By Andy Hutchison

TOKYO–Ian Tapsall, coach of the Staples High field hockey team, is also a field hockey player. In fact, at age 64, he continues to be quite competitive at the sport.

Tapsall and his Men’s Over 60 teammates participated in the World Masters Hockey World Cup at the Oi Hockey Stadium in Tokyo, Japan, October 19-29.

This was Tapsall’s third Masters World Cup. He also competed in 2014 with the US Men’s Over 50 team in Rotterdam and the 2018 US Men’s Over 55 team in Barcelona.

In Pool Play, Tapsall’s team beat Singapore 2-0, fell to Australia 3-0, lost to Malaysia 2-1, and tied Scotland 2-2. In a crossover game, the team battled Canada in a 4-3 setback. Then came a the seventh/eighth place clash with Scotland; regulation ended in a 4-4 tie before Scotland prevailed in an overtime shootout.

Gold went to Australia, Silver to England, and Bronze to Malaysia. Quite a showing for Tapsall’s squad, hanging close during pool play versus eventual medal winners.

Tapsall started playing competitively at 12 but had a stick in his hand at age 2.

“My father had played in India and played competitively in England,” he explains.

A midfielder/ forward, Tapsall has played 22 times for the US Masters team.

“Keeps me motivated to keep fit in my 60s,” said Tapsall, adding that there is tremendous camaraderie and renewed relationships with people from numerous countries he has played with for over 40 years.

“Top level of competition in the world gives motivation to perform as best a one can,” Tapsall noted.

Because the US is such a vast country and men’s field hockey is centered on the east and west coasts, Tapsall notes, tryouts are hard to arrange. Videos are sent in and past appearances are taken into account, he added.

The team met twice this year, in Pennsylvania and Arizona, to take part in training weekends.

Tapsall gets a lot of beneficial experiences from competing in the Masters World Cup events.

“Representing your country at the highest level for any particular age group is an honor. Players in all teams include prior Olympians so the standard is the very best in the world. Continued new tactics and seeing first-hand how the game is evolving enhances my knowledge to coach at the club and high school level,” Tapsall said.

Andy Hutchison has been covering school sports — including Staples athletics — as well as news and feature stories in Fairfield County, since the 1990s. Learn more about us here.