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Athens 2004

By Jawwad Qamar

There are 45 thousands people working as volunteers at these Olympic Games in Greece. And perhaps none is more passionate about their involvement as volunteer than Mary Michailidis, a first generation Greek-American from Stamford, Connecticut.


A mathematics department head and teacher at Stamford High School, a public school in Stamford, Michailidis began as a coach at the high school in 1988, took over as head coach two years later and won a state championship in 1999. However, she had to step down from coaching in 2001 because she was appointed head of the math department and the school principal did not want her continuing in both positions.

In Athens, Mary is an Athletes Services Assistant at the Olympics Hockey Center where she greets the teams, always with a warm smile, escorts them to their locker rooms, answers any questions, and makes sure they have what they need including water and powerade. After the matches she escorts the teams through the media zone and then ultimately to their transport back to the Olympic village.

It was an easy decision for Mary to offer her services for the Athens Olympics. “It was easy for me to decide to volunteer because I have had this love of Greece since I was a small child,” says Mary. “My mother would bring us back to her homeland often and then when I reached an age that I could do it on my own...I did. I am fluent in Greek, so that also helps.” Mary’s mother was born in Argos and her father hails from Kalamate.

A two-time all American in field hockey at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Mary’s involvement with these Olympics goes far beyond these games. Upon finding out about the existence Hellenic Hockey Federation, she originally faxed her resume (CV) to the HHF with the intent to help in any way as volunteer. To grow the sport in Greece, she then forged ahead with her desire to volunteer coach at first at the club level and was told that there was a club team named Artemis in Argos, her mother's hometown. “I went there and found the coach and he immediately embraced me with open arms.” The following summer in 2000 she started working with the national teams.

And since then she has been to Greece seven times as a volunteer for the Hellenic Hockey Federation helping the two then newly hired Head Coaches first, Pancho van den Broek (NED) and later, Cedric D'Souza (IND). “I was like the jack of all trades for them. I provided some coaching, some umpiring, some team management, some translation, and a lot of knowledge from my 25 years of hockey experience.” Mary worked predominantly with the women and occasionally with the men. However, once the women’s team was abolished, her focus completely shifted to the men’s team and their Olympic qualifier matches in Madrid. “I was there as support staff and major fan!”

Even thou very excited and happy overall with the Olympics being back where they began, Michailidis feels very sad and disappointed that there are no Greek national field hockey teams in these Athens games. “I am very sad for all the Greek athletes who tried their very best to qualify. It is unfortunate there are no Greek national teams representing Greek hockey here. The men played well enough in Madrid to have been allowed to compete here. They truly reached an acceptable international level. This is not a good thing for Greek hockey in the long run.”

“I do not know who sat at the table at the meeting that created this qualification criterion for the host country for the 2004 games and ultimately agreed?” Laments Mary. “I wish I could have been there to object from the get go.”

“I also wish that the HHF had had a more structured plan from 1997 when they were awarded the games. I believe that there should have been more help from the FIH to ensure that they [HHF] knew what it would take to reach the appropriate international level. That is, to not be left out of the Olympics as hosts. It is a well known fact that Greeks are a proud people and perhaps they should have asked for help much sooner too.”

It is hard to disagree with Michailidis given the few recent blow outs in the men’s competition, the very reason given by the FIH, the world governing body of hockey, for not upholding the Olympic spirit at the birth place of the Olympics. Additionally, it is also very hard to believe that a Cedric D'Souza coached team would’ve become a whipping tool for all.

Mary got her start in hockey by chance. An ice hockey and soccer fanatic as a youngster, she wanted to play soccer as a high school freshman, but when she went to try out for the boy's team - that's all there was - the coach “recommended” that she go play field hockey with the other girls. She wound up being a High School All-State (CT), and later two-time College All-American at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. “Needless to say, I owe him a lot,” says Michailidis of her good fortune.

Mother of two boy; Panayiotis "Peter" 12 yrs old and Andreas "Andy" 10 years old, Mary also keeps busy umpiring hockey at high schools and colleges, running the Ultimate Field Hockey School and summer camps, and playing for Malvern Field Hockey Club of Brooklyn, New York.

Now in Athens, Mary feels that her whole field hockey experience over her lifetime is coming together. “Actually it is more like the cherry on the sundae because I have had such a tremendous experience; USA, Greece, and now internationally. I am in Heaven with this opportunity to help the some of the best teams of the world compete in this fantastic tournament.”

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