With natural ice only found high in the mountains far from major population centers, Ice Hockey in Africa is unlikely to become a major sport. However, there is a growing number of indoor ice rinks in different African countries that can be used for ice hockey. Enthusiasts have formed national teams in several countries and an inaugural African Nations Cup of Ice Hockey was planned for 2009.[1] Competing countries will be South Africa, Morocco and Algeria.[2]
Southern African teams[]
In South Africa, the sport is governed by the South African Ice Hockey Association, which organized the first African Nations Cup at the ice rink in the Festival Shopping Centre in Kempton Park. The South Africa men's national ice hockey team has been a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation since 1937.[3] Teams include the Krugersdorp Wildcats, Scorpions Johannesburg, Cape Town Rams, Cape Town Sharks and Cape Town Southern Knights.[4]
The Namibia national inline hockey team plays regularly in international competitions, and the Namibia Ice and Inline Hockey Association (NIIHA) has been a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation since 1998.[5]
North African teams[]
In Morocco, the Capitals, Ifis and Falcons all use a rink in a shopping mall in Rabat.[6] The Morocco national ice hockey team represented their country in the 2008 Arab Cup of Ice Hockey, in Dubai.[7] There is no ice rink in Algeria yet, but there is a strong national team made up of Algerian players who live and play abroad, mostly in France or Quebec, including pros like Djamel Zitouni, Yassine Fahas and Harond Litim. The Algeria national ice hockey team plays in the Arab Ice Hockey Federation.[8] Tunisia's first ice rink is at The Blue Ice complex in the Yasmine Hammamet resort.[9] The Tunisian Ice hockey team is being formed by the ice hockey player Ihab Ayed from France.[10] There is an ice skating rink in the Ancient Egypt Mall in Cairo, Egypt, and another at Family Land in Maadi, Helwan, but apparently there are not yet any ice hockey teams in Egypt.[11][12]
Other locations[]
Ice hockey is also played in Côte d'Ivoire, although only by amateurs, on a rink built in the 1950s for Scandinavian tourists in the Hotel d'Ivoire in Abidjan.[13] In 2005, the Solar Ice Rink was opened in the Panari Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya. Several Kenyan schools have shown interest in setting up ice hockey teams.[14]