Who Is Doc Hall ?

Remarks at Lacrosse Dinner – October 9, 2005

Charles  F. Doc" “Doc” Hall

It is pretty well accepted that Lacrosse was introduced to the state of Texas when John Hopkins played Navy in the Houston Astrodome in April of 1971. Making contact at  that game were Dave Gruber, a graduate student at Texas A and M, and Bob Korba of Dallas, both of whom had played lacrosse in the East, - and both of whom were in the process of developing lacrosse clubs in their respective areas.  Several weeks later, the newly formed clubs were to scrimmage on the A& M drill field. Thus was the start of organized lacrosse in the state of Texas. 

Dave Gruber was a promoter. He came to Texas A & M as a graduate student in the fall of 1970.  Within weeks, through ads in the Battalion - but mainly by personal contact – he recruited a number of interested students and   began to teach them the fundamentals of lacrosse on an empty lot behind Saint Mary’s Catholic Church in College Station. This is where I first saw the group in action, for I lived on Nagle Street and drove by their practice field every day. The next spring they were able to move the program to the A & M drill field. They asked for and were granted “club sport” status in the A & M recreational sports program.   

The Dallas Club developed as a mix of college students and young business men from the East, most with previous lacrosse experience. When Bob Korba moved to Austin several years later, Russ Groce and Don Newberry, spearheaded  the program. 

The Houston Lacrosse Club was organized in 1972. Primary organizers included Jim Perryman and Russ Beers, both of whom had played college lacrosse on the Atlantic seaboard.  The Houston club consisted of  business and professional men, most of whom had extensive lacrosse experience.  An early member of the Houston club was Les Matthews, a  Medical Student, who had been an all  American goalie at John Hopkins.

A&M, Dallas and Houston organized the Texas Lacrosse League in the Spring of 1974. They were soon to be joined by the Tulane Lacrosse Club, the San Antonio Lacrosse Club and the University of Texas.

The Tulane club was a mix of Tulane students and  young business men.  It was coached by Dr. Rix Yard, the Director of Athletics at Tulane. Before moving to New Orleans in 1963, Dr. Yard had been a highly successful lacrosse coach at Denison College in Ohio.. Soon after arriving at Tulane, Dr. Yard established the Tulane club which played in the Southeast until joining the Texas Lacrosse League in 1974. Tulane was to  dominate  the league during its years of membership.

Antonio was made up of a mix of Army and Air Force personnel complemented by young professionals.  A sergeant by the name of Bills, who had played lacrosse at Deerfield Academy in MA, was player coach.  Chief sponsor, however, was Major General George Ruhlen - retired commander of the 1st Armored Division - and a veteran of the Battle of the Bulge during WW II – a real hero. And, I might add,  a strong Aggie booster.

The Texas Club was organized by Bob Korba and was made up entirely of Texas students, - most of whom had no previous lacrosse experience.

Texas Tech, Louisiana State and Baylor fielded teams in 1975 and were granted membership in the league which was to be reconstituted as the Southwest Lacrosse Association.  In the years to follow, additional programs   were admitted.

For the most part, club team talent and experience allowed them to overpower the college clubs. This led to change and the formation of divisions   – Collegiate and Club in order to establish parity. The Collegiate clubs were to later join the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association.

We could go into much more detail.  Suffice to say that the quality of lacrosse in the region improved as better coaching in the collegiate ranks took place, and as newly developed high school programs started funneling “experience” into the college game.   

More about the A & M program, along with some personal observations

When I became associated with the program in the fall of 1972, there were about 40 students working out with Dave Gruber.  For the most part, they were completely new to the game but eager to learn. Dave split the squad into Maroon (A team) and White (B team).  Both groups practiced and scrimmaged together; but each played a complete schedule which included all other members of the league on a home and home basis. Dave was the A team coach and I passed for the B team coach.  Both Dave and I played attack on our respective teams.  The arrangement lasted for 2 or 3 years, at which time a decision was made to field but one team.

Mount Hermon Lacrosse 1939

About my playing days: My Jersey number reflected my age, and I started with #50. Having played prep school lacrosse at Mount Hermon, MA for 3 years in the 30’s, I still had an old wooden stick, - and could handle it reasonably well, - at least on the B team. The first game, in which I played, was at San Antonio. I was at the crease as the game started and guarded by Sgt. Bills.  A pass came into the crease area, bounced off of several sticks including mine and went into the goal.  A garbage goal if there ever was one. But it was my first goal as an Aggie. We took the lead 1 – 0.  When the game ended, the score was 18 – 1.  The next year my playing days came to an end when we played T.U. in Austin. I was creamed when I got a “buddy” pass in traffic and crumbled to the turf with what turned out to be 2 broken ribs. I got on my hands and knees, caught my breath and decided to walk off of the field – I wasn’t going to let the “Teasips” think that they could get the best of a 51 year old man.

It was always fun to go to Louisiana. Schedules were set up for the A team to be in New Orleans on Saturday to play Tulane and in Baton Rouge on Sunday  to play LSU. The B team, on the other hand, played LSU on Saturday and Tulane on Sunday. This allowed both squads to meet on Bourbon Street on Saturday night. The format also allowed the A team to play sober at Tulane but with a hangover at LSU, - and allowed the B team to play sober at LSU but with a hangover at Tulane. Our early games at Tulane were played in the old Sugar Bowl in front of 80,000 empty seats. As far as I know, no Aggie team ever beat Tulane in New Orleans,- Tulane had the 11th man, the Pat O’Brien Hurricane.

One fall, our varsity squad was at  TU for an off season  game on  the day of the annual A&M - Texas football game.  At precisely 10 am, as we were getting ready for the opening face-off, the Texas band, practicing on the adjacent field, broke into the national anthem, - and when we looked skyward,  there was the Goodyear blimp, flying overhead.

Dave left A & M following the 1975 season. We continued to work out and prepare for 1976.  We had enthusiasm and a certain level of experience, - but we lacked a coach. We put together lineups to the best of our ability, and I worked the bench during games. Russ Beers of the Houston club, who was working the College station area at the time, stopped by several times during practice to help us put things together.  We were to later thank him by upsetting the Houston club for our first win over them in several years.
         
Ted Sauer, who had played varsity lacrosse at a small eastern college, took over  coaching responsibilities in the fall of 1976 – when he came to A&M as a graduate student. During  his tenure, we had one of our most satisfying wins- a close victory over TU in Austin. And Korba doesn’t know to this day how we were able to pull it off.

Al Scazzero, Tony’s brother,  came to College Station in the fall of 1977 and established the Cow Hop Restaurant. In the spring of 1978, he coached the team early in the season.  While he was coach, we played  LSU,  during a downpour, at Kyle Field. Why Kyle Field? - because  Emory Bellard believed that the A & M student body had  the right of access to Kyle Field; so the field was open to students for anything from unorganized frisbie to organized games, in this case – lacrosse. When we reserved the field, Billy Pickard said that our only restriction was to not use lime on the astroturf. So we planned to use tape to mark off the creases; but when it started to rain, we had to come up with a better idea.  “Is flour lime??”  Of course not, and it would be easy to clean it up after the game. The field did look pretty good when we got done;  but the next fall, when the sun was shining just right -  from high in the stands - you could make out  two 18 foot circles centered on the 10 yard lines.
          
Tony appeared on the scene late in the season, - and immediately assumed the role of player/coach.  The rest is history – 26 years of dedicated service.  A won loss record of 359-107 (.772), and the recipient of many  honors. In the last few days, I have spent a lot of time on the net; and I have found out quite a bit about Tony.  Many of you speak of his influence on your lives. One of you even spoke of the Italian lessons that Tony would sometimes give on the sidelines. But I really don’t have  time enough to talk about Tony. Go to Aggie lacrosse history, and look up “Memories of Coach.”   Tony, you are quite a guy!!!!

In closing, I thank you for honoring me;  but the Doc Hall Foundation honors all who have make the sport of Lacrosse at A& M possible: Dave Gruber, who had a vision and initiated the program;  Ted Sauer  who moved the program ahead after Dave moved on; Tony Scazzero, player, teacher, coach, friend – the one who brought quality lacrosse to A&M; my wife, Alice, who shares my passion for the game; and numerous others. Sandwiched in there somewhere is a guy named Doc, - who had the time of his life as faculty advisor, B team player/coach, clock operator, and general flunkie. But most of all the foundation honors you the players - past, current and future.. I salute all of you.  On this day, you have made an old man very proud and very happy.