“The opening ceremonies were one big adrenaline rush,” Sgt. Bev Wolfert remarked as she reminisced about the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.
Wolfert started playing field hockey in high school, but she began playing competitively at the age of 20. Since that time, she’s been involved in:
- The Champions Trophy (Holland 1989)
- The World Cup of Field hockey (Australia 1990)
- Pan Am Games (Cuba 1991)
- Olympic Qualifier (New Zealand 1991)
- Olympic Games (Barcelona 1992)
- Pan Am Games (Argentina 1995)
“There are only about seven or eight thousand people who play field hockey in Canada, so it’s a small community,” noted Wolfert. “Once you get to the elite level, it becomes more like an extended family. Edmonton was hosting a national team training camp in 1989, and they needed some help. I was in the right place at the right time. From there, I was the manager that travelled abroad with the national team through 1995,” she continued.
As a 25-year-old team manager, she was thrilled to travel the world and meet great people. “Not everyone can drop their home life and travel abroad once, twice or even three times a year for up to six weeks at a time,” remarked Wolfert.
“In places like Australia and New Zealand, you’re treated like real sports heroes. I used to get asked for my autograph at tournaments,” she said. Field hockey is ranked on websites as being somewhere between the third and tenth most popular sports in the world. There are more than three million people that play, but not too many Canadians or Americans know about the game.
“When Canada qualified for the ’92 Olympics, we were in Auckland, New Zealand playing in the Olympic Qualifier, 1991,” noted Wolfert. The top three teams in that tournament made it to Barcelona; Team Canada placed third.
She continued, “The entire team was ecstatic because to that point there was no greater accomplishment for our team.”
Wolfert shared that, “The opening ceremonies were one big adrenaline rush. They organized us in rows and columns to walk out in formation. They had smallest to tallest, women then men. Our team was quite short, so we were near the front by the flag bearer.”
“As we walked down the tunnel toward the opening of the stadium, there was a thunderous roar; you couldn’t speak to one another. There were approximately 80,000 people cheering for Canada. It made you so proud to be a Canadian,” she exclaimed.
“Also, the lighting of the torch – they shot an arrow into the caldron – it was phenomenal,” said Wolfert.
When she got home from Barcelona, Wolfert was exhausted from the intensity of the Olympic Games; she needed some rest and relaxation. She’s still a huge field hockey fan, but because the sport is steamed through the University, she has no further involvement.
Asked if she’s excited about the Olympics, she answered, “The Olympics are the greatest sporting event in the world. I can’t wait until the games start, be it winter or summer. I admire the dedication and commitment that each athlete invests in their career.”
The advice that Sgt. Wolfert would give to young athletes: “If you have a dream to be an Olympian, live it and go for it. It takes extreme hard work, dedication, commitment, and desire . . . and a bit of talent wouldn’t hurt!”