Ice hockey is gradually coming back in many countries after event cancellations in spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Europe camps and pre-seasons games have started in many places while NHL clubs battle for the old season’s Stanley Cup in secure “bubbles” in Edmonton and Toronto during the upcoming weeks.
The epidemiological situation doesn’t allow ice hockey everywhere though. Mexico is one of the member countries where ice rinks are still shut down. The rinks had to close in mid-March and haven’t opened since. The government started to allow outdoor sports in July and the Mexicans hope that ice hockey may be back at some point in fall.
The Mexican Ice Hockey Federation has thus tried to keep its players from all ages active especially as practising outdoor has become a possibility recently.
Among the campaigns is “Hockey en Casa”, or hockey at home in English, with different drills normally held on ice such as stick handling and coordination especially for kids. Some clubs also held virtual camps during a time when normally camps would be organized on ice in Mexico or Mexican players would go for a camp abroad to places such as Toronto. But travel to Canada isn’t a possibility either right now.
In Mexico like in most places the national championships were cancelled for 2020. With players having to keep themselves in shape at home, the Mexican Ice Hockey Federation also ran a nationwide virtual competition, the “Hockey Summer Challenge” with over 100 participants from 6- to 23-year-olds in different age groups.
The goal is that the players practice at least one-and-a-half months before the competitions start but also to be connected and have fun through initiatives like this. Here’s what it looked like recently:
In Europe camps and pre-seasons games have started in many places while NHL clubs battle for the old season’s Stanley Cup in secure “bubbles” in Edmonton and Toronto during the upcoming weeks.
The epidemiological situation doesn’t allow ice hockey everywhere though. Mexico is one of the member countries where ice rinks are still shut down. The rinks had to close in mid-March and haven’t opened since. The government started to allow outdoor sports in July and the Mexicans hope that ice hockey may be back at some point in fall.
The Mexican Ice Hockey Federation has thus tried to keep its players from all ages active especially as practising outdoor has become a possibility recently.
Among the campaigns is “Hockey en Casa”, or hockey at home in English, with different drills normally held on ice such as stick handling and coordination especially for kids. Some clubs also held virtual camps during a time when normally camps would be organized on ice in Mexico or Mexican players would go for a camp abroad to places such as Toronto. But travel to Canada isn’t a possibility either right now.
In Mexico like in most places the national championships were cancelled for 2020. With players having to keep themselves in shape at home, the Mexican Ice Hockey Federation also ran a nationwide virtual competition, the “Hockey Summer Challenge” with over 100 participants from 6- to 23-year-olds in different age groups.
The goal is that the players practice at least one-and-a-half months before the competitions start but also to be connected and have fun through initiatives like this. Here’s what it looked like recently: