06/08/2003
By GRAHAM WATSON / The Dallas Morning News
It's the faces you notice first. Young and old; men and women; Asians, Africans, Europeans and North and South Americans – all together on a set of metal bleachers.
This isn't a diversity fair. It's just schoolteachers, coaches, students, factory workers and business people uniting for one purpose: a game of field hockey.
The friends are meeting at the American Indoor Sports Facility in Carrollton. Laughter, teamwork and camaraderie tell the story. Whatever cultural and political differences they may have are irrelevant for two hours on Saturday.
It's just them, a ball, a plush playing surface and a stick nearly half the size of those used in ice hockey.
Most of the players joined the Dallas International Field Hockey Association to exercise and get back to their roots.
"There was a time when we had 50 people on our roster and we had all five continents represented," said Shashi Patel, a Kenyan. "What other sports can say that they can do that all on the same team?"
Nadeem Iqbal, a native of Pakistan, started the club in 1984. He had played field hockey in high school and college and had a stint on the Pakistan National Team. When he came to the United States to work, Mr. Iqbal gathered a few people he knew to play on campus at Southern Methodist University. With the help of advertisements and word of mouth, the team grew.
"I started the club because I couldn't get enough of the sport," Mr. Iqbal said. "I had been playing hockey ever since I was little, and I couldn't think of doing anything else. I was just really surprised to see that there were so many people who wanted to play. We used to get 10 to15 new players a week, and we used to play all over the country."
Mr. Iqbal relinquished his stake after membership dwindled and it was hard to field 11 starters.
Mr. Iqbal turned the club over to Suresh Shah, who has become the team's manager. Mr. Shah sets the schedule, plans trips, collects dues and makes sure everyone gets to practice on time.
Mr. Shah had never played field hockey until he joined the Dallas International Field Hockey Association in 1994. Now he oversees a team of players from ages 16 to 60.
Mr. Shah said that every Saturday he learns something new.
"To me this is almost the same as ice hockey only without the skates and the ice," said Mr. Shah, 58, who holds up the broken arm that he sustained after being slammed into the boards during a practice.
"It's supposed to be a noncontact sport, but I had three bones broken in my wrist. That's why I think it's like ice hockey."
Field hockey is relatively tame. The object is to get the ball past the goalie, but the ball can't be put in the air and a player must always use the same side of the stick. Mr. Shah said the game's easier to play on American Indoor's surface because the team doesn't have to worry about rain delays or tripping over sprinkler heads. Mr. Shah said that since the team switched to the indoor facility about a year ago, membership has grown.
"People want to play more, now that we're in the air-conditioning," Mr. Shah said. "We usually have about 15 to 18 show up every practice and there's always new people coming in to give the sport a try. But a lot of the regulars were born with a stick in their hand. All the rest of us are just trying to learn."
Mr. Shah wants to restore the hockey club to its earlier prominence.
He petitioned a clothing company in his hometown of Bombay, India, to send uniforms so the players didn't have to buy their own. He contacted a team in Houston, the only other organized team in Texas that plays recreational field hockey, so that his club always has an opponent. The Dallas team plays Houston three or four times a year just to practice before bigger tournaments.
In April, the two squared off during the Baisakhi Khed Mela festival in Garland. Houston won, and the game raised awareness of the sport.
Mr. Shah said that's a victory he'll take.
"I volunteered to help out with this because to me it's like a public service," he said. "You don't think about what's going on at home when you're out here. You're just playing, and these people are your teammates and your friends. That's it."
E-mail gwatson@dallasnews.com
WORLDLY ROSTER
Core members of the Dallas International Field Hockey Association team and their country of origin:
Name (Native Country)
Walter O Nyabere (Kenya)
Ya-Chin Chen (Taiwan)
Johan Muller (South Africa)
Bradley Sheehan (United States)
Suren (Malaysia)
Iris (Uruguay)
Kim Gartland (United States)
Shashi Patel (Kenya)
David Hill (Ireland)
Atul Barve (India)
Maria M. Mbanga (Zimbabwe)
Suresh Shah (India)
Michael Shah (United States)
Kevin Almeida (India)
Nadeem Iqbal (Pakistan)
Masood (Pakistan)
FIELD HOCKEY
WHAT: Dallas International Field Hockey Association
WHEN: 4:30 to 6 p.m. Saturdays
WHERE: American Indoor Sports Facility, 1400 Hebron Parkway West, Carrollton
COST: First practice is free, $35 for the season
CONTACT: http://groups.msn.com/DallasInternationalFieldHockeyAssociation/
