Players' heart overcomes Gulf in class

Every week, they make a five-hour journey to neighboring Kuwait to play in a five-on-five league.

The team's former captain, Tamer, 48, came out of retirement last month to step in as the head coach to prepare the team for the Winter Asiad.

The Bahrain Ice Hockey Federation was formed in 2009, yet the roots of the game in this country stretch back to the early 1990s. During that time, a coalition of expatriates and Bahraini players collaborated to introduce and promote ice hockey within the local community. Among these trailblazers is Tamer, who first experienced the sport during a summer visit to his brother in Germany as a teenager. He joined a junior ice hockey camp there, and in 1993, when he returned to Manama at 17, he went to Funland, then the only ice rink in his country, where he met the expats playing ice hockey.

"Try me," he said to the players there. The expats were surprised at the enthusiasm of the Manama native. They played together and volunteered to teach visitors to the rink. That's how Abdulla Mohamed Shukralla Alqasemi, a former freestyle skating enthusiast, picked up a hockey stick.

"Without gloves or other protective gear, we just played with sticks, pucks, and skates. We soon fell in love with the game," said Abdulla, who is now the team manager.

He noted that, with limited annual funding of $5,000, they have to cut costs and allocate the money strategically to develop younger ice hockey enthusiasts. As such, most of the time, the team members pay their own way to tournaments, as well as forking out of their own pockets for venue fees and equipment. The team books the ice rink every week for free public classes in a bid to encourage more people to try the niche sport.

"We welcome anyone who starts to have fun on the rink. Then everyone can try ice hockey to see if they would like it," he said.

Yousif played ice hockey in Canada — the sport's spiritual home — for two years, from the age of 15 to 17. He had stopped playing for more than five years, until two years ago, after graduating from McMaster University in Canada, he moved back to Bahrain and discovered that there was an ice hockey team in his homeland. Encouraged, he decided to pick up the stick again.

"I thought I would never play ice hockey again. I probably wouldn't have, if it weren't for all of these people who kept the game alive in Bahrain."

Reflecting on the poor results at the Games, Tamer called it "a learning experience".

"We're going to go back and start afresh. We're going to focus on the younger generation, and, hopefully, perform better at the next Asian Winter Games in 2029," he said.

Abdulla added that a standard-sized ice rink is due to be built on the island nation in the near future.

Alongside the bitter taste of defeat, though, there is a sweet side to the tournament.

For many of the players, it was their first time in China, and their stay in Harbin left a positive impression.

"This trip has completely changed my view of China," said 45-year-old Salman Sulaibeekh who was able to do some sightseeing with his wife and other family members, who came to Harbin to cheer him on. "I've never seen such a beautiful, clean metro system," he added.