Tadeusz Adamowski

Tadeusz "Ralf" Adamowski (November 19, 1901 – August 1994) was a Polish-American ice hockey player who competed in the 1928 Winter Olympics, and a supporter and popularizer of the sport in early twentieth century Poland.

Adamowski was born in Lausanne, Switzerland when his parents, Polish immigrants to the USA, had traveled there.

Hockey
He attended Harvard University from 1918 to 1922 and played hockey there, among other sports.

In 1925 "he went to Warsaw as an agent for the General Motors Corporation". In Warsaw he ran into Polish hockey players, associated with the club AZS Warszawa, who asked him to join their team after he explained he had played hockey at Harvard. With Adamowski on the team, AZS Warszawa five times in a row won the Polish championship (1927, 1928, 1929, 1930 and 1931).

Between 1926 and 1931 he was the center of the Polish national team and was considered to be one of the most technically skilled hockey players in Europe. He was chosen as the fourth most popular athlete in Poland in 1927 (and 7th in 1929).

In 1926 Adamowski took part in the European Hockey Championship in Davos, as part of the first-ever international appearance of the Polish ice hockey team. Adamowski played in the European Championships six times in all (1926, 1927, 1929-silver medal, 1930, 1931-silver medal, and 1933).

He participated in the World Championships three times (1930, 1931, and 1933). In 1928 Adamowski skated in the Olympic tournament, also with Poland's national hockey team. In 1930, during the World Championships in Davos was appointed to represent Europe at the game with Canada. One of his greatest hockey successes came in at the 1931 World Championship in Krynica, when the Polish team with Adamowski as its leader took fourth place, after Canada, USA, and Austria, making it the second team in Europe.

He became the coach of the Polish national team in 1927 and served until 1930, as well as in 1932. As a coach he popularized Canadian hockey methods and strategy which stressed teamwork over individual players. Along with Aleksander Tupalski he also served as a coach for the Gdańsk club Gedania.

Later Life
Adamowski served briefly in the Polish Army in World War II and was captured by the Germans in 1939. He was a prisoner of war until 1945 when he was liberated and moved back to the United States.