Field Hockey Struggles to Catch On in U.S.

Wolfgang Lamberti scurried about the field hockey grounds enveloped in thick fog at Long Beach City College.

When he came to this country 25 years ago, the Carson international shipping executive made a pledge to himself: to help a sport that is a cross between soccer and ice hockey gain national prominence.

On this sticky morning early one Sunday in Long Beach, the German immigrant and Cypress resident felt that he was a step closer to realizing that promise.

Men’s field hockey has a long way to go to reach the level of national interest that Lamberti wants here, but tournaments such as his first Long Beach International will certainly give the sport a boost.

Originated in England

The game purportedly originated in England and was transmitted around the world by way of British colonies centuries ago. Its popularity expanded into most of Europe during the 19th Century.

In Europe and the Far East, field hockey is considered the sport of the middle classes, and Lamberti sees no reason why it won’t eventually catch on with Americans.

“It will make it,” he said, his words punctuated with a thick accent.

When he was 20 years old in the small German town of Huels, Lamberti, now 55, co-founded a men’s field hockey club. But when he arrived in the United States in 1963, he was disappointed that few people here played the game and even fewer Americans knew it existed. He has spent most of his life playing or promoting field hockey, and his dream for the sport in America has become more like a passion, say friends and fellow players.

“(To become popular in this country), it takes an individual that pushes the sport like Wolfgang,” said Rolf Freerks, a teammate of Lamberti on the All Sea and Air Club of Carson.

Long before the fog turned to smog in Long Beach, Lamberti had been about his chores with frenzy on a pair of fields. It was barely 7:30, yet his bony knees, which drew ribbing during the opening ceremonies, carried the man through his paces without a hint of the beating they have taken in hundreds of games.

Hopeful of Continuity

He founded this tournament in the hope that it would become an annual event, building toward a 1992 Olympic field hockey berth for the United States. Indeed, Ric Purser, the transplanted Australian who is coaching the U.S. national team, showed up to look for players.

What made the tournament special to Lamberti was participation of the German team from Lamberti’s home town. It was symbolic, he said, that members of the VFB Huels Club, which he co-founded, be there to see him retire. Because, at the conclusion of the tournament, that was what he planned to do. The knees, he said, would finally get a rest: “I will continue, however, to promote field hockey.”

As founder and coach of the field hockey club at All Sea and Air, Lamberti, a tall, lithe man who wore a royal blue headband and uniform, recruited nine men’s teams from Southern California to play in the two-week event.

Including the Germans, who also brought a women’s team to participate in a concurrent five-team women’s tournament, the players were a mixed lot. There were Indians, Pakistanis and Afghans, some wearing turbans. Also playing were Scots, Englishmen, Australians and a smattering from other countries.

Lamberti was pleased with the entrants, but still, there were few native-born Americans. “Most of the players are immigrants,” Lamberti said. “They are like me.”

A few players were worthy of notice, particularly on the Cobras, a team from Thousand Oaks.

Few Have Potential

“There are one or two players here that have national potential,” Purser said. “That’s about normal for this kind of tournament.”

The United States did not qualify for the Seoul Olympics in field hockey, but Purser puts the U.S. “just outside the top 10” in international play. He said about 110 nations have field hockey teams.

“There is a great opportunity for the United States with this sport in diplomacy, bloody good,” he said. “This is not a grass-roots sport. It is very middle class.”

Purser must choose 16 players to compete for the United States at the Olympic training facility in Colorado Springs, Colo., this fall. The team will peak for an international tournament to be held in the spring in New Jersey. With a lot of work, Purser said, an Olympic berth four years from now is not out of the question.

“The U.S. national team has made a lot of progress,” he said. “In 2 1/2 or three years we could be (like) a professional (team).”

Tournaments Will Help

Purser said tournaments such as Lamberti’s will help sell the sport to Americans.

“As soon as people realize that we are competitive on an international level, they will support us,” he said.

Purser cited a similar result with field hockey in his country.

“In Australia, it was just thought of as a girls’ sport,” he said. “Then, when we got successful, it got a lot of media exposure.”

Lamberti has assembled an amateur field hockey league that begins play this fall. The league will be particularly active in recruiting American athletes with no experience.

It’s Not ‘Appetizing’

Bob Sulzbach, 32, a native of England who lives in Lawndale, said the game, which he likened to soccer but is played with curved sticks and a smaller ball, is not “appetizing” to the American public.

“But maybe now with soccer getting bigger here, field hockey will grow,” he said.

As for Lamberti, he hoped to pass a little tradition along on the final day of the tournament in Long Beach. He handed his ASA jersey to the youngest player on the Huels team, 18-year-old Jon Meis.

“I want the youngest player to know that when he gets to my age, he will look at the jersey and say he got it from one of the oldest players around, a founder of his club.”

Then, for the last time, he ran onto the field, supported by those bony knees. Joining his German friends, he played his last game on the side of the Huels and scored the final goal of his career.