History of Hockey

Gamal Shirazi

1927 - 2007

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Q. ( 1 )     How did your hockey career begin ?

 A. ( 1 )      During  1944  I was a student in Port – Said secondary school . there was an English master his name was Mr. Klensy who was very fond of Hockey , so he formed a hockey team in the school . I was one of the first players who joined the team . At that time there was a foreign club in Port-Said named “ Sporting Club “ , including a hockey team consisting only of English players .

Mr. Klensy being a member of the club managed to obtain from the club administration a special permission for the school’s team to train in the club .

I used to play as center forward carrying No. 9  which I had maintained during all my hockey life as player . so my career as hockey player started in Port-Said , Egypt  in 1944 

Q. ( 2 )     How far did you go as : a player / umpire / coach ?

 A. ( 2 )      When I joined the University in Cairo in 1945 as a student in the Faculty of Commerce , I joined the hockey team of the faculty .

Unluckily during an official match I encountered a very serious injury in the ankle , so I stopped playing hockey for 5 years , After my graduation from the faculty receiving the B.C of commerce , business administration in 1949 , I returned back to my mother city Port– Said . My hockey friends in Port- Said had convinced me to resume playing hockey , I accepted and during  11  years in Port- Said , I joined several hockey teams e.g. :“ Police Club, Ramses Club,  Port –Said Sporting Club, Elmasry Club with which we became for the first time in Port-Said the champion of Egypt in 1955 . In 1958 I was requested by the administration of Port – Fouad Sporting Club to join the club and form a hockey team . the team was formed and during 3 years became the runner up of Egypt’ s Hockey championship and the champion of the Suez Canal Zone : Port-Said , Ismailia  and Suez .

In late 1961 I left Port-Said to live all the time in Cairo . My activities in Hockey continued on and I formed hockey teams in Steel and Iron club and Shemto club during the period from 1962  to 1987 .

As an Umpire :

I started umpiring in Port – Said in 1959 as third grade umpire , continued in Cairo and promoted to second then first grade umpire . In late 1969 I umpired in East Africa hockey championship D.E.S  Tanzaniz semi final and final match . Mr. Hardial Singh Kular was the TD he recommended me to be promoted to International in 1970 , then in 1972 I was promoted to International grade 1 on the W/O list . I retired from umpiring in 1977 preferring to follow and continue my administrative career in hockey .

Q. ( 3 )    What was your first contact with hockey ?

 A. ( 3 )     In 1944 ( see Q. 1& A. 1 )  

Q. ( 4 )     When was that ?

 A. ( 4 )     In Port- Said , Egypt ( see Q.1 & A. 1 ) .

Q. ( 5 )     What are your early recollections about the sport of hockey ?

 Q. ( 6 )     So do you have any special memories about the sport ?   

 A. ( 5, 6 )  During my early age in Port – Said when I used to pass beside the fence of Port – Said Sporting club and watch the hockey team playing I became very fond of the game .

When the opportunity existed in Port- Said secondary school by Mr. Klensy the English master who formed the hockey team of the school I was a pioneer member of the team , and very enthusiastic. At that time we used the equipment forwarded by Mr,. Klensy Thinking of having my own stick . I managed to persuade a tennis trainer in the club to provide me with a used hockey stick for which I paid one Egyptian pound , an amount at that time with a student was unbelievable !!! this happened in 1944 . the stick was a maxi ply brand , English type which I used continuously  for 10 years till it was broken !! 

Q. ( 7 )     What made you go into administration ?   and what position had You hold ?

Q. ( 8 )     How did you first became involved with the FIH ?? When was that?

A. ( 7,8 )    I retired as an umpire in 1977 because at that time legislation in Egypt were issued requiring people involved in sports to choose between working in administration or being umpires or coaches. Having good experience in administration , I preferred to follow this channel. In Port-Said from 1950 to 1961  I was involved in administration being a council member of several clubs and supervising different disciplines such as basketball ( I used to play also this game ) Volleyball ,  Ping pong , also I was the general secretary of the tennis association in the Suez Canal area including Port-Said , Port -Tawfik , Port- Fouad , Ismailia & Suez .

When I transferred my life from Port- Said to Cairo in 1962 I concentrated my administrative activities in Hockey being :

1.    Member of Cairo Hockey Zonal association till 1964 .

 2.    Assistant Secretary of Egyptian Hockey Federation till 1966 .

 3.    Hon general secretary of the Egyptian Hockey Federation till 1985 .

4.    Member of Egyptian Hockey Federation till 1989 .

5.    Vice president of Egyptian Hockey Federation in 1990 .

6.    President of Egyptian Hockey Federation from 1992 to 1996 .

On the standard of the African continent I became :

1.    Assistant Secretary of the African Hockey Federation by election from 1983 to 1987 .

2.    Hon general Secretary of the African Hockey Federation from 1987 to 1999 .

3.    President of the African Hockey Federation from 1999 to 2003 , when I decided to retire and give the chance to new comers .

As for the FIH :

1.    In 1977 till 1987 I was appointed member of the FIH juniors competition committee .

2.    In 1987 to 1992  I was appointed by FIH member of the Equipment Committee .

3.    In 1992 to 1994 I was appointed by the FIH member of the Development Committee .

4.    In 1991 I was elected for the first time member of the FIH council ,     re-elected in 1995 , I remember that during the congress of 1995 I obtained during election  129  votes the highest votes among the men’s candidates .

I was also a member of the FIH Executive Board after amending the FIH status representing Africa . I did not ran the election of 2000 .

From 2000 till 2003 I was a member of the President’s Forum , representing Africa till I resigned as President of African Hockey Federation.

Q. ( 9 )     What is your earliest recollection of working with the FIH ?

 A. ( 9 )      The confidence , respect , friendship , fellowships and collaboration amongst all those who had been concerned in FIH activities all over the five continents .

Q. ( 10 )    Who were some of the people involved with the FIH at that time ?

                  What did they do within the FIH ?

 A. ( 10 )      During my time in the FIH I had worked with :

§        Rene Frank as President .

§        Etienne Glichitch as general Secretary and president .

§        Juan Calzado as general Secretary and president .

§        Els van Breds Vriesman as general Secretary and President .

§        Peter Cohen as general Secretary .

As for the treasures :

§        Albert Demaurex

§        De Buren

§        Phil Appleyard

§        Robert Lycke

§        Douglas Gray

 As for the Vice president :

 §        H.R.H Azlan Shah

§        Alan Danet

§        M.Raafat

§        Hardial Singh

§        Brig Atif

§        Toni Ondarza

§        Pam  Tye

As for some of the members as I remember :

§        Peter Crane

§        John Wright

§        Peter Pouritt

§        Allan Woods

§        Moneyshi  Ueda

§        George Croft

§        Ivo Zlatar

§        Albert Lyken

§        Leandro Negre

§        Bob Davidzon

§        Theo Ykema

§        Patric Rowely

§        Morley Pecker

As for some of the Female members ;

§        Miss Lancester

§        J. Couteau

§        Rosa De Massa

§        Brenda Reed

§        Sue Neill

§        Anna bell Dillon

§        Claire Pestess- Monseu

Q. ( 11 )    Tell me whatever looks interesting to you about the people you met through the FIH and in the FIH ?  

 A. ( 11 )      Most of them are the hockey people who had deserved to be true members of the global hockey family , through their enthusiasm and experience , they had managed to serve the game and strengthen friendship and collaboration all over the five continents .

Q. ( 12 )   What are the differences between how the FIH was administrated then and now ?

A. ( 12 )       We must respect and appreciate those who had devoted themselves to serve hockey in all its phases in the past , at present and even in the future. Each of them had done what was supposed to be at his time ideal and practical . When time goes by with the fast growing of technology all over life activities , circumstances have to change and not to be kept stand still . That is what is happing in the FIH following these facts by creating new infrastructure of the FIH , applying modern technology in administration and giving the chance to new faces and younger age people having new and modern ideas and plans but not neglecting the past experience and affirmative experiments .

Q. ( 13 )   Which tournaments have you attended from the earliest to the latest ?

 A. ( 13 )       As umpire

 §        The 3^rd  world cup in Amstelveen, Netherlands  1973

§        1^st  Africa cup for nations  1974 , Cairo , Egypt

As Judge

§        M.A Jinah international tournament Lahore, Pakistan 1976

§        5^th  World cup , Bombay , India  1981

§        2^nd  Junior  world cup , KL Malaysia  1981

§        Seoul Olympics , Korea  1988

§        4^th  Intercontinental cup , Madison , USA  1989

§        4^th Junior  world cup , Ipoh , Malaysia  1989

§        BMW International tournament , Nether land  1990

§        Champions Troply , Melbourne , Australia 1990

§        Inter-Continent tournament , KL , Malaysia 1990

§        All Africa games , Cairo , Egypt 1991 .

§        Champions Troply , Lahore , Pakistan  1992

§        Barcelona Olympics , Spain  1992

§        Atlanta Olympics  USA  1996

AS  ATD

§        All Africa games Nairobi , Kenya  1987

§        World cup Brisbone , Australia

As  TD

§        International tournament Rovigo ,Italy  1982

§        European Juniors championship Riano, Italy  1984

§        3^rd junior world cup , Vancouver , Canada 1985

§        Azlan shah international tournament Ipoh, Malaysia 1986

§        Indira Ghandi memorial tournament, New – Delhi , India 1992

§        Qualifying tournament to international cup , Cairo , Egypt  1993

N.B :  I had officiated as Judge , ATD & TD  in Africa in the main AHF activities during the period from 1983  to 2002 .

Q. ( 14 )    Which tournament do you remember as being memorable and why?

 A. ( 14 )

 A)  European junior championship Riano , Italy 1984 .

I was appointed by FIH TD to  this event , which was qualifying to the 3^rd JWC 1985 . Coming from Africa and specially from Egypt where hockey activities are not comparable to those in other continents or countries . I felt that all those who had been concerned in the event might regard me from this view . So it was my responsibility to acquire their confidence and collaboration to bring the tournament to a big success by running it very smoothly and with full efficiency . The target had been achieved and to full satisfaction of all .   

B) 3^rd Junior world cup , Vancouver ,  Canada  1985 .

I was appointed TD together with Bob Davidzon the very active hockey personality full with enthusiasm and experience . Beside us there had been a well experienced group of ATD’s , judges , and umpires , also members of rearranging committee the tournament ran in the famous DOM of Vancouver very successfully except that Bob and I had encountered a VERY STRANGE PROBLEM !!

During the tournament there was a very important match of American foot ball to be played in the Dom which meant that the artificial turf should be removed . On the other hand we could not change the hockey matches schedule specially that for the first time there was 14 teams participating . NO WAY !!

Bob accepted the challenge , the football match was played in the evening . During the night Bob managed to re-instal artificial turf and so the first hockey match that was supposed to start at 8 h. in the morning was played , most of the people never felt what had happened !!

I cannot forget that incident which never happened in any other hockey major event .

Q. ( 15 )   Describe some of your greatest challenges during your time with the FIH ?

 A. ( 15 )    Being the Hon- Secretary of the African Hockey Federation for 12 years  ( 1987 – 1999 ) then president for  4 years ( 1999 – 2002 ) . It was my responsibility to place African continent on the hockey world map . this had not been an easy task considering that Africa had been the poorest continent among the other continents , and not all the National Hockey Association affiliated with the African Hockey Federation had been active in a satisfying way . As a member of the FIH different committees , council member, Executive Board member , Member of  the President’s forum from 1977 to 2002 my main option all the time to serve hockey in Africa and acquire the full support of the FIH in this regard , but on the opposite side I never neglected my responsibilities towards the FIH .  

Q. ( 16 )   Which accomplishment in hockey made you the most proud ?

 A. ( 16 )    There is a certain proverb which I have been always following during my life saying : “ Science is not meant to serve only science , it is meant to serve the society” .

In my view this means that a person must not keep his knowledge and experience to himself , he has to give these to his society .

During my time with hockey :

a)   I used to translate the hockey rules from English to Arabic to serve the Arab countries involved in hockey .

b)   I used to give lectures about hockey and the rules in Egypt , Oman & Morocco .   

c)    I had edited several hockey books in Arabic .

d)   My top accomplishment had been editing in English a book for  “ The African Hockey Federation’s History “ from the start in 1970 to 2002 .

Q. ( 17 )    What did / will you take away from your years of involvement with the FIH ?

A. ( 17 )      Now as I am living in retirement many times I sit by myself  trying to remember and evaluate my trip on the hockey train since 1944 when I started as a player . I had spent many long years involved in hockey with the Egyptian Hockey Federation , the African Hockey Federation , and the International Hockey Federation . Consequently I posses a wealth of memories and souvenirs  that represent my insclopedia which deserve a novel to be edited . This is my history in Hockey which I had spent not less than 60 years involved in .

Q. ( 18 )     Are there any awards you had obtained during your hockey life ?

 A. ( 18 )      Yes  ; several :

v     Regional

-         Diploma of Port-Said governorate on the occasion of sports festival in  1981  &  1988.

v     National

-         Diploma of Egyptian National Sports festival from the Egyptian Supreme Council of Youth &  Sport in  1978 .

-         1^st  Category award of Sport in  1984  & 1994  presented personally by president of Egypt  “ Hosni Moubarak” .

v     FIH

-         FIH diploma of Merit  1994 .

-         FIH order of  Merit 1999 .

v     AFHF

-         AFHF order of Merit  2003 .

v     Appreciation

-         Hon President of Egyptian Hockey Federation .

-         Hon President of African Hockey Federation .