The Hard Life of a Rookie

GRANADA – Today, 9 February, the teams of the men’s ice hockey competition had a rest day. Only the women played today. China played Japan in an Asian clash while host Spain faced-off against USA. Both games were played in a packed arena.

The Asian clash was a nail biter as the game was still undecided 0-0 at the start of the third period, until Mai Morii scored the first and only goal of the game, ending this thriller in 1-0 victory for Japan.

Host Spain had a tough time against USA losing 1-9. Nevertheless, the host team got a standing ovation from the crowd.

The Spanish team has some rookie players on its roster. It showed, but not necessarily on the ice. Indeed, any attentive spectator might have seen some girls in funny dresses and painted faces attending the Spanish men’s team games. No worries, these girls are the rookies from the Spanish women’s team.

The Spanish rookies

“Since we are rookies in the national university team, we had to go through a kind of ritual”, explains Ines Almendro from the San Pablo University in Madrid. “We had a choice, dress up like this [cf. photo] or find our equipment wet. We prefer to play in dry gear, so the decision was made quickly”, she chuckles. The Spanish girls are always in the mood for a good joke, bit once on the ice they mean business. Although one of the weaker teams at the Winter Universiade, they give it a 100% each game they play. The spectators appreciate that as they are coming back each game, the rink’s bleachers are filled to the brim.

Christian Pierre, Press Officer