U.S. OLYMPIC FESTIVAL : The Long Voyage of Citizen Hoang : Vietnamese Refugee Has to Leave Festival for Three Games to Become an American

The men’s field hockey portion of the U.S. Olympic Festival begins tonight at the University of North Carolina.

From here, the nation’s best players will move on to next month’s Pan Am Games in Indianapolis.

Midfielder Tommy Hoang of Westlake Village is considered to be among this country’s elite in his sport and certainly hopes to be in Indianapolis. So he’ll be out there with his teammates tonight, showing his skills, right?

Wrong.

Hoang will be back home on the other side of the country, preparing to clear the biggest hurdle between him and the Pan Am Games.

The earliest he can get back will be Tuesday, meaning he’ll miss three Festival games.

The first prerequisite for making the American team is to be an American. Although he left his native Vietnam a dozen years ago, has lived in the Conejo Valley since he was a kid and has represented the American field hockey team internationally, Hoang is still not officially an American citizen.

But the 20-year-old will remedy that situation Monday when he raises his right hand in a Los Angeles courtroom and is finally sworn in as a citizen. “Even though I came here with my family when I was 8,” Hoang said, “until recently, there was no reason to become a citizen.”

He certainly never dreamed when he was 8 that he would want to become an American to represent this country on the athletic field.

When the Hoang family--Tommy, his four brothers and sisters and his parents--fled war-torn Da Nang in 1975 and arrived at Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego, there were other priorities before athletics.

Like food, clothing and a roof over their heads.

“When we got here, I was just a tiny, dirty little kid,” Tommy Hoang remembered. “Real dirty.”

It would be understandable if Hoang couldn’t recall those bleak days when you consider he and his family now live in a $500,000 two-story home in Westlake overlooking the water, complete with a boat and a Mercedes.

Kieu Hoang, Tommy’s father, had worked as a translator on an Army base in Vietnam, serving as a go-between for American and Vietnamese forces.

It was his connection with the Americans that enabled him to get his family out of the country and out of danger.

Once here, the Hoangs were given a sponsor who moved them into a Thousand Oaks apartment, supplied them with the necessities of life and even gave Kieu a moped so he could commute to work.

The Hoangs were in Thousand Oaks for four years, then spent another three in Moorpark before moving into their present lavish accommodations.

Kieu began working as a lab technician and now has a blood plasma center.

“He tests blood for AIDS and other things for labs,” explained Sammy, Tommy’s 18-year-old brother and another member of the Olympic Festival field hockey team.

Sammy isn’t ready for the Pan Am team this time around, nor is the third brother, 13-year-old Binh, but he, too, is playing the sport.

Field hockey, where speed and finesse are far more important than size, is a natural sport for the Hoangs.

“I was only about 4-11 and 80 pounds,” Tommy said, “when I started playing field hockey in the eighth grade.”

Hardly material for the football or basketball teams.

Hoang was an instant success. In a sport where footwork is so crucial, the fact that he and Sammy were excellent dancers certainly didn’t hurt, either.

“We formed a group, along with a couple of other guys,” Sammy said. “People would hire us to dance at weddings. We called ourselves the Unique Dance Crew.”

Unique would be a good way to describe Tommy’s skills in field hockey.

“He’s quick on the dribble,” said Andrew Dunning, his coach for the Festival, “but he also has a very powerful shot for someone his age. He’s bubbly and creative. Always supportive, always on the move. You never see him standing still on the field. He is always giving problems to the opposition. They have to treat him with respect because they know, if they leave him alone, he’s going to create all sorts of havoc.”

As he moved onto the international stage, however, Hoang found his biggest problem was away from the field.

He nearly became a citizen two years ago when his father was sworn in. Citizenship granted to adults is also automatically bestowed on their children under age 18.

Tommy missed by two days. That’s how long after his 18th birthday his father became an American.

The situation became serious last September when Tommy began to travel internationally for the U.S. National team, going to Europe, Australia and the Far East.

“I kept having to get a re-entry permit,” Hoang said.

While in Malaysia, he was tempted to head for Saigon to visit his grandparents.

“I wanted to go back,” he said, “but I knew I’d never get out.”

Hoang was a member of the gold medal-winning squad in last year’s Olympic Festival in Houston and has another shot this year. He knew that was as far as he could go with a green card.

So last September he began the long process to become a citizen. After several delays, some caused by his field hockey schedule, he finally got his swearing-in date.

Hoang arrived here last week, practiced with his teammates until Saturday night, then caught a flight home.

“I’ll be back for the semifinals and the finals,” Hoang said.

And, he hopes, the Pan Am Games. The U.S. squad for that event hasn’t been named yet, but team officials indicate Hoang’s biggest impediment is his unfinished business in Los Angeles rather than anything that happens here.

“When I think about it, I get a chill running up my spine,” he said.

When he thinks about what? Standing before a judge to receive his citizenship papers or standing on a pedestal to receive a Pan Am gold medal?

Said Hoang, with a confident smile, “Both.”