Her field of dreams
Rizzo's run started at Walpole - now she's going to the Olympics
Dina Rizzo was on the other side of the earth when her world changed.
Twenty-eight years old, a 2002 graduate of the University of Maryland, and one of the finest players to come down the pike from the field hockey stronghold in Walpole, Rizzo was with the US national team at the World Field Hockey Olympic Qualifier in Kazan, Russia, in April when she became an Olympian.
The United States had not qualified for an Olympic field hockey tournament (when not the host nation) since the 1988 Seoul Games. When the US beat Belgium, 3-1, on the final day of qualifying to wrap up a 6-0 record and claim the 11th spot in the 12-team field for Beijing, the celebration that spilled across the field was jubilant and a little bit unreal.
"We were so excited," said Rizzo, from the US training center in San Diego, where the team returned last week after its final pre-Olympic competition, a three-game series against the Netherlands, the world's No. 1 team. The US went 0-2-1 against the Netherlands. "It was almost like we didn't know what we had done. It was hard to step back for a minute to take it all in. It felt like we won, but it almost didn't hit us that this was for the Olympics. It was an unbelievable feeling."
Like many who came before and after her at Walpole High, Rizzo grew up in a formidable winning tradition. In her four years, the Porkers lost one field hockey game, claimed three state championships (1994, '95, and '96), and stretched out a 78-game unbeaten run (77-0-1) as Rizzo became the first player in Massachusetts high school history to score 100 career goals. She finished with 111.
There was more of the same in college for the feisty forward. With powerhouse Maryland, Rizzo went to three NCAA Final Four tournaments, and the Terrapins won the national title in 1999. Rizzo collected 36 goals and 18 assists in four years, and was a first-team All-American her senior season.
Walpole has sent scores of players to the nation's top collegiate programs in the past two decades, including Judy Collins, the McDavitts (Tina, Kate, and Jen), and Dina's younger sister, Leeanne. But Dina is Walpole's first Olympian.
"At Walpole, I didn't know it was going to turn into a huge odyssey," said Rizzo, who began playing field hockey in middle school in coach Penny Calf's summer youth program as the Porkers got, in Leeanne's words, "a four-year jump on the rest of the competition."
Rizzo just never stopped playing the game, and when she graduated from college, she took a leap of faith to stay with the national team as it worked its way back to the Olympics.
"I enjoy it," she said. "I love playing. To be at this level, playing at this level, you have to love it. It's like any job."
Hold on . . . it's a job?
"Oh yeah, and it's longer than 9 to 5, I'll tell you," Rizzo said.
The team has been at the US Training Center since January. A day in San Diego, Rizzo said, begins at 6:30 a.m. After breakfast, she and roommate Sara Silvetti drive to the center, 25 minutes from their apartment, and stretching begins at 7:30, warm-ups at 8. Practice is 8:30 to 10:30, followed by an ice bath and lunch. Then at 2:30, warm-ups for the second practice session begin, with conditioning and practice until 5:30. After dinner, Rizzo goes home and is ready for sleep before dusk hits the California coast.
But this is the life she chose.
"Dina always just loved the sport, and she loved traveling," said Dina's father, Arthur. "Leeanne [who played at Georgetown University and works in commercial real estate in Boston], she said, 'I want to go make some money.' "
Dina has filled two passports with stamps and visas from different countries, exploring the world while competing in field hockey tournaments from Australia to Azerbaijan.
"I've been so many places," said Rizzo, struggling to choose a favorite. "Australia or South Africa maybe, that was pretty cool. I'm not a huge fan of Holland, the weather is pretty crappy. But Australia, and New Zealand - a gorgeous place, and the atmosphere for hockey is amazing."
It's an international life but hardly glamorous, unless you consider daily ice baths a perk. And Rizzo does.
"I think the [ice bath] does a great job and loosens up your muscles for the next day," she said. "It helps you with recovery."
Rizzo has 104 international caps, third on the team. She has been on the national team since 2002, but it was three years ago, she said, when the squad really came together.
"There's something about this team - the last three years, since '05," she said. "We got a whole new coaching staff then, and a lot of new, young kids.
"Everything with this team is so right. I haven't been on a team like this, with this kind of team chemistry; there's no drama, it's one big family.
"The head coach, Lee Bodimeade, is from Australia, and he brought a new style and philosophy. US field hockey used to be based more on athleticism, not so much skill."
As the US has focused on developing stick skills in its top players, the team has become competitive with the world's best teams again, after a long stretch of coming up short.
"We see ourselves right behind them," Rizzo said. "We're going in [to the Olympics] thinking we are going to medal. We definitely see ourselves in the top six. Anyone can win, it's who shows up and plays the best."
Leeanne Rizzo got to play field hockey with her sister for two years at Walpole, and the duo worked the penalty corners for the Porkers.
"Rizzo to Rizzo, I used to love that," said Leeanne, whose role as the inserter was to feed the ball to Dina, the striker. "She had such a strong hit for high school. She could score any time. I had so many assists . . . every time I passed to her."
For the US, Dina's role has been flexible. She has been a starter and a reserve. On corners, her job is to rush in from the right for a tip or a rebound, making use of her quickness, which her sister boasted was second to none.
"To go in right off the bench, the coach uses that as a spark, to change everything," Dina Rizzo said. "It's definitely a tough role. I've done a good job of adjusting. Some days I start, some days I come off the bench. It can be two minutes, it could be 30 minutes.
"You've just got to be ready for everything."
Barbara Matson can be reached at matson@globe.com.
