gateway Classic, Regional Cup, and Midwest Best tournaments are held every year at Sportport International on world class water based and field turf fields. Each year we welcome hundreds of teams from over 12 different states. The Gateway Classic is exclusively for high school teams of all levels and the Midwest Best and Regional Cup are open to club teams of all ages.
Summer Camps
Thousands of athletes have attended Gateway camps in the past 40 years and we already can't wait for another great summer! Camps include age/ability appropriate skill development, small game play, and tons of fun throughout with Gateway camp originals such as stick tug-o-war, the stick game, hockey bowling, and much more. Athletes will be grouped based on age, ability, and school/friend request at camp. We tailor each "camp within a camp" to specific age divisions and they are our favorite two weeks of the year!
