NEW YORK, Aug 25 : For the first time ever, Pakistan is competing in an international ice hockey tournament being held in Coral Springs, a city in the U.S. state of Florida, with the young team performing satisfactorily in its very first appearance in a major contest, according to reports received here.
Team Pakistan, a combination of players of Pakistani descent, hastily put together by Donny Khan, a Pakistani-American who is a senior official in the US National Hockey League (NHL), a highly popular ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams – 25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It has been growing and now teams from all allover the world are taking part, according to a NHL publication.
Pakistan made its debut this year after Donny Khan worked hard and found 18 players of Pakistani origin from across the United States who now are sporting the national green and white colours, representing Pakistan at the Latin America (LATAM) Cup at the Florida Panthers IceDen in Coral Springs.
Umar Khan, also a Pakistani-American and former NHL intern, helped Donny Khan find players through word of mouth and scouring social media, the publication said.
The tournament features 52 men’s, women’s and youth teams and more than 1,100 players representing 17 countries and territories, including Argentina, Armenia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Greece, Lebanon, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. Pakistan is the latest addition to the tournament.
After initial losses, the Pakistani team rebounded on Friday to record its first victory in this prestigious tournament, defeating Brazil by 5 goals to two. Earlier, Pakistan went down fighting to Mexico 6-5 on Thursday and in the opening match on Wednesday, lost to Chile 8-3.
Pakistan team’s defenceman Saem Iftikhar, a student at City College in New York, won a berth in the national team after playing just five games.
“Three games at City College and now I’m representing my country,” an elated Iftikhar was quoted as saying in the NHL publication..
“Ever since I got into (ice) hockey, I’ve been dreaming about bringing it back to Pakistan,” he said.
“I look around and I see Pakistani heritage players. This is a dream come true. I think it’s the first step in a much larger operation,” Saem Iftikhar added.
On his part, Umar Khan said, “My father always taught me to be very passionate about my heritage. Just being able to represent my father’s country, my grandfather, who came from Lahore in the 1940s, and just to represent them and put it in the game that I love, I was ecstatic about it.”
Also, Donny Khan said Pakistan’s LATAM Cup debut won’t be a one-off; he and the other players already are talking about returning with another men’s team, and a women’s team.
“We’re actually in conversations right now with the Winter Sports Federation of Pakistan,” he said. “We have their official blessing. We’re trying to fully establish ourselves as a club and part of the sports federation of Pakistan.
“The long-term goal is that we inspire people in Pakistan and eventually have a team Pakistan in the Asia Winter Games and one day, God willing, in the Winter Olympics.”
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