Ice hockey president backs Jamaica’s talent

EVEN WITH its well-known forays into the sport of bobsled, Jamaica doesn’t have a deep history in winter sports. However, there are indications that the island could develop a competitive ice hockey team. Don Anderson, president of the Jamaica Olympic Ice Hockey Federation (JOIHF), is sure of it.

“No question,” he asserted recently as he reflected on a strong performance by Jamaica at a regional tournament earlier this year.

“There is a significant number of Jamaicans in the Toronto area who have children going to school, playing ice hockey because you know if you go to Canada, more than likely you’ll find ice hockey. Lots of Jamaicans who we’re now beginning to find out about and people are reaching out to us because we did put that on our social media platform, they’re reaching out to us. So we know that we can build a very strong team,” said the veteran sports administrator.

For Anderson, this isn’t just wishful thinking. Jamaica won the 2019 Latin American (LATAM) Cup ice hockey tournament and went undefeated in the 2021 renewal. “It’s really supposed to be a tournament for Latin American teams, Latin American and Caribbean. Lebanon played this year. It was our toughest game as a guest but they played for the trophy and we didn’t and we beat them 5-4. That was our toughest game,” he recalled.

DEFEATS

Jamaica also defeated Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Argentina.

Anderson believes that if the 2026 Winter Olympic entry requirements weren’t so stringent, Jamaica could target qualification for those Games.

“If we didn’t have those limitations, I would say we’re going to go gung-ho for the 2026 Olympic Games because we have the talent right now and we believe we can build it for 2026,” he said.

According to the JOIHF president, those requirements include players having to be resident in the country for two years before and having an ice rink in Jamaica.

In the meantime, there is growing interest in this new sporting adventure.

“There is a significant degree of awareness out of Florida, first of all, because we have played there twice, but right through the ice hockey world, Jamaica’s name is now being well, well, well represented. We are a member of the international federation and I personally attended the last physical congress in Bratislava as Jamaica’s representative, so our name is there and we were warmly received by the international ice hockey community.”