Canadian hockey coaches conduct training for Mongolian children

Sports
munkhzul@montsame.gov.mn
2019-02-18 16:23:40

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. Canadian professional hockey coaches conducted training for over 60 Mongolian children at the Blast ice rink of Bayanzurkh district on February 15.



In the frameworks of the project for supporting Mongolian young hockey players, initiated by the Embassy of Canada in Mongolia, four experts led by Coach of Leslie Global Sports Club Nate Leslie, are conducting training for young hockey players for free in the cities Ulaanbaatar, Erdenet, Darkhan and Bugant on February 16-19. Having done a successful crowdsourcing campaign in Vancouver, Canada, the coaches presented 500 pairs of ice skates and 200 hockey sticks to the children and youth at the Mongolian Ice Hockey Federation.


President of the Mongolian Ice Hockey Federation, MP B.Javkhlan said, “As Canada is one of the major countries in the ice hockey scene, it is a great opportunity for Mongolian children to have Canadian coaches teach them. There are over 400 hockey athletes in Mongolia. Our athletes began to compete in international tournaments from the 90s. Having won 1 gold, 1 silver and 4 bronze medals from Asian tournaments, our team has qualified for the first division of the three divisions in ice hockey. As an indoor ice rink is required for the teams in the first division, a few projects have been implemented for its construction. For instance, a construction project for the hockey arena has been implemented since last year. So far, the land for the construction has been approved by the city governor.”



Coach of Leslie Global Sports Club Nate Leslie highlighted that their main goal is to introduce ice hockey to Mongolian children and youth as well as to improve the coaches’ skills.




Representatives of the Mongolian Ice Hockey Federation underlined that the number of girls interested in ice hockey has been increasing each year, and noted that over 20 female athletes will be participating in international tournaments from this year.



Member of the ‘Anand Erdene’ club Kh.Bolortungalag said, “I used to think that hockey wasn’t suited for girls. But when I saw a group of female athletes playing hockey, I was so amazed by them that I joined the club, ‘Anand Erdene’. I have been training for 3 months now. I wish to compete in international tournaments in the future.”

Despite having introduced to Mongolia over 50 years ago, the sport of ice hockey was unable to become developed to the point athletes could compete on the global level due to insufficient equipment, rinks and experts. However, many of the Mongolian youth pursue the sport, overlooking the difficulty.