2011 SU Update: Hockey Night in Shenzhen

Members of the Shenzhen Ice Hockey Club

SHENZHEN – In the Summer Universiade, the heat can play a massive role in the competition. From the sand at the Dameisha beach volleyball venue that cooks in the sun, reaching temperatures of nearly 50 degrees Celsius to track stars running 1,500 metres in 35 degrees plus humidity.

But one group in Shenzhen has found and interesting way to get some time out of that heat. Playing ice hockey.

The game that is so beloved in North America and Europe is being kept alive in southernChinaby the Shenzhen Ice Hockey Club, a group of hockey enthusiasts that get together twice a week to play pick-up games.

Playing at the only rink they could find, located on the fourth floor of Shenzhen’s Coastal City Mall, the league is a simple operation.

Players range in experience, skill and even age and essentially, whoever shows up with equipment, can play. For instance, on Friday night, eleven players showed up to the rink, but only one goalie.

The solution: four-on-four hockey with one net turned over, a style used by so many North Americans on frozen ponds, translating to a mall in Shenzhen.

While getting a game together is rarely a challenge, getting equipment can be an adventure. According to Peter Chuang, a goalie in the Shenzhen Ice Hockey Club, hockey equipment is next to impossible to find in Southern China, so the players either have to order if from North America or if someone is innCanadanor the U.S.A., he stocks up.

According to Chuang, the league is comprised mainly of local Chinese players who, one way or another, fell in love with the game of hockey, however it also gives players like Artem and Maxim of Russia a chance to continue to play the game they love.

“I found this like about one year ago and I can’t believe it,” said Maxim, a Russian who’s work brought him to Shenzhen about eight years ago.

While ice hockey is already a popular winter sport in Northern China, particularly in Harbin, which hosted the 2009 Winter Universiade, it’s prowess in the South is growing.

In addition to the league in Shenzhen, there are also rinks and organized leagues in Hong Kong andMacau. Every November, teams from each league play in a tournament to decide the Southern China champion.

(Source: Justin Fauteux, FISU-AIPS Young Reporter/Canada – Photos: C. Pierre/FISU)  

 A mixture of Chinese and expats gearing up to hit the cool ice