Ashley Dykema-Pereira, Bethany Dykema and Emily Dykema all played on Liberty’s field hockey team this season. But there’s a fourth Dykema, Corey Dykema, who doesn’t play on gameday. That’s because he is a male.
Corey Dykema is Liberty’s first male field hockey practice player.
The NCAA does not have men’s field hockey as a sport, but male players are allowed to practice and train with women’s teams. For a nation where field hockey isn’t seen as a men’s sport, it is one of the only options for male players.
Dykema grew up in Newport News, Virginia, with his three older sisters, all homeschooled. When they weren’t doing school, they played field hockey. Corey took it up naturally.
Initially, it was hard for the Dykemas to find a club team that let Corey participate with his sisters.
“There were actually a lot of them,” Corey Dykema said referring to clubs in the area. “But at the time, there aren’t a lot of guys playing the sport, so it was kind of hard to find one that wanted me to join with them, but we eventually found some clubs that were interested, and I was able to play with them.”
Corey spent most of his time training with Saint Hockey Rocks, a club team in Virginia Beach that developed all four Dykemas along with fellow Flames teammate Maddie Vicars.
Liberty Head Coach Nikki Parsley-Blocker spotted Corey coming to clinics with his older sisters.
“Bethany and Emily, the older sisters, have been coming to clinics way before they were committed,” Parsley-Blocker said. “So yeah, Corey just used to show up at the clinics, and we saw him.”
Recruiting Corey was different than any other player since he is not allowed to compete for the team.
“We would always be having conversations with the parents, like ‘Yeah, if Corey wants to come and join us, we would love to have him as a practice player because, one, it’s an incredible advantage to have a male in your practice environment, and you could tell a great kid from the start, and (he) aspires of playing with the junior national team and the national team,’” Parsley-Blocker said.
Corey is still able to do virtually everything except compete in games, so he works hard in practice and in the film room, helping Parsley-Blocker add a new dynamic to training sessions.
Parsley-Blocker sometimes has Corey study a particular player the team may struggle against in an upcoming game or a certain tendency that one team likes to employ. Corey then simulates that in practice, helping the team better prepare for those games.
Corey’s play at club level and with Liberty in practices hasn’t gone unnoticed. He got involved with the USA program and recently competed in the Junior World Cup in 2021 in Bhubaneswar, India.
The young team struggled, losing several games, before beating Egypt on penalty strokes. Still, Corey’s game grew immensely from the experience — something Parsley-Blocker noticed.
“The biggest jump that I’ve seen is after the Junior World Cup,” Parsley-Blocker said. “Just whether that comes to his finishing techniques, most notably, his execution of skills has gotten so much faster … he’s playing against literally the best junior men in the entire world.”
Corey’s future looks to be at Liberty for now. He mentioned that a priority for him is finishing his degree. After graduating, he has not decided whether he will play in California, where a lot of U.S. men’s field hockey players play, or overseas in Europe with a professional club team.
He also has his eyes set on the 2028 Olympics, which will be held in Los Angeles. The U.S. will get an auto-bid into the tournament, but Corey aims to go above just qualifying and actually win the Olympics with Team USA.
The impact Corey has had on the program within a year has elevated Liberty field hockey. He certainly played a part in helping the team manage a tough Big East schedule. Both the future of the program and his individual future with the national team look bright.
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