Press Releases

Hockey coach lining up best shot at green card

12:07 AM CDT on Saturday, June 18, 2005

By KATHY A. GOOLSBY / The Dallas Morning News

Stan Tugolukov coached Colleyville Heritage High's hockey team to the state quarterfinals last spring. His work with the Ice Jets Hockey Association's under-12 girls team placed the squad among the top eight U.S. teams.
The Russian native also coaches an Ice ! Jets girls team and the Colleyville Heritage High team.
Parents, players and officials call him one of the best hockey coaches to hit North Texas. But with his student visa about to expire, Mr. Tugolukov may soon find himself back in Russia.
"It would be difficult replacing him," said Ralph Searfoss, president of the Ice Jets Hockey Association. "We have a small number of highly qualified coaches, and guys like Stan are not easy to find. He's a real specialized instructor and teacher."
Mr. Tugolukov, 34, has been approved by the Department of Homeland Security's immigration services division to apply for a green card as an "alien with extraordinary abilities."
Those skills stem from his years playing hockey, first as a youth and then for 11 years on the Russian Super League with Sergei Zubov, Pavel Bure, Igor Korolev and Alexei Zhamnov, who later joined National Hockey League teams.
A green card would allow Mr. Tugolukov to continue living in the U.S. and eventually obtain permanent residency. But before he can apply for a green card, he must clear up a technicality with the State Department.
And that has proved more difficult than scoring a hat trick.
Mr. Tugolukov's problem began with a visit to Arlington in 2000 on a State Department 24-day exchange program. His J Visa required that he return to Russia for a minimum of two years to share what he learned in America.
But he returned to the U.S. 51/2 months later on a tourist visa. He never intended to stay, but while in New York, he fell in love with a girl he met during a basketball game in Madison Square Garden. She walked by his seat, and he heard her speaking in his native tongue. The two struck up a conversation.
"It was just like the stars put us together," he said of his wife, Marina, whom he married last August. "I hoped I can be with that girl. I wanted to be close to her."
By coincidence, Mrs. Tugolukov, who is from the former Soviet republic of Moldova, was studying business and finance at the University of Texas at Arlington. Mr. Tugolukov returned to Arlington in May 2001, obtained a student visa and enrolled in UTA's English Learning Institute to be near her.
"We can stay here as long as we are students," said Mrs. Tugolukov, who is two semesters from earning a master's degree in business.
Mr. Tugolukov has a bachelor's in physical education and a master's in ice hockey from Ural State Academy of Physical Education in Chelyabinsk, Russia.
With the birth in May of their son, Slava Nicholas, Mr. Tugolukov wants work that will better support his family in Arlington. He has asked for a waiver on his visa's two-year limit, arguing that he has brought Russian hockey teams to Texas for tournaments and that they in turn reach more people in Russia than he can alone.
"If the U.S. government sponsors the exchange program, they want you to go home and share the experience," Mrs. Tugolukov said. "We're not saying it's a stupid law, just that our case is unique. We believe he can do that better by bringing the Russian teams here to show how great America is."
State Department policy prevents comments on specific cases. But Angela Aggeler with the department's Bureau of Consular Affairs in Washington, D.C., said being classified as an alien with extraordinary ability probably will make it easier to obtain the waiver. But she said he'll have to apply for it at the U.S. Embassy in Russia -- advice also given him by immigration services officials and at least one lawyer.
And that's the problem. If he returns to Russia and the waiver request is denied, he'll be separated from his wife and son.
"And I don't know how to explain that to my kids," said Mr. Tugolukov, referring to the hockey teams he hopes to coach this fall.
Mr. Tugolukov's hockey players and their parents also said the coach's absence would hurt the sport in North Texas. Jason Magusiak, who played on his Colleyville Heritage team, called Mr. Tugolukov a great coach.
"I don't think I've had any other coach even come close to him," said Jason, 16. "He knew what he needed to teach us, and was able to see what needed to be worked on and the best way to do it."
Keller resident Susan Smith said her son's skating improved 100 percent under Mr. Tugolukov's guidance. Clayton Smith, 15, played for an Ice Jets boys team last season.
"He's a lot more disciplined than coaches we had in the past," Ms. Smith said. "He's far above the norm, just a true professional."
The Tugolukovs hope the State Department will grant the waiver before August. If not, Mr. Tugolukov can remain a student and lose the opportunity to get a green card, or risk returning to Russia to sort out the problem.
Perhaps his best guide on what to do is advice he gave the girls team he helped get to nationals.
"When we started, I told the girls, 'Do your best, try hard, then it doesn't matter what the results will be,' " he said. "Life will give them the chance. Life will reward them."
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E-mail kgoolsby@dallasnews.com
Posted on Sat, Jun. 25, 2005

Green card is family's key to future

By Adam Williams

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Stanislav Tugolukov lives in an Arlington apartment with his wife, Marina, and month-old son, Slava Nichols. He coaches several area hockey teams, including the Colleyville high school team, and takes graduate classes at UT-Arlington.
His teams are successful, his English is proficient and his wife is a year from completing her master's degree in finance.
But will his life in America continue?
That is for the State Department to decide.
"Right now they have a yes-or-no decision to let me stay here or send me back to Russia," Tugolukov said. "We're just hoping that my work with my teams and kids will let me stay here. I'm doing my best not to think about having to leave my family and going back."
Tugolukov has lived in Arlington and studied at the University of Texas at Arlington since 2001. He has a student visa, but his attempt to obtain a green card and citizenship has hit a snag. A green card is proof that an immigrant is a legal permanent resident.
Tugolukov arrived in Arlington on a 24-day exchange program in August 2000. The State Department-sponsored program stipulates that he must return to Russia for at least two years to share his U.S. experiences.
He returned to Russia but left months later to visit New York with his father. At a basketball game at Madison Square Garden, a woman overheard them speaking Russian.
The woman, Marina, was living and studying in Arlington. He ended up marrying her and moving to Texas. She is living in the state on a student visa.
"It was very lucky. It was like a life sign that brought us together," Tugolukov said.
He never fulfilled the two-year obligation of the exchange program but instead obtained a student visa, learned English and began coaching hockey. In July 2002, he applied for a green card as an "alien with extraordinary abilities," based on his coaching and professional playing experience. He was granted a petition for permanent residency, but because he did not fulfill his two-year stint in Russia, he couldn't take the next step in the application.
With a master's degree in hockey from Russia, Tugolukov has taught and coached around the area, including work for the Colleyville program, the Dallas Ice Jets and a team with players with disabilities.
"My son and his teammates not only adore him, but they have a tremendous amount of respect for him as well," said Amy Snyder, whose son Scott played for Tugolukov's Dallas Ice Jets Bantam team. "He's the type of coach they'll remember along the way. He's really touched their lives, not only as coach, but as a friend and mentor, too."
Tugolukov hopes that his coaching will help him obtain a waiver so he can remain in the country.
But all the couple can do is wait. If the waiver is not granted by August, Tugolukov will return to Russia.
"Things are happening for us," his wife said. "We don't want to be separated and have to go back and start all over again. All we can do is hope the waiver is granted."
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Adam Williams, (817) 548-5473 awilliams@star-telegram.com