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Chicago’s promoter’s ordinance: What the city wants, the city gets?
Published on 5/9/08
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The Dubliner in the bunch is quick to pick up on “the Chicago way” and tells us that he was appointed captain of his Chicago Field Hockey Club squad “because I bought enough beer for my teammates.” A German player recounts how his love affair with the sport began in his native Deutschland, and while he played recreationally in countries like England and Switzerland, he’s certain that the Chicago club has the most international players. An American-born keeper picked up the game in a deal he made with his wife—a former standout for the University of Michigan’s women’s field-hockey team—that he would try his hand at field hockey if she tried her hand at his favorite sport, ultimate Frisbee.
To be sure, it’s just another Saturday afternoon at Windy City Fieldhouse for one of Chicago’s most multiculti sporting groups as Moroccans, Indians, Ghanaians and many, many more global citizens take part in an Olympic sport that is typically reserved for ladies in the States, but abroad, attracts both male and female players.
The Chicago Field Hockey Club, thought to be the only game in town for club-level players, was the brainchild of Faizal Jogee, a native of Malawi who was disappointed to find there wasn’t a Chicago club when he moved here. “That first year [2003] we only had four people sign up,” Jogee says. “Most of us played in our homeland, and we started missing it, so we started a league here.”
Today, the roster tops out with more than 50 active players fielding four teams for the indoor season, some with college experience (and at least one who is on the coaching staff at Northwestern University). Still, on most outings, you’re sure to find one or two players picking up the stick for the first time. We overheard a strategy session that began with a captain asking the players, “Who wants to play offense or defense?”—so you know it’s a relaxed affair.
The game itself is fairly straightforward, especially since the group’s done away with the always-contested offsides penalty. The basics: five to a side for indoor, including the keeper; the ball must remain on the ground at all times; you must use the flat side of your stick (which is similar to a hockey stick, but is rounded out at the base) while you try to score more goals (which means placing the ball, about the size of a baseball, into the opposing goal) than your opponent. On our visit, four teams played round-robin style in 16-minute games.
Come spring, when the warm weather arrives, the game moves outdoors to Northwestern’s campus and the teams expand to 11 on a side. In the meantime, Jogee and company will ready themselves for February’s Midwest Indoor Field Hockey Tournament in Cincinnati. The club will field two teams and take on squads from Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. It’s also traveled to Atlanta, Virginia Beach and Boston in years past for tournaments.While you might see some battle scars, especially on the shins and on the bridges of noses, the club tries to guard against such rough-and-tumble ways with penalties for what amounts to high sticking. It doesn’t hurt that the club is sponsored by a tavern (Four Shadows Tavern, 2758 N Ashland Ave, 773-248-9160) and just about everyone speaks the international language of beer.
Although you might be scared off by the pedigree of some of the players (including those with D-I college play on their résumés and a former Polish national player, “or so he claims,” Jogee says), rest assured that you’ll be welcomed with open arms by a patient bunch that loves to play the game. “Be sure to tell your readers that we’re still looking for male players,” the aforementioned Pole Derrek Slazak adds.
The Chicago Field Hockey Club goes global Saturday 26.
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