Iran Ice Hockey Newsletter vol.1

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Well-Prepared for World Championship

by Kaveh Sedghi (Iran Ice Hockey NT Manager)

Kaveh Sedghi; The head coach of Iranian Ice Hockey said about making history for his team.

It was a few days ago that the Iranian Women's Ice Hockey team, which had participated in an international tournament for the first time, won the runner-up title. Other participants cited Iranian girls as a phenomenon in the tournament, and the good news is that some of them were asked to play legionnaires in other countries in their first international experience. Kaveh Sedghi, young coach and former captain of theIranian Ice Hockey team, talked about the competition and the surprise of the Iranian girls:

"Two years ago; 1 years after the founding of the World Skating Federation, we were able to join the IHF as the Skating Hockey Federation, but unfortunately, the world became infected with the Coronavirus and we had no expedition to achieve international experiences in the pandemic situation. The only match right now was the UAE Open Cup. The UAE is a multinational country and the Cup quality was very high level. Our boys shone. The level of competition was excellent and they gained a good experience. But the girls were the surprises of the competition and everyone mentioned them as acompetition phenomenon. They beat the UAE NT team in 2games and a team from Russia in one game. Although they lost to the same team in the final and became runners up. This event was very special for our girls because the Iranian ice hockey team experienced its first important international tournament."

Future Competitions

The 2021 Men's IHF World Championship Division VI is scheduled to be an international ice hockey tournament run by the IHF. The tournament will be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan from 3to 5th March 2021. nI this division, the Iran NT team will compete with Singapore, Kuwait, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan which hired al the players from Russia is the strongest team whereas Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Iran are first-time participate in tournament.

Meanwhile, the Iranian Women's Ice Hockey national team will go to the Asian Challenge Cup in Manila, Philippines in May. This will be the first experience of Iranian women participating in national level competitions.

UAE Open Cup

The UAE IceHockey Open Cup has been hold as the most prestigious ice hockey tournament in the region in Dubai, UAE with 10 teams in the men's and women's sections.

The Islamic Republic of Iran National Ice Hockey team (women and men) participated in this tournament by combining the best ice hockey players of Iran.

These competitions have been hold from 26 to 28th October at the Dubai Mall ice rink and Al-Nasr Club ice rink.

In this competition, the women's team, which competed with the UAE national teams and the Russian Red Rocket club team on a regular basis, became the runner-up with two wins against the UAE national team and one win and one loss against the Red Rocket team.

In the men's competition, the Iranian team competed in Group Two with the All-Stars and a Russian club. After losing to both teams, they competed with the UAE national team for fifth and sixth place, but lost to this team as well.

Iran had also delegated three international referees to the tournament. Ramin Atighehchi, Massoud Mahiman, and Atieh Rezaei, who refereed in the competitions.

Ice hockey is rookie in Iran 

by Samaneh Nazeri, Iran Ice HockeyNT Goalie

Samaneh Nazeri, the Isfahani goalie of the Iranian national ice hockey team, became the runner-up of the UAE Open Cup with this team. Samaneh who won several titles as a member of Iran In-line hockey in domestic and international events, talks about this exciting experience:

"This was the first international experience of Iranian ice hockey teams; Because of the outbreak of the coronavirus, we were not able to participate in many of the international competitions that were planned. Fortunately, at the end of October, we had a chance to participate in the high-level UAE Open Cup.This tournament was the first international appearanceof the Iranian women'sice hockey team and therefore played an important role in its news coverage; Everyone was surprised by the good results we achieved ni this event.This achievement made our families and friends happy and proud, and also made many compatriots realize that Ice Hockey not only exists in our country but at this level and quality, ti is practicing and participating in professional tournaments. I just want to take this opportunity to thank the Iran Mall who providing the conditions for the construction and equipment of the ice rink. tI was the dream of many athletes to play on the ice, and now, this dream came true."

UAE Cup Pre-Match Press Conference

by ISNA (Iranian Student's News Agency)

Kaveh Sedghi;, Head of the Iranian Skating Hockey Association, along with the technical staff and captains of Iran Ice Hockey NTs and the General Secretary of the federation, participated in a press conference before flying to the UAE Cup in the Iran Mall meeting hall.

Not for Rich Kids

"From a distance, skate hockey seems to be for the rich kids, but most of our athletes are from the middle stage of society.", Kaveh Sedghi said. "This sport has a long history and the International Ice Hockey Federation  (IIHF)has been established for 13 years. We have been able to become a member of the IIHF after 112 years by building a standardOlympic Size Ice Rink in Iran Mall. After getting involved int h e pandemic it's the first official appearance of NIs in an international competition. Last year, due to the corona outbreak, we could not participate in the tournament, but this year, we will participate in the World Cup with all Iranian players. The Dubai International Championships are aimed at preparing the national team for the World and Asian Championships."

Sponsors Importance

"During all these years, with the support of the media and news coverage, athletes in this field have been encouraged and many sponsors have been attracted. We have good potential in Ice Skating and Ice Hockey hopefully getting good results will be achieved with the presence of sponsors in the competitions. Iranian athletes have arrived in this point without sufficient facilities nevertheless we hope to win medals in our first appearance in an international tournament.", Ramin Atighechi, General Secretary of Iran Skating Federation said.

Hope for the future

"Our job is hard work," said Farzad Hoshidari, the coach and captain of the men's IceHockey NT. "We worked in inline skating for several years to get good results. We have been working in this field for a year with the establishment of an Ice Hockey standard rink. We have a four- year plan for Ice Hockey to reach division 2 in Asia and 3in the world. We always expect success from athletes, but this is a fledgling field. It is very good if we pose a good result in these competitions, but in any case, we have a four-year plan for this field."

Azam Sanaei, the coach of Iran Ice Hockey women's NT also stated in this press conference: "Women started working a little later than men." In Inline discipline, we were not only inferior to the world level, but also to the Iranian men's team. We are trying to get the best result in our first appearance in Ice Hockey."

Girl's ice hockey Weekend

coinciding with the IIHF (World Ice Hockey Girl's ice hockey Weekend Federation) global program, the "Girl's Weekend" program would be held every month at the Iran Mall Ice Box rink.

The second training session of the Iran youth Ice Hockey talent search camp

The second training session of the National Youth Ice Hockey Talent Camp in the boy's section (14 to 18 years old) under the supervision technical staff of the national youth team, Farzad Hoshidari, Arman Bahri, Oveys Hassanzadeh and with the cooperation of the national youth hockey coach Mohammad Reza Sheikh Jafari was held on October 15th and continue till end of December.

The team, which started its work in July of this year, has started training every other week in the boy's and girl's sections will continue their work in order to support the national teams, pay attention to the youth, provide access to the ice rink for al with the slogan 'Development Peace through sport, skating hockey for all".

In the girl's section, exercises are held under the supervision of Azam Sanai, Negar Khoram, Fatemeh Ismaili, Arezoo Izadi and Sadaf Mansouri.

JohanBoule,Sports Deveolpment Driecotr of the Royal Beglain Ice Hockey Federation and a key figure in IIHF and ice hockey development. Bolue passed away on 82 October at age 57. One of the most prolific and dedicated ice hockey officials to work within the UHF and in Belgian ice hockey, Bolues' boundless contributions to ice hockey development have made a positive impact for dozens of ice hockey nations worldwide. He was Vice-President and Director of Sports Development at the Royal Belgium Ice Hockey Federation.

Iran Ice Hockey Association would like to send their thoughts and condolences to the family and friends of Johan Bolue who was very influential in ice hockey development.

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Boys Ice Hockey Talent Search Camp in Iran Mall Ice Rink

by Iran National Olympic Committee

Boys Ice Hockey Talent Search Camp held under the supervision of the technical staff of the national youth team, M.r Farzad Hoshidari, Arman Bahri, Oveys Hassanzadeh, and with the cooperation of the coach of the national youth online hockey team, M.r Mohammad Reza Sheikh Jafari, on Friday, November 5th, in Iran Mall ice rink.

The team, which started training sessions used to in July 2021, has started training camps every other week in the men's and women's sections in order to support the national teams, pay attention to the youth, and provide access to the ice rink for all with the slogan "Peace Development through sports", "Skating Hockey for all", and identifying talents across the country with the cooperation of provincial delegations will continue at the Iran mall ice rink in Tehran.

Iran Ice Hockey National Team...

Good time for restarting

The national teams' training resumed training sessions on November 9th, in the Iran Mal Ice Box ice rink after returning from the Emirates Open Cup. The national team camps will continue until the World Championships in Kyrgyzstan in March.

The 2021 Men's IHF World Championship Division VI is scheduled to be an international ice hockey tournament run by the IHF. The tournament will be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan from 3 to 5th March 2021. In this division, the Iran NT team will compete with Singapore, Kuwait, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan which hired al the players from Russia is the strongest team whereas Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Iran are first-time participate in tournament.

Girl's Ice Hockey Talent Search Camp 

by Iran Skating Federation

Girls' ice hockey talent search camp held on Friday, November 13th at the Iran Mall ice rink with the slogan "Development of peace through sports, skating hockey for all" in the girls' section under the supervision of Azam Sanai, Negar Khoram, Fatemeh Esmaili, Arezoo Izadi and Sadaf Mansouri.

This camp lasts for 2 months until the end of December on a weekly basis for boys and girls aged 14 to 18 from all over the country in order to find talent and increase their experience, pay attention to young people, select talented people, access the ice rink and national coaches for young talents. tI is held all over the country and also with the support of national teams.

Sarina Khosravi, the Isfahani player of the Iranian national ice hockey team, is youngster professional ice hockey player who is doing her best to shine in the a standard hockey goal in the house parking lot so that I could follow my training regularly. In the early years, several official and semi-official competitions were held, in most of which and ice hockey, along with the best players and coaches in this field. Hereby Ihave to thank the efforts of Mr. Kaveh Sedghi, the head coach of the national teams, who work hard for hockey players. Due to the fact that skating hockey is a nascent sport in Iran, there are many issues that are beautifully portrayed in the documentary, "There is no place for angels". Of course, with all these shortcomings, hard-working Iranian athletes have been able to catch medals in Asian competitions. I hope this vision for the field of hockey continues and Ican figure out the best in this field. Due to my presence in the training of Farmaniyeh Club and the national team camps in Tehran, I have to be in the capital three to four days a week, which is a big challenge for me. Of course, I wholeheartedly welcome these challenges to achieve my goals"

Joining in the best league in the world

by Sarina Khosravi, Iran Ice Hockey NT player (An interview with Ruydad Iran newspaper)

national team and of course achieve her dreams. 15-year-old Khosravi, who has entered the field since the age of seven is a hockey freak, talks about his goals in pursuing hockey, the problems ahead and her sweet dreams:

"I started basic skating at the age of 6 in the club on campus in Isfahan under the supervision of Ms. Najand. My interest in the field has increased every day due to the effort to learn, and on the advice of my instructors, I went skating Hockey after a year. At that time, I could not wait to start my training at the club because I loved .ti During the time of my training days, I tried to continue my training everywhere, such as anywhere in-home and even in our parking lot. We even built I won a medals." Sarina said.

Sarina added: "Unfortunately, the facilities of this sport are very few in Iran and there are only two ice skating rinks here; the only standard rink is in Tehran in the Iran Mall. I trained in Isfahan until 2019, but after my coach emigration, | trained for a while with Ms. Sharifi at the Isfahan Reef Club, but eventually joined the Farmaniveh Club in Tehran due to lack of facilities in my hometown. Since then, I have been following my training under the supervision of Mr. Ramin Atigehchi who is the general secretary of the Iran Skating Federation as well. During this time, I was invited to the national teams in junior, U19, and main hockey national teams, either in inline.

Sarina Talked about her big dream: "I would like to succeed in international competitions with the national team, but my main target is to participate in the best league in the world, NWHL. Considering all the hardships I endure, including the weekly travel between Isfahan and Tehran, with all the dangers ahead, Ican see my dream as achievable and I a m sure that I will succeed in this field." 

Iran Woman Ice Hockey National Team

Waiting for first official international presence

The Iran women's national ice hockey team was formed nearly a year ago, whereas the majority of its players came from the Iranian inline skating team. Most of the team's players earn money from ice skating training and train three times a week in the morning at the Iran Mall Ice Rink (IceBox).

The team has started training with a local coach. Iranian players are training hard to participate in the Asian Challenge Cup in the Philippines with all their might. The head coach is "Kaveh Sedqhi" and "Azam Sanaei" is his assistant as well as one of the most experienced players.

The IRNA photographer won the China Winter Sports Photo Contest

Mohammad Babaei, Iranian RINA (Islamic Republic NewsAgency) photographer for the, won the China International Winter Sports Photo (WMS) Award for his collection of photos of the "Iranian Women's Ice Hockey Team".

"The photos in this collection are a narration of Iran women's national ice hockey team training sessions, which was formed nearly a year ago", Babaei said.

Mohammad Babaei, who is also a University lecturer, added: "Most of the players in this team earn money from skating training and train three times a week. They are training hard with an Iranian manager to win a medal in the "Asian Challenge Cup" next year. Last year, when h e a r d about the men's and women's ice hockey league, I became very keen to follow the activities of these teams because no photos of them had been taken yet, and only a few news reports were published about them. I did not want my photos to be limited to one contest, so I decided to spend more time and attend their rehearsals.

In the first session, I realized that the guards and walls around the rink limit me in photography, so I changed the angle of cameras, and sometimes even took risks and went inside the rink; so I could take the desired photos.

After this collection was published in the IRNA news agency and republished in the domestic and foreign medias, | received many messages expressing support for the Iranian women's hockey team. Some did not even know that there was ice hockey in Iran and they had a lot of questions about watching the team or how their children can learn ice hockey there. When I came across these tons of messages and news, I realized that Idid my job properly. Considering I am in the field of photography for more than 2 decades There are obvious differences between women's and men's sports; Female athletes have to work many times harder than male athletes to The IRNA photographer won the China Winter Sports Photo Contest achieve the same success. Photographers must also accept these problems as part of their work and strive to make women's sports equal to men’s"

The China Winter Sports Photography Awards (WMS) is a professional event in the field of sports photography that aims to promote winter sports and seeks to improve the standards of this field through professional photographers around the world. The award has four winners, including the best prize, first prize, selected, and special prize.

The event was held for professional been published in September  2021 on the photo site of IRNA news agency under the title of Iran's national women's ice hockey team. World-renowned sports photographer Bob Martin chaired the competition along with 16 professional artists and sports activists.

Russian Skyscrapers in Tehran

The Iran's Ice hockey national team will have a week of training camp start on December 5th under the supervision of Russian trainers and players:

• Vladimir Burdun 
• Vladislav Lomakin 
• Yuri Lomakin

They have great experience in training methods and playing as well in Russia,Turkey, Sweden, France, and UAE.

Iran's national ice hockey teams in all age categories, as well as young Iraniancoaches, will benefit greatly from the presence of these Russian trainers.

Training sessions will be held theoretically and practically. Theory classes are held in the Iran Mal traininghall and practical classes are held in the Iran Mall ice rink.

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Russian Skyscrapers in Tehran b y IRNA (Iran News Agency)

The Irans' Ice hockey national team

had a very useful training camp from December 5th under the supervision of Russian coaches and players. This training course continued daily until December 14th in three times in the morning, noon and evening.

In the March 2022 we will send the national ice hockey team to the Kyrgyzstan World Cup. For this reason, from December 5th to 14th, two Russian coaches and players came to our country" Kaveh Sedghi head of Iran Ice Hockey Association said. He added: "In Tehran, they are holding national team camps for girls and boys in ice hockey to help not only the growth of rookies but also professional players to participate in world competitions."

By transferring their technical knowledge and valuable experiences to Iranian ice hockey coaches and players, Vladislav Lomakin and Yuri Lomakin two young Russian coaches took a big step towards the further growth of the newcomer ice hockey in Iran.Iran Ice Hockey Association is very unfortunate to do not have "Vladimir

Burdun" because of the Covid problem.

Iran Ice Hockey National Team...

Sport Medicine Testing

The final phase of the study on the effect of eight weeks specialized training o n some indicators of blood inflammation as well as knee joint ultrasonography in elite male hockey skaters were performed on December 8th 2021 at the Iran Mall "IFMARK" (Iran's Medical Assessment and Rehabilitation Center) with the collaboration between Iran's Ice Hockey association of the Skating Federation and "IFMARK" under the direct supervision of "Mona Shamsalizadeh" as a part of her master thesis research in sports physiology.

Such tests, which are performed for the first time ni Iran, help tremendously in the physical development of players and prevent them from injury.

New appointment in the federation Farzad Hoshidari

Chairman of the Skating Federation Athletes Commission 

by National Olympic Committee of Iran

"Farzad Hoshidari", Irans' national ice hockey captain was elected as the chairman of the Skating Federation Athletes Commission.

Farzad, the golden captain of the in-line skating hockey team, who won the first place in the Asian Championship with the Iran's national in-line skating hockey team, was elected as the head of the Athletes Commission of the Skating Federation with a majority of votes.

The Iran Ice Hockey Association sincerely congratulates Farzad Hoshidari on this worthy appointment.

World Hockey Forum

An opportunity to exchange views on various issues in the field of ice hockey

The Sixth World Hockey Forum was held from December 16th to 17th, and like last year, organizing this event in the virtual format. Participants joined online in this forum from all around the world.

Ice Hockey is going back to normal in 2021. The international hockey family has managed to host most of the major tournaments, such as the IHF Ice Hockey World Championship, UHF World Junior Championship, and UHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship.

Unsurprisingly, at such an eventful time, special attention is given to national ice hockey teams and the key aspects of their development.

Everybody well knows how important the coachwork is. So, many events of the Forum are dedicated to coaching.

The Forum is not only a traditional workshop. It will also include exciting discussions about modern hockey coaches' work, especially those who deal with children's, club, and international hockey levels.

At the Forum sessions, ice hockey experts discussed many topics related to people's involvement in ice hockey. All professionals could share their views on digital services for fans, discuss growth points of women's ice hockey in the world, and visit an interactive exhibition of novelties of the hockey industry.

Another interesting point was the digital transformation of sports reserve training processes.

"Kaveh Sedghi" and "Ramin Atigehchi" from Iran participated in this valuable forum.

A golden opportunity for coaches

Ice hockey coaching courses for Iranian coaches

by ISNA (Iran Student News Agency)

The third grade national ice hockey coaching courses was held for Iranian women and men coaches under the supervision of the "Education and Research Committee" of the Iran Skating Federation from Monday, December 16th to December 25th.

During this training courses, which was held in Iran Mall Exhibition Hall (B2B center), Vladislav Lomakin and Yuri Lomakin from Russia transferred their

important coaching tips to 44 Iranian coaches, and for the first time, Iranian coaches took full advantage of the presence of ice hockey professionals.

On the sidelines of the course, the camp of Iran's national ice hockey team (women and men) was held with the participation of 40 female and 40 male

players.

Ice hockey, which is a new sport in Iran, has lacked the presence of professional and internationally trained coaches so far.

The Third training session of the Iran youth Ice Hockey talent search camp

The third training session fo the National Youth Ice Hockey Talent Camp in the boy's section (14 to 18 years old) under the supervision technical staff of the national youth team, Farzad Hoshidari, Arman Bahri, Oveys Hassanzadeh and with the cooperation of the national youth hockey coach Mohammad Reza Sheikh Jafari was held on December 17th with the slogan 'Development Peace through sport, skating hockey for al".

The team, which started its work in July 2021, has started training every other week in the boy's and girl's sections and will continue their work until the end of December 2021.

IRAN An interview with Russian coaches

The Irans' Ice hockey coaches and players had a ten days training camp in Iran Mall ice rink under the supervision of Russian trainers and players. On the margins of mentioned training camp, there was an opportunity to have a cordial interview with these two Russian brothers, Vladislav and Yuri Lomakin:

1- What is the reason for your trip to Iran and what goals are you looking for in this trip?

Yuri: "The main reason for our trip to Iran is to bring our hockey experience to Iranian players, to help develop skills and make progress in hockey. Our target is to prepare Iranian players tactically and physically for important competitions, look at Iranian players and conduct an analysis What they need to add"

2- How do you assess the level of ice hockey in Iran during this course?

Yuri: "The level of ice hockey is good enough here. Actually we were very surprised by the level of hockey playing of the women's team; it is in no way inferior to the level of some of the best teams in the world. The men's team also plays at a good level, but of course, need to progress and there is always something to add"

3- What do you think we should do new for the further growth and development of this field in Iran?

Vladislav: "For the development of Iran's hockey, more ice rinks are needed in the country. It is obvious that you need to develop a strong local league and make it at a strong level; Defiantly, to achieve a suitable development, good results are needed in tournaments. For example, at the World Championship to be held in Kyrgyzstan fi a team from Iran win a medal, many new children want to play this sport. This is the proper way of development"

We were very surprised by the level of Iranianwoman hockey players.

4- What is your opinion about the quality of Iran Mall ice rink?

Vladislav: "Iran Mall ice rink has all the necessary infrastructure and amenities for the development of players; has everything necessary for training every day. Ice quality is very good and, there are many trainers who help children and teenagers to start ice hockey and build a new generation of talented players"

5- Did you enjoy your stay in Iran and would you like to travel to Iran again?

Yuri: "Sure. We both enjoyed staying in Iran. Working with interested and talented Iranian players is enjoyable. In addition, as we already knew, Iran has a very warm and kind people."

6- Let's talk about the experience of being in Iran. Did you have the opportunity to see different parts of our country?

Vladislav: "unfortunately we had a lot of work, so we didn't have time to see everything we wanted. The one and only opportunity we had was a short walking at Iran mall, which seems to contain many of Iran's culture, architecture, and traditions. We also really liked the people in Iran and their very tasty foods"

7- What did you find more interesting ni Iran?

Vladislav: "Iran has one of the kindest and most hospitable people we have ever seen"

8- How did ordinary people, hockey players, and coaches reactions to you?

Vladislav: "we would like to say a special thanks to Kaveh, Farzad, and Ovies for a very warm welcome, for help in all matters, and for this opportunity and experience to be in Iran. They did everything to make us comfortable there. Also would like to say thank you absolutely each player and workers Iran mall they did everything to make us happy there .And as for ordinary people, Iwould like to emphasize once again that you Iranian people are extraordinary"

9- What do you tell to your friends about Iran when you return to Russia?

Yuri: "we will speak to everyone only real words to support Iran and surely will advise everyone to visit this wonderful country"

10- As 2022 is coming soon, how do you usually celebrate the new year in your home country?

Yuri: "Usually a tradition in Russia, each family dresses up a Christmas tree two weeks before the New Year, decorate their apartments, and creating a festive atmosphere. Also, we have special cuisine for these days as all parts of the world"

11- Do you know that there are many Christian compatriots in Iran who hold their own ceremonies and the New Yearis very important in Iran?? 

Yuri: "Yes, I heard about this. We have many Armenian compatriots in Russiawho also happen to have a lot of cultural similarities with Iran. My Armenian friends have told us about this before. I hope one day we will have the opportunity to celebrate Christmas together in Iran."

12- Did you heard about the Iranian New Year, which starts in March 215 in about three months?

Vladislav: "Yes, we have heard about ti but have never seen how Iran celebrates the New Year, it would be great to look at ti and feel this great atmosphere"

Yuri and Vladislav. Thank you very much for taking the time to do this interview. We hope to see you in Iran again soon

A Special Guest on Ice b y IRNA (Iran News Agency)

by IRNA (Iran News Agency)

On Wednesday, December 29,' the Iranian women's national hockey team hosted a special guest "Elham Chezani". Elham who had come to Iran mall ice rink to watch hockey players practice; came to the rink by the national team members during training to understand the conditions of a hockey player closely.

Elham 38 years old, anIranian member of the national disabled table tennis team has lived in Kahrizak Sanatorium for 13 years as a relief-seeker and has been living with her mother for several years. She is also in charge of the sports department of this sanatorium.

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IHL : Battle of the real contenders

by Varzesh 3 (Iran most visited website)

The Iranian Women’s' cIe Hockey League is excitingly pursued among the contenders for the championship.

The first stage of the first round of the Women's Skate Hockey League was held with the participation of 5 teams from December 13th to 15th In the second week of this league, a match was held between the two teams, Online Tire and Farmaniyeh, and this attractive match ended with a 2-1 result in favor of Farmaniyeh Tehran. Farmaniyeh, who was leading with 1 points at the end of the first stage, continued to lead with this victory.

The Iranian Women's Ice Hockey League will be held continuously until the end of February, and finally, the first champion of this league will be named although from now on, you can write the name of the "Farmanieh" as the champion.

Exceptional Achievement  "Poor Support" 

by Hamshahri Newspaper

"Azam Sanaei" is the coach and captain of the Iranian women's ice hockey team. She started her sports activity in the field of speed skating in 2001 and in 2005 she decided to try in-line hockey.

Simultaneously with the Iran Mall Ice Rink starting ni 2018, she was attractedto ice hockey, and now she believes that Ice hockey is more exciting than in-line hockey. According to the Iranian national team captain, "Azam SANAEI" the women's ice hockey team is prone towinning championships: "Since December of last year, the national team has been training for a tournament for the first time. Our players practice individually or in a club whereas most of them used to play in-line hockey professionally. Because of this, they were being able to increase their perseverance, effort, and practice and achieve significant progress in a short time in ice hockey. "Success in Asian competitions has made people better acquainted with ice hockey," Azam said. She added: "Most of the team members have to pay for themselves, and the equipment is very expensive. Financial problem is a major obstacle for athletes. The financial issues on the one hand and access to up-to-date and standard sports equipment on the other hand put a lot of pressure on athletes. Lack of suitable ice rink in all cities even in metropolitan ones is another problem of this sport. Some players live in the cities of Tabriz and Isfahan and have to come to Tehran due to the lack of a suitable ice rink for training. The UAE tournament was our first international tournament. Most countries did not believe in the skills of the Iranian women's ice hockey team and did not know that there is such a professional team like us in Iran at all. However, our target is to win the Asian championship title. Given that we have just become a member of the World Ice Hockey Federation, we have to participate in all competitions to enter the rankings."

Say welcome to exhaustion!

Fatemeh ESMAEILI 

by Hamshahri Newspaper

"Fatemeh ESMAEILI" was 5 years old when she started skating, but she did not even think that one day she would be one of the members of the first Iranian women's ice hockey team and shine in various tournaments. "Fatemeh", a talented athlete from Varamin city, says about her presence in the national team: "In 1997, Iwas invited to join the national in-line hockey team, so I went to South Korea with the national team and our team achieved a bronze medal in Asia. Standing on the podium was the best feeling in the world and I thought I was the happiest girl on earth. From that day on, I will continue my journey with more motivation. In the UAE 2021 ice hockey tournament, the Iranian team was not expected to have such a performance against the UAE and Russian teams, and everyone was surprised. tI was amazing to them how we were able to get this ready in a year and a half. In Russia, all the necessary facilities for this sport are available. The country has a long history of ice hockey and a large number of ice rinks. However, they were surprised to see us play and we were able to defeat this team 4-2 in one game. "Fatemeh" considers the main problem to be the distance to use the facilities of the ice rink and says: "I have to drive for about 2 hours every day to get from home to the training ice rink and return this way again. The really hard part is the distance. "This is a problem for most players as well, but I would like to repeat that because of the love we have to ice hockey, we don't get tired of .ti The national ice hockey team needs to hold more training camps and competitions in order to be more prepared for future competitions." Fatemeh said.

The first international competition

in the history of ice hockey in Iran! Tehran Online Tire vs Ankara Gümüs Patenler

On the January 30th to February 1st, on the occasion of the celebrations of the victory of the Revolution, a friendly match between the Iranian national team in the form of "Online Tire Ice Hockey Club" and the Turkish "Ankara Gümüs Patenler" hockey team will be held to prepare the team for the Kyrgyzstan WorldCup (March4) on IranMall ice rink. According to "Kaveh Sedghi" Iran NT manager, 18 players of the Ankara team will be in the country on the January 31st 2022.

On the way to Kyrgyzstan

"Physical fitness tests for men's national team"

by Iran NOC

Iran men's national ice hockey team, who are preparing for a strong presence at the Kyrgyz World Championships, completed the physical fitness tests at the National Olympic Academy of Iran on the morning of January 20th.

The Division 4 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships will be held in Kyrgyzstan from March 3rd to 9th and the Iranian team will participate in this level for the first time.

The schedule of Iran's national ice hockey team, which will face the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Kuwait and Kyrgyzstan in Group A, is as follows:

"March 4, Iran vs Singapore / March 6, Iran vs Kyrgyzstan / March 7, Iran vs Kuwait / March 9, Iran vs Malaysia"

An Exceptional opportunity

Grade3 national referee course

The first grade3 national referee course was held with the presence of an international referee,"Maksim Bialevich" from Belarus This course was held with the presence of 24 female and 12 male participants under the supervision of the Education and Research Committee of the Skating Federation and with the teaching of "Ramin Atighechi" and "Maksim Bialevich" in four days from January 26th to 29th.

The Fourth training session of the Iran youth Ice Hockey talent search camp

The fourth training session of the National Youth Ice Hockey Talent Camp in the girl's section (14 to 18 years old) under the supervision technical staff of the national youth team, Azam Sanaei, Fatemeh Esmaeili, Elham Dehghan, and Negar Khorram was held on January 21St with the slogan 'Development Peace through sport, skating hockey for all".

The purpose of this camp is to find talent and increase Athlete's and coach's experiences, pay attention to young athletes, select talented people, provide access to the ice rink, and experienced national coaches for young talents across the country, as well as support national teams.

Bishkek…ls calling us

by Kaveh Sedghi

Kaveh Sedghi, head of the Hockey Association of the Iranian Skating Federation, stated in an interview with Iranian news agencies: "18 players of the "Ankara Gumus Patenler" hockey team will be present in our country on January 315* for a friendly match. We have been a member of the World Ice Hockey Federation for the past two years, but with the outbreak of the Corona virus, international competitions were canceled. The national team playerswe’re in the training camps for 2 years, and good and sufficient facilities were provided to the national men's and women's teams."

Kaveh added: "Iranmall ice rink is completely at the disposal of national teams; However, we had serious difficulty regarding providing equipment due to its very high cost, some of which was resolved with the support of families.

He continued: "We have invited a coach and two players from Russia for 10 days to train the national team. With the training provided, we had a serious change in terms of team tactics, but national teams need preparation matches to grow. The coach and two Russian players are beside the team in a friendly match to choose the final squad for the 2022 IIHF World Championship Division VI in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The tournament will be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan from 3 to 9 March 2022.

The women's national team will also play in the Asian Challenge Cup in September.The Philippines was previously scheduled

to host but Singapore or Kuwait will accept hosting the tournament after the Philippines withdrawal."

Next year, the boys' U2o team will also be sent to international competitions. If the date and hosting of the continental winter games are determined, we will participate in these competitions as well. Another important step for us is to hold an international referee course presented by an international referee from Belarus which is scheduled for January 2022.

We have a chance to be in the third to fourth place of this tournament

A Family on ICE!

The comet fiction of MEDAADI FAMILY

Sunday January 23rd was Mother’s Day in Iran. On this day, a large number of mothers and their children were guests of the Iran Mall ice rink, and some of them experienced their first hockey game.

Meanwhile, the presence of "Hoda Ahmad Beiqi", the docufiction movie star "No Place for Angels" with her husband "Khalil Medaadi" and their young daughter "Nila" attracted a lot of attention.

Hoda, a former member of Iran's in-line hockey national team, has more than 20 years of skating experience and ten years of wearing the in-line hockey national team jersey has won four bronze medals in the Asian Championships. She is currently the Vice President of the Hockey Association of the Iranian Skating Federation. Hoda, like many in-line players, currently continues her most activity in ice hockey and is a member of the "Online Tire" champion team of Tehran.

"Khalil" is also a member of the national team and the champion of Iranian speed skating, as well as a member of the national in-line hockey team of Iran, and is currently the graphic designer of the Iranian Hockey Association. What do you suppose Nilai's future sport career selection? The answer is not too tricky!

The Final Selection , The Final Countdow

 By DANA Information Network

The last camp of the national ice hockey team, the selection of the men's national team, under the supervision of Russian coaches Yuri Lomakin and Vladislav Lomakin, started for a week in Iran Mall ice rink and ended on January 30th.

The Iranian national ice hockey team, which is preparing for the IIHF Division IV World Cup in Kyrgyzistan, will get to know the main members after this camp and of course four training matches with the Turkish Gumus Patenler ice hockey club in Tehran.In these four friendly matches, 71 players and 4 goalkeepers will be tested.

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16... that incredible second. Tehran Online Tire vs Ankara Gümüs patenler

by Iran Mall Sport

The Iranian national ice hockey team under the name of "Online Tire Tehran" and the Turkish Hockey Club "Gümüs patenler" from Ankara held 4 friendly matches on the Iran Mall ice rink, which were 2draws, 1victory and 1defeat as a result of the efforts of theIranian national team.

In the last match, which was broadcast live on Iran's sports network, "Seyed Hamid Sajjadi" Minister of Sports and Youth, "Peyman Fakhri" Chief of the Iran NOC Asian Games committee, "Majid Shayesteh" Member of the Executive Board of the Iran's NOC, "Zahra Nemati" and "Ehsan Roozbehani »Famous Iranian Olympians were present in the arena also as special guests.

In this extraordinary exciting match, ti was the online tire that scored the first goal of the game, but a few minutes later, the Turkish team came backed to the match and scored three times in a row. Finally, the first period ended with a result of :5 3with the victory of "Gümüs

During the first intermission, the head coach of the team, "Kaveh Sedghi", along with "Vladislav Lomakin" and "Yuri Lomakin", the Russian coaches of the Iranian national team, made tactical adjustments and gave technical guidance to the players.

In the second period, the Iranian team took on a different face and in the presence of their special guests, was able to compensate for the goals conceded and draw the result 5-5.

In the third period, which was very physical and full of collisions, "Online Tire" scored the 6th goal, but saw their goal open twice in a row. The match continued 7-6 in favor of the visiting team until 16 seconds left, but at this moment they were able to score the seventh and equal goal when the Online Tire team was changed tactic to extra attacker format in the purpose of gain an offensive advantage to score a goal. More than 1,200 spectators of the game, who were mostly fans of the "Online Tire", shouted for joy after this equal goal, and this very exciting game ended in a 7-7 draw by agreement of both teams.

We are building the future!

2034 Winter Olympic Games will be waiting for guests from

Iranian hockey girls (An interview with parents)

• Adrina and Asena SALMANI

At first, "Adrina" and"Asena" were started with Ms. Rezaei, whois used to their in-line hockey coach, and after passing the introductory trainings, they entered the youngsters team. Considering the newness of ice hockey in Iran, it seems that there will be a good future for this age, and hopefully according to the coaches, the day will come when our children will have something to say

• Shaparak Noshad

Thanks to the Ice Box family for their hard work in creating this complex so that our children can achieve their dreams according to their interests.

As a mother, I think that fi my daughter has more effort and exercise, a good future awaits her.

And Isuggest that, fi possible, separate tournaments for U14 teams be formed so that can compete properly.

• Aylin ADINEHLOO

First of all, I would like to say thanks to the Ice Box complex and congratulations for choosing expert and professional coaches because of their excellent performance and great efforts in training

With the interest that my daughter shows in hockey and hard practices, I am sure that we will see her progress and success too soon.

• Shahgol ARAB

By giving importance to children and teenagers and keeping them within the team as well as acquainting them with the movements of the hockey, we can assume a good future for ice

hockey in Iran. Apart from technical and tactical exercises, it is always great for the group todo the children's physical fitness. I hope that these children can be the best in the future.

• Maya HAGHGHRAAD

Thanks to the management, technical staff, and nice coaches who have made great efforts to improve the level and technical, mental, and physical progress of our children. Hopefully, due to the newness of this sport in our country, your efforts as well as family's support achieving the best results. Considering that these children are progressing and in the near future, we should see their team play, they need a goalie who trains with the kids at the same time. In addition to the training routine, create challenges for the kids that lead to more teamwork and motivation for them.

• Yegane JABERI

lam so happy due my daughter has very respectable, moral, kind, and hard-working coaches Also, very satisfied with the 8 sessions that my daughter has participated in specialized hockey sessions under the supervision of captain Sanaei and coach Ms.Khoram, as well as the basic course under the supervision ofMs. Ismaili. Thank God, the coaches were also satisfied with her progress and hoped for a bright future for my daughter, Yeganeh.

Classes start on time and end on time, and this is very important for our children and causes no waste of time. I mean, the whole one hour is spent on training the kids.

Warm Hands

The story of the Iran National Ice Hockey team sponsorship IIHF 2022 World Cup - Kyrgyzstan

For the first time in the ice hockey 114-year official history, the Iranian national ice hockey team will play in the fourth division of the IIHF World Cup in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. As with all sports competitions, the teams participating in this valuable tournament like this, need sponsors to raise funds.

In the path of this honor; "IranMall, as the biggest sponsor, provided its high- quality ice rink to Iran's national ice hockey team. The "Skating Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran ", a s the official federation of IIHF, with all its economic problems, paid for visa expense and covered only half of the cost of plane tickets to Kyrgyzstan. The other half was paid for by the "Iran National Olympic Committee". The "International Ice Hockey Federation" will pay for the team's accommodation and other hospitality costs in Bishkek as usual, and will grant the team jerseys in two different colors.The "Jules Institute" provided the team with quality healthy food for a month. "Arian Tejarat Rayehe Afarin" gave the team the cost of travel insurance and PCR test as well as a cologne and cosmetics package. "Yal" gave a 50% discount on jacket price and donated caps and socks. "Levi" was a good host for the team in its high-class cafe and donated a medicine package. "Raz iInsurance" also paid half of the cost of travel insurance. The "OnlineTire club" of Tehran helped to invite the Turkish club to the team's better preparation during four friendly matches and the "Farmaniyeh" club supported the team in sending them to the UAE so that the national team would not go to these competitions without international experiences.

But all the huge expenses for the required sports equipment were provided, as always, by the players themselves and their supporting families. The head coach, two Russian coaches, the trainer, the fitness coach, and the team doctor, like the players themselves, prepared the Iranian team for the Kyrgyz tournament without any financial expectations and with extremely passion.

An Awesome experience 

Online Tire VS Gümüs patenler  

Four Practical Games

by IRNA

Mehmet Ali Turan scored for the Turks whereas Jalal Kayhanfar, Amir Heidari, and Nima Mehraban were the Iranian goal scorers in this game.

The second game in the evening of the same day ended in a 7-7 draw. In the third game on the first day of February, ti was the Iranians who defeated the Turks 9-6 in a superior game. Iran's goal scorers in this game were Farshad Moghaddasi, Daniel Saroughi, Farzad Hoshidari (2 goals), Amin Korei, and Amir Heidari, and Jalal Kayhanfar is the named as the first player who could score a hat trick in an official game in Iran's ice hockey history. On the other side, Taylan Aytac, Alper Solak, Bilal Dobnbay scored a goal, but Mehmet Ali Turan scored a hat trick.

The "Ceremonial First Puck" on the last game was performed by "Manouchehr Zandi", a veteran Iranian sports writer and honorary life executive committee member and Vice President of AIPS.

The Iranian national ice hockey team under the name of "Online Tire Tehran" and the Turkish Hockey Club “GümüS patenler" from Ankara held 4 friendly

matches on the Iran Mal ice rink, which were 2draws, 1victory and 1defeat as a result of the efforts of the Iranian national team.

In the first match, which was held on the morning of January 31st, the Iranian "Online Tire" team lost to the Turkish opponent with 7 goals. Iranian players scored three goals in this game. Yusuf Yildirim (2 goals), Doga Selcuk, Alper Solak, Taylan Aytac (2 goals), and In the most exciting game that was broadcast live on the Iranian sports TV channel, the two teams were satisfied by a 7-7 result. Jalal Kayhanfar, Farzad Hoshidari (2 goals), Farshad Moghadasi, Nima Mehraban (2 goals) and Arman Bahri for "Online Tire" and Mehmet Ali Turan (2 goals), Yusuf Yildirim (2 goals), Bilal Dobnbay, Alper Solak, Mert Ozdemir scored for "Gümüs patenler" in this fantastic game.

"Kaveh Sedghi" as the head coach and his assistants "Vladislav Lomakin" and "Yuri Lomakin" from Russia led their Iran's national team with excitement second by second.

Incredible Winter Olympics! 

Farzad HOOSHIDARI

by Xinhua News Agency

China's Xinhua News Agency interviewed Farzad HOOSHIDARI the captain of Iran's national ice hockey team, on the occasion of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics:

"First of all, have to say a great pleasure to watch the Olympics on TV. After two years of pandemics, it's not good scheduled tournaments and all the related problems, it's nice to see the Olympics on schedule, on time.

The teams are, Ibelieve, are more active, and nice to see the mall in one place competing. It's obvious we are focusing on Asian teams mostly, Japan and China, just because we are on the same continent, although we are not in the same division. It's also nice to see Japanese and Chinese players on Ice.

We have great women and men, national teams over here, who watch the games carefully and try to learn. Hopefully in the future, maybe in 5or 10 years can play in such a tournament.

We are still struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic but everything is on schedule and well managed. for example, the opening ceremony was great. We are so excited about hockey games and watching everybody is doing the protocols.

The quality of games is at a high level but everybody knows that hockey it's not predictable. In the first game, Switzerland did a great job and perform an excellent game against Russia. They played physically and didn't speed up the game because I believed if they did, they were going to have lots of problems. Great coaches, great players so we have to wait and see how they are going to do"

Ice Hockey Dreams in the First World Appearance

by Shargh Newspaper

Ice hockey is one of the most exciting  sports in the world .A popular sport that attract a large number of spectators from different continents to the competition hall in all the Winter Olympics.But until now, Iranian hockey players have not been able to contribute to the presence of this fascinating sport in the Olympics. Instead of regretting their absence these days, they dream of qualifying for the WorldCup.In the last ten years, the activity of the national men's ice hockey team has been limited to few tournaments and international camps but now, they are gaining important and historical experiences. The team is going to compete in IIHF worldcup division IV for the first time and face well-known Asian countries. Kaveh Sedghi, the head coach of the national ice hockey team:

"Ice hockey is one of those neglected disciplines that has not been able to have a good position in the country's sports due to the lack of necessary infrastructure; But two years ago, 113 years after the founding of the International Ice Hockey Federation, Iran succeeded in becoming a member of this federation to officially start its activities in to international competitions. As soon as our membership in the IIHF became confirmed, we started training and planning for the national men's and women's teams so that we could reach the IIHF worldcup division IV to beheld in Kyrgyzstan in March. Unluckily, we ran in to pandemic and left the difficult situation behind at the beginning of the journey; But with all this, we tried to hold the camps of both teams in the best conditions so that we do not miss this opportunity.

Sedghi added : " The UAE tournament and four friendly matches with the Turkish team are among the activities taken by the Ice Hockey Association during this period to prepare the Iranian men's national ice hockey team. Ninety percent of our players on the men's national ice hockey team are used to be members of the in-line hockey team. Anyway, since we had just started, we formed the team with the same players.

During this time, we were able to participate in a tournament in the UAE, and gained nothing better than sixth place among six teams. Due to Covid-19 restrictions and many difficulties to leave the country, we tried to invite foreign teams to train and compete with ours.Fortunately, we invited some

prominent Russian players who came to Tehran. The Russians are one of the world powers in ice hockey and play at the top division. A few days ago, the Turkish team from Ankara came to Iran, for four friendly games. We won two games, lost one and drew another. Our first game is against the host, Kyrgyzstan, where we have no chance of winning. The second game is against Singapore. Ice hockey in Singapore is 30 years old and this team is very strong. I think our team should do a miracle to win against them. We have to play the third match against Kuwait. Kuwait is have been working in this field for 25 years. They well trained half of a year in Switzerland and Turkey. But I suppose the Iranian players are more motivated to win against the Kuwaitis. The last game is versus Malaysia. Since Iranian players are physically superior to Malaysians, our prediction is that we can win a physical game. Our last opponent was the Philippines, which with drew from the tournament due to Corona; So if we can win two games in this group of five teams, we can have a chance to go on the podium. We have taken part in a marathon of development that we need as much practice and effort as possible."

Sedghi promises that his players will be on the podium despite their inexperience in  the Asian Championships: "We have to compete in the Asian Championships next year. With the perseverance that I see from these guys, I hope that they will definitely take the podium in these competitions. Our men's and women's teams are at division two in Asia. If we can win this tournament, we can reach the level of Asia; But we have to see how the country's sports authorities view this field. Ice Hockey has its own International Federation and is managed by an independent federation in all countries; But in Iran, this sport is managed in the form of an association under the supervision of the Skating Federation. Unfortunately, there are too many disciplines in the Skating Federation and the federation can not afford to spend a lot on ice hockey. Our players, either boys or girls, worked for this team at their own expense and only with the deep passion during the two years that ice hockey was launched. Even our ice rink where we compete and train, made by the private owner (IranMall). The technical staff of the team leads this team without any financial revenue.

The main reason that all these years kept ice hockey enthusiasts away from their goal was just the lack of a standard ice rink in the country, until IranMall Sports Management built an ice rink in accordance with international standards, which officially made Iran a member of the World Ice Hockey Federation.

On the way to Kyrgyzstan

Iran's national ice hockey team players were introduced

by IRNA

Iran men's national ice hockey team, who are preparing for a strong presence at the IIHF division VI world cup in Kyrgyzstan were introduced.

Farzad Hoshidari, Farshad Moghaddasi, Nima Mehraban, Mohsen Agha Mohammadi, Jalal Kayhanfar, Maziar Ghorbani, Arman Bahri, Matin Qaharzadeh, Amin Korei, Mohammad Sheikh Jafari, Daniel Bagheri, Amir Heidari, Arshia Ghafouri, Abbas Dehghani, Amir Mahdaghi, Mahdi Abdollahi, Reza Pourhashemi, Oveys Hassanzadeh, and Alireza Mahdavi are Iran's squad in this tournament.

March 3, @20:00 KGT Iran vs Kyrgyzstan

March 4, @19:00 KGT Iran vs Singapore

March 6, @19:00 KGT Iran vs Kuwait

March 7, @17:00 KGT Iran vs Malaysia

Kyrgyzstan 2022

The IIHF's donated jerseys delivered to Iran's ice hockey national team

The national men's ice hockey team jerseys to participate in world competitions were unveiled. These standard clothes in two colors, white and green, were given to the players of the national team in their first international appearance to play against their competitors in an equal situation.

The Iranian ice hockey family is grateful for your priceless support!

A few days left to the 2022 Ice Hockey World Cup division IV in Kyrgyzstan, a number of prominent Iranian athletes and artists supported the Iranian team for their first strong presence in this tournament

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Eat the Frog First!

IIHFWorldChampionshipsDivisionI V-Game#2, Kyrgyzstan vs Iran 

by Iran Mall Sport

Iran's national ice hockey team lost to Kyrgyzstan in the first match of the World Championships, which was in fact their first official international match. While this defeat was not unexpected at all, the national ice hockey team of Iran lost the game 13 to 1 to the host team of the tournament. The Kyrgyzstan president, Mr. Sadyr JAPAROV officially did the ceremonial first puck, and the venue was totally full with Kyrgyz spectators cheering their team on. IIHF President Luc Tardif and IHF First Vice President Petr Brzhiza attended the ceremony. Although this defeat on the first day of the tournament seemed a little disappointing for the Iranian team, but the results of the other teams against strong Kyrgyz team in the following days of this tournament showed that the Iranian players did not get a very bad result. On the other hand, Iranian hockey players showed with consecutive victories in the next matches in this tournament that they never give up and considered this loss as a fact of "eat the frog first".

IHFKyrgyzstan World Championships 2022

Public support by every single Iranian people

Love me now!

The Iran national ice hockey team, which has ben active for only wt o years, was supported by various people and organizations before the World Championships in Kyrgyzstan. Although this support was often spiritual, ti means a great value to Iran's players and team members.

Now the people of Iran know more about ice hockey than before and are proud of their champions. They are sure that they will hear more good news from their young heroes in the future.

A Warm Welcome FWorldChampionshipsDivision IV

by Iran Mal Sport

Iran national ice hockey team arrives in Bishkek on Sunday (February 27th) with the official welcome of the President of the Kyrgyz Ice Hockey Federation and the Iran ambassador in Kyrgyzstan to participate in the IIHF Championships division IV.

The members of the Iran NT went to the gym as soon as they arrived at the hotel and stayed in the rooms. They knew very well that they had tough opponents with a much longer record than themselves, and so they trained very motivated. In the evening of the same day, the first technical meeting of the tournament was attended by a member of the Board of the IIHF, the President of Asian Ice Hockey, the Vice President of the Iranian Skating Federation, the President of the Iranian Hockey Skating Association and representatives of the participating countries. Also, members of the CentralCouncil of the IIHF, the President of Asian Ice Hockey and the tournament organizing committee invited the captain of the Iran NT, Farzad Hoshidari to the council meeting to congratulate the historic presence of the Iranian team in the first IHF official tournament. In this meeting, Farzad Hoshidari appreciated the committee for accepting the Iran National team in the tournament. The Ice Hockey World Championship Division IV is a tournament under the auspices of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IHF), which is held in Kyrgyzstan for the first time. The tournament is attended by 5 national teams and al from Asia, namely the national team of Kyrgyzstan (came from the qualifying tournament of the Il division), the national team of Kuwait (came from the qualifying tournament of the Il division), the national team of Iran (participating for the first time), the national team ofSingapore (participating for the first time), the national team Malaysia (participating for the first time). The championship was supposed to be held back in 2020, but was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Japarov meeting with International Ice Hockey Federation President Luc Tardif

A historical Meeting 

by AKIPRESS.COM

On March3"2022, the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov met with a delegation of the International Ice Hockey Federation led by its President Luc Tardif. Mr. Japarov awarded Luc Tardif the Order of Dostuk (friendship order) for his significant contribution to the development of hockey in Kyrgyzstan and the organization of the IHF World Championship Division VI in Bishkek. Senior vice president of IHF Petr Briza and regional vice president of the International Ice Hockey Federation for Asia and Oceania Ayvaz Omorkanov were handed signature hand watches from the Kyrgyz president. "Today more than a thousand athletes are engaged in hockey in Kyrgyzstan. It is gratifying that almost half of them are children. Kyrgyzstan national team hopefully will play in the top division of the World Hockey Championship and in the Winter Olympics in ten to fifteen years," he said. President offered to support the opening of hockey schools and the construction of a new world-class hockey arena under the auspices of the International Ice Hockey Federation. He instructed the Minister of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy and the National Ice Hockey Federation to deal with these issues. Luc Tardif, congratulated the head of state and the people of Kyrgyzstan on the 30th anniversary of the state flag. He said this was his first visit to Kyrgyzstan. He stressed that sport is a universal language, which units al people, and Kyrgyzstan has all the necessary conditions for the development of winterexpressed gratitude to the Kyrgyz side for the organization and preparation for the upcoming IHF World Championship Division IV.

Senior vice-president of IHF Petr Briza added that their delegation is in Kyrgyzstan with great excitement and joy. Hockey can have a great development in the Asian region as a whole. For this, the country needs hockey arenas so that those who want to play this sport professionally have this opportunity. He expressed hope for fruitful cooperation with the Kyrgyz side to further develop and promote hockey in Kyrgyzstan.

Iran claim Silver medal in debut Ice Hockey World Championship Division IV

by Iran Mal Sport (@iranmall.sport)

The ice hockey world championships are split into five tiers, with traditional powerhouses like Canada, Finland and the United States competing in the top division, and lower-ranked nations competing in Division Ito Division IV.

An unranked country in the IIHF world rankings, Iran experienced its first time tournament, and their opponents at the Bishkek Arena were Singapore, Malaysia, Kuwait, and host country Kyrgyzstan.

Many of the other countries have provided overseas training camps even throughout the pandemic, and this allowed them to hit the ground running but Iran attended the tournament with m i n i m u m international experience. Iran's campaign began with a loss against the powerful host, Kyrgyzstan ran on Mar 3", but there were promising signs due to Iranian youngsters' high motivated playing. Up next on MarchTM4 was Singapore, a side ranked 5ht. Iran started stormfully to a 3-o in the first period and won 5-2 with two goals from Jalal KEYHANFAR and one each for Farzad HOUSHIDARI, Farshad MOGHADASI, and Maziar GHORBANI. Iran's third game was against 51st ranked Kuwait and boasting past World Championship experience on March 6th. Kuwait proved to be no match for Iran And Iran defeated Kuwait 9-2 in a controversial game with a brilliant hat- trick by captain Farzad HOUSHIDARI, doubled from Maziar GHORBANI and Nima MEHRABAN, and one each for Jalal KEYHANFAR and Matin GHAHAR. Iran secured bronze medal with this excellent victory.

Sitting in third place after three games, Iran still had plenty to play for going into their final match for silver medal against Malaysia, who is ranked 53 in IHF 2021 Men's World Ranking. The two teams drew 2-2 in the first period, but it was Iran who managed to defeat Malaysia 7-3 at the end of the game and win a valuable silver medal in their first international appearance. In this exciting game, the new Iranian goal scorers Amin KOREHEI, Mohsen AGHAMOHAMMADI, Danial BAGHERI, Amir HEIDARI, and the youngest Iranian player Arshia GHAFOORI each scored a goal, and Maziar GHORBANI, and Farzad HOUSHIDARI also scored a goal in the same way.

Kyrgyzstan rounded out the tournament later on Tuesday with a 14-0 victory over Kuwait, claiming the title and promotion to Division I Group B with a perfect record and just two goals conceded. Singapore took home the Bronze, while Malaysia finished fourth ahead of Kuwait.

March3rd,2022

The first opponent, the toughest opponent

Defeat in the first international match in the history of ice hockey in Iran

The Iranian players defeated their first match in the tournament against Kyrgyzstan, which, in addition to hosting points, also has the experience of the 2019 World Championships, and ti did not seem like an easy opponent for them. The Kyrgyz also lead the Asian ice hockey federation and are trying to return to their second place in the World Championship by winning their group. The Kyrgyz national team also included seven Russian players.

March 4th, 2022

Second opponent, the first victory in the history

The first victory in the history of ice hockey in Iran

Up next on March 4th was Singapore, a side ranked 55th. Iran started stormfully to a 3-0 in the first period and won 5-2 with two goals from Jalal KEYHANFAR and one each for Farzad HOUSHIDARI, Farshad MOGHADASI, and Maziar GHORBANI.

Congratulatory message from the President of the National Olympic Committee to the first valuable victory of the national ice hockey team in the world competitions

IIHF World Championships Division IV

Dr. Seyed Reza Salehi Amiri, President of the National Olympic Committee of Iran, congratulated the first valuable victory of Iran's national ice hockey team in the World Championships Division VI in Kyrgyzstan.

According to the public relations of the National Olympic Committee, he mentioned:

"The valuable victory of our national ice hockey team in the world championships of Kyrgyzstan against the national team of Singapore created a wave of joy and self- confidence among our athletes, especially the big family of winter sports. Regardless of the results obtained in this great event, the first experience of this young and motivated team can undoubtedly pave the way for the strong presence of our country's ice hockey representatives in the upcoming Asian Games and Winter Olympics.

I would like to say congratulations to the players, technical staff and national team of this exciting sport of our country, and hope to see the honors of our champions in other upcoming competitions either in continental or world competitions with the support of the Ministry of Sports and Youth and the National Olympic Committee"

Congratulatory message from Dr. Sajjadi, Minister of Sports of Iran, following the great success of the Iranian national ice hockey team in the world championships

IIHF World Championships Division IV

D.r Seyed Hamid Sajjadi, Minister of Sports and Youth of Iran, congratulated the Iranian national ice hockey team historical victory against the Singapore national team in the World Championships in Kyrgyzstan.

He mentioned:

"The valuable victory of our national ice hockey team in the first appearance at the World championship against the Singapore national team once again showed the merit and greatness of Iranian sports to the world and showed the authority of the country's sports.

The Ministry of Sports and Youth congratulates the country's sports community on these achievements and prays to God Almighty for the progress and development of our beloved country in all fields through the efforts of the Iranian youth.

I appreciate the great efforts of each and every national ice hockey team, the coaches, the players, and al those involved in this field, and I wish this team success in al competitions".

Iran's first victory in the world championship IIHF World Championships Division IV

March 6th, 2022 Third opponent, a respectful opponent

Win the game and bring a bronze medal home!

Iran's third game was against 51st ranked Kuwait and boasting past World Championship experience on March 6th. Kuwait proved tob e no match for Iran And Iran defeated Kuwait 9-2 in a controversial game with a brilliant hat trick by captain Farzad HOUSHIDARI, doubled from Maziar GHORBANI and Nima MEHRABAN, and one each for Jalal KEYHANFAR and Matin GHAHAR. Iran secured bronze medal with this excellent victory

March 7th, 2022 Fourth opponent, an opponent in silver color 

Final game, full of honor, full of joy

Sitting in third place after three games, Iran still had plenty to play for going into their final match for silver medal against Malaysia, who is ranked 53 in IHF 2021 Men's World Ranking. The two teams drew 2-2 in the first period, but it was Iran who managed to defeat Malaysia 7-3 at the end of the game and win a valuable silver medal in their first international appearance. In this exciting game, the new Iranian goal scorers Amin KOREHEI, Mohsen AGHAMOHAMMADI, Danial BAGHERI, Amir HEIDARI, and the youngest Iranian player Arshia GHAFOORI each scored a goal, and Maziar GHORBANI, and Farzad HOUSHIDARI also scored a goal in the same way. 

Another "Miracle on Ice"

Iran's silver medal on IIHF World Championships Division IV 

by Iran Daily

Iranian men finishing runner-up in the 2022 IHF World Championship Division IV was another instance of "Miracle on Ice", said head coach Kaveh Sedghi.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Iran Daily on Tuesday after his team managed on Monday to beat Malaysia 7-3 and finish in second place in its first ever presence in the tournament, Sedghi said the "Miracle on Ice" was an ice hockey game during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, between host USA and the Soviet Union, in which Americans managed to defeat their heavily favored rival, a four-time defending gold medalist, 4-3.

Sedghi added, "Interestingly, the same label is currently being used in international ice hockey communities to refer to Iran's achievement in these games. They are amazed at the fact that a team from West Asia has managed to achieve such a great success.'

In its previous matches in the tourney, Iran had been defeated 1-13 by Kyrgyzstan, powered past Singapore 5-2 and eased past Kuwait 9-2.

Honestly speaking, although wehad entered the tournament with a winning mindset aiming to capture a title, we didn't expect to finish runner-up."

No one else also predicted that Iran would manage to finish in second place in its first ever presence in the tourney, he added.Commenting on his team's training for the competitions, Sedghi said,

"The country's first ice rink, constructed in the world's biggest shopping mall - Iran Mall - became ready for use two years ago, enabling us to join the International Ice Hockey Federation (IHF)."

"Although we did not take part in any competition over the past two years due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, we held a two-year training camp, during which free scouting camps were also held,

making ti possible to identify great young talents across the country."

Following that, the team took part in an international tournament in the UAE, which had a very high level and was of huge contribution to the players' greater readiness, Sedghi added.

"Ever since that tournament, we held three training camps, ni which I was assisted by Russian coaches Vladislav Lomakin and Yuriy Lomakin. "We also invited Turkey to Iran and played four friendlies against them to get fully prepared for the main competitions."

Commending supports by Iran Mall, he said, "Our players were allowed to use the mall's ice rink, one of the world's best and most modern rinks, for training free of charge." Sedghi also praised efforts by the national team's captain Farzad Hooshidari, who also trained players for free.

Describing the matches in the 2022 I F World Championship Division IV as very high-level, the head coach said Kyrgyzstan saw seven Russian players and three Kazakh ones in its squad. "In addition, Kyrgyzstan was steered by Russian coach Maxim Zhabunin who had been at the helm of Russia in the Top Division of Ice Hockey World Championships for five years, having collected two golds and three silvers."

Sedghi noted that Singapore saw a Canadian coach Robert Martini at its helm and Kuwait was competing under a Serbian head coach.

Expressing high hopes for the future, he said, "In six months' time, Iran men's and women's national teams will take part in Asian championships in Singapore and the country's U-20 squad will play in Asian competitions in Thailand. I guarantee three medals in these competitions.'- I/

Farzad: The best defense of championship

IIHF World Championships Division IV

by Iran Mal Sport

Farzad Hoshidari was selected as the best defense of the tournament. The captain of Iran's national team was selected as the best defender of the Division 4 World Cup.

At the end of the World Hockey Championship Division IV, which ended with the runner-up ofIran's NT in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Farzad Hoshidari, the defense and captain of this team, was selected as the best defense in the tournament and received from the representative of the World Federation.

Kyrgyzstan 2022

What a meeting!

On the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the IHF Division VI World Championship 2022, the President of the International Ice Hockey Federation, Mr. Luc Tardif, together with the high- ranking officials of this federation, met with the officials of the Iranian team. In this match, Luc Tardif congratulated the presence of Iran in the first world experience to the head coach of the team, Kaveh Sedghi, and wished success to this team.

Icehockey, which is a very young sport in Iran, has made great progress and achievement in the last two years, and this subject has not been hidden from the eyes of the IIHF.

Our best wishes for a Happy Nowruz to everyone around the world who celebrates this festive occasion

Marking the first day of Spring, Nowruz is a time to gather with family and friends, enjoy dishes and treats representing the sweetness of life, and reflect on the year that has passed while looking forward to the blessings of the future. Not being able to be with loved ones is just one of the many challenges that we have all facedas a result of the pandemic.May the Nowruz spirit of rebirth and renewal guide Us all to better days.

Nowruz Pirooz!

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Angels on Ice!

Kids training session in Iran Ice Hockey talent search camp 

by Iran Mall Sport

The seventh training session for the kids Ice Hockey Talent C a m p in the girl's section (5 to 14 years old) under the supervision technical staff of the national youth team, Farzad Hoshidari, and Azam Sanaei was held on April 3rd with the slogan 'Development Peace through sport, skating hockey for all".This is the first training camp for girls in Persian new year.

Kids training session in Iran Ice Hockey talent search camp

Let's Talk about LEAGUE!

What players and officials talked about IHL

by Iran Mall Sport

• Abolfazl Eslami (Capt. Misagh):

"The level of competition was excellent. The readiness of the team was average because our players are from different cities and it is very difficult for them to travel and they cannot afford the expenses. If we have the standard ice rink that we can practice every week, we will be strong in the next year league. Also, we can get strong sponsors fi there are conditions for broadcasting to all teams."

• Alireza Mahdavi (Icebox Goalie):

"The level of competition was excellent, and the more competitions were played, the better prepared the teams were, and day by day progress was seen in all the players. Although most of the players on our team were young and unexperienced, they have made significant progress and I can boldly say that they will be a surprise in the next seasons. Here, I would like to express my special thanks to Mr. Sedghi, the head coach of the national team, and Mr. Hoshidari, the captain of the national team, for doing their best and providing all the necessary facilities for people to progress in this sport."

• Arezoo Izadi (M.R Goalie):

"The level of competition was low and that is why we did not make much progress. Due to the high costs, our team could not have a team training on the ice, and for this reason, we will make little progress. Our team _ finished the tournament in third place because we only have individual training to improve our personal techniques. We hope we can perform better in the future."

• Arman Bahri (IceBox men's player and Lotus women coach):

"Given that this was the first edition of the Iran's Hockey League; the tournament was held at a significant level. Despite the fact that our players are unexperienced, we have always tried to get better results in every game and we have sacceed in this."

• Arshia Ghafoori (Youngest player of Online Tire):

"The ice hockey tournament held at a high level and hope it will continue to be the same and the level of our team and players will improve.

We try to do our best in the training to do what the coach wants us to do properly and to be present with more strength next season."

• Azam Sanaei (Capt. Online Tire):

"Given that it was the first season of the hockey league, the competitions were held at an acceptable level, but definitely room for improvement, and in the coming years, the level of play of players and teams, and consequently the competitions, will be much higher. Most of the active teams in the league have been started for a year and a half, and considering the time and the limitations due by pandemic, teams had good training."

• Atieh Sharifian (Referee):

"The competitions were of a good level and the readiness of the teams was assessed at a high level due to the continuously training they had. The refereeing of the matches was at an acceptable level despite the few number of referees, and due to the official start of the Hockey League, the need for refereeing classes to raise the level of referees is strongly felt."

• Atieh Rezaei (Referee):

"Due to the fact that there were purposeful and long-term plans for holding these competitions, the competitions were held with high quality and at a very good level. Teams play very well together with professional training under the supervision of national players, and many league games, such as the first and second team's table, are very exciting and rewarding. Given that the If rules book was translated last year and the referees are familiar with the rules, and also given that the players are preparing for the Asian and World Games, fortunately the rules of our league games are completely in line with the IHF rules."

• Behnaz Mehrdel (IceBox Goalie):

"The league was held at a very good level and although this sport has not been seen well in Iran yet, ti can have a bright future. All our players are at the beginning. We hope to have a successful future. The team may not be in the top standing, but we still have a long way to go to look better. One of the positive points of this league is that it taught us to strive for empathy and hope of becoming a professional. I would like to thank all the organizers of these competitions the professional coaches of the team."

• Dorsa Rahmani (Youngest player of Farmanieh):

"The competitions were held at a good level and the teams were present with high training. Our team was highly prepared and in good spirits, and the training was done almost continuously; the players were mentally fully prepared. Our team was in a good place in final standing and is ready for the next season of competitions."

• Faezeh Modabber (Capt. Farmanieh):

"The level of tournament was very good and the teams came to the matches and motivation. For that individual and team training should increase, and I hope that the number of teams increase so that we can and better quality years."

• Fatemeh Esmaeili (Youngest player of Online Tire):

"Considering that this was the first official hockey league and in fact we have had Ice Rink in Iran for two years, the level of competitions was very good and the teams got better game by game. Thank to those who made this tournament possible, Mr. Sedghi, Mr. Hoshidari, and Ms. Sanaei, because this tournament will help evaluate the players, and the players will test themselves for next year's Championship."

• Iman Rastegarnasab (Referee):

"It is the first season of the league and that is why expectations should not be high. The level of competition is relatively good, the teams are reasonably prepared and have made significant progress. We hope to make good progress in refereeing and to be able to referee international competitions."

• Melika Sheikhrahimi (Capt. M.R):

"Although it is the first year of the league, the competitions are at a good level. Our team had a good upward trend and our players performed better in each game than in the previous one. Team training was less and if the team training was more and more coherent, the team and players would be better prepared. In this tournament, our team, despite the number of players and low experience, was able to appear well against the opponents, and if it were not for the individual mistakes of the players, maybe we could have been the champions of this season."

• Nafas Arbabi (Youngest player of IceBox and the tournament):

"I really wanted our team to win and gain more experience.We will definitely get stronger and I want to train enough to be the captain of the Iranian hockey national team and score goals in the Olympics and Dedicate them to my dear coach."

• Nobakht Khadem (Capt. IceBox):

“We cannot say the level of competition is excellent or the best. This is the only league we have and everyone who loves and plays ice hockey is in it. We enjoy practicing to get ready, so exercises were good."

• Yeganeh Bahrami (Capt. Lotus):

“Despite the short time and lack of facilities for the cities other than Tehran, our team had a good level of readiness and definitely this readiness increased over time in this attractive tournament. Our training was held regularly once a week, both team training and individual training, and the players, because they were from different cities, followed their other training separately.”

• Paniz Kabiri (Youngest player of Lotus):

The level of some teams was much higher than Us. But we became stronger day by day. I think we were good and we will be much better in the future. If we continue our training in the same way, we will achieve an incredible result in the next season, and my plan is to train non-stop until next year.”

• Parisa Hosseini (Youngest player of IceBox):

"The level of competition was high and I think the length of the season increased the training of all the teams and increased the motivation of everyone, I hope that the league will continue in the same way. The team was certainly not ready for this match, but as the coach expected, match by match, the team members became more in harmony with each other. Certainly, by trying and planning to increase endurance, strength individual training in the next season, we can appear better both individually and as a team.”

• Parsa Jalali (Youngest player of IceBox):

"The level of league was very high and the teams did their best to get the best position. This league has made more people of our society familiar with this sport and come to watch it.”

• Pegah Moghaddam (Lotus Goalie):

"In this season, the hockey league matches were very organized although Corona pandemic, which caused a two-year break in both the matches and the training sessions. The referees were very perfect and fault-free, and al of the above led to have high-level competitions i n this season."

• Pooria Ghashghaei (Misagh Goalie):

"The level of competitions is excellent, but our team is mediocre because we do not have enough training on the ice due to the high cost of training and the training time STARS is not good as well. Our team table, and if the management of the Ice Rink provides conditions for us to be able to train every week a reasonable cost, we will be in the league next year with all our might. We can also get strong sponsors if conditions are right for broadcasting to all teams.”

• Pooria Majidzadegan (Referee):

“Although we are in the first season of the hockey league, but the teams are on ice with all their strength, and this promises to be an active and dynamic league. The teams do their best to get the best result and are present in the league with continuous training and individual preparation and completely up-to-date team techniques. The refereeing team also tries to judge professionally and seriously in these competitions by holding a workshop for retraining, and to show its best performance in each competition.”

• Reza Pourhashemi (M.R Goalie):

"The level of league matches was improving every day, both in terms of the level of play of the players and in terms of the conditions of the matches and the broadcasting and facilities that were given to all the teams, but the level of refereeing was quite low. For the future of the team, there is only two ways, either you have to use a free player or you have to do intensive personal and team training much more thannow."

• Roozbeh Khaksari (Online Tire team manager):

"The level of competition was awesome due to the holding of the Professional Hockey League after the Dubai International Tournament and the combination of nationally experienced players and younger and less experienced players. With careful support and management, you can see a higher level of games every year. Our team's training was held regularly under the supervision of team coach Farzad Houshidari, and of course we supported the team with all our might. The Online Tire team topped the standing without defeat and collected all possible points. In the future, we want to keep the team with the same quality and establish young teams t o build the future team with younger players and our own youngsters.”

• Mohammadreza Sheikhjafari (Capt. M.R):

"The tournament is at a high level in terms of arrangement, facilities and ice rink, but we are facing problems in terms of refereeing and we have to solve these problems in the near future. The level of the teams was a good level compared to the first season of competitions. I would like to thank and appreciate our team mates who, due to their limited facilities and even the lack of basic team facilities and suitable training conditions, have been able to achieve such good results with their efforts and self-sacrifice."

• Sogol Javadian (Capt. Icebox):

"The level of competition was at a high level with regard to the participating teams, but due to the infancy of this sport, the level of games will definitely go even higher, and we must do our best to reach the other teams. Most of the team players have just started hockey and need handling training alongside skating. But according to the process we are going through, we are facing good progress. If it is possible to increase training hours, the progress will be faster and you can work on a strategy for the games"

• Soosan Ghasemi (Online Tire Goalie):

“The teams in the tournament appeared at both the top and middle levels, with the bottom teams making good progress since starting at the beginning of the league. We (all hockey players) have given our lives and our future for this sport and we hope for the improvement and increasing progress of this sport."

• Farzad Hooshidari (Capt. Online Tire):

“The first season of Ice Hockey League in the history of Iran is very valuable for us. We had at least one game a week, which shows the professionalism of this league, the teams were looking for progress game by game, and this had raised the level of competition. In this league, winning or losing did not really matter. The most important things we learned from the tournament were doing teamwork, mastering the nerves (due to the roughness of this sport), the culture of the sport, individual skills, respect for the referees and the organizing committee, respect for the coach and the technical staff, and so on. It may have been the problem of most sports in Iran, and we are on the first steps, and whatever we build from n o w on will last forever.”

• Mojtaba Hosseini (Lotus team manager):

“The level of the league, considering the holding of the first season, was definitely commendable specially on women side, and without a doubt, the league organizing team worked hard. The difference in strength between the teams was too much, and we must bring the team closer to each other by providing a training ice rink for the teams in the league. Our team got better day by day and the players got more motivated, but we did not have a continuous time t o train the team and that was what the coaches suffered from. We will continue with strength and our decision is to ensure a permanent presence in the league and support the youth, but we are trying to attract more talented youth by providing permanent training conditions."

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Tourists or Sports Tourists, that's a question!

Russian Tourists in Tehran 

by Iran Mall Sport

A group of Russian tourists who were planning a trip to visit Iran's historical sites, after watching the Iranian national ice hockey team play in the IHF Kyrgyzstan World Cup Division IV, decided to experience this exciting game of hockey in Iran this time as well. The group, which arrived in Iran in the last days of May, is scheduled to play a few friendly matches with Iranian club teams on the Iran Mall ice rink from June 1 to .3

The purpose of these competitions is to create a sense of solidarity between the people of Iran and Russia and to gain a new experience of playing ice hockey in Iran. These competitions are scheduled in cold Iran Mall ice rink before their traveling to Kish island to experience the pleasant warmth of this island. There is no doubt that the Iran mall civilization complex, while attracting domestic tourists, will henceforth witness the presence of foreign tourists, including in the field of sports tourism.

Iran's national ice hockey team, which is the runner-up in the World Cup Division IV, has been a member of the IHF for only two years, but during this time it has made amazing progress.

Iran Mall ice rink new guests 

Starting Sledge Hockey in Iran

Iran Mal ice rink along with its special brand "Ice Box" due to their social responsibility program has launched Sledge Hockey for the physically disabled people and fulfilling the dream of people with mobility limitations. Sledge hockey is available to everyone free of charge.

Iran Mall's goal is not only to make the dreams of sliding on the ice

for the disabled true, but also the higher goal is participating in the Winter Paralympic Games with the national sledge hockey team of Iran.

Iran Paralympic teams have always been very successful in the Summer Paralympic Games and have achieved great success. Our goal is to succeed in the winter form of the secompetitions,

We are happy that we were able to provide a pleasant experience of ice skating and ice hockey (Sledge Hockey). with new equipment at the ICEBOX Iran Mal winter sports complex and of course increase physical activity for our loved ones wit disabilities. Applicants can now experience skating and ice hockey for free and with prior reservation at all public sessIons. This is an attempt by Iran Mall Ice Rink to fulfill its social responsibilities!

We are always proud to be beside you!

Let's Talk about LEAGUE!

What players and officials talked about IHL by Iran Mall Sport

• Omid GHARACHORLOU (Iran Mall Sport Facilities Manager):

" The first season of the Iranian Ice Hockey League is truly a special event and a glorious beginning in the history of this sport inI ran. For the first time, not only the Iranian sports community but also the general public got acquainted with ice hockey through this very attractive league and

by attending the Iran Mall ice rink. We are sure that with the efforts of the Iranian ice hockey community, which we are witness in a quantitative and qualitative growth these days, a bright future awaits this sport in the country. Keepgoing!"

Winter Sports World

First Edition: Sledge hockey 

by Iran Mall Sport

Sledge hockey (also known as Para ice hockey, or sled hockey in American English) is an adaptation of ice hockey designed for players who have a physical disability. Invented in the early 1960s at a rehabilitation center in Stockholm, Sweden, and played under similar rules to standard ice hockey, players are seated on sleds and use special hockey sticks with metal "teeth" on the tips of their handles to navigate the ice. Playing venues use an ice hockey rink.

Via its division World Para Ice Hockey, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) acts as the international sanctioning body for the sport. Para ice hockey has been played in the Winter Paralympics since 1994, and has been one of the most popular events.

• History

Two men from Sweden designed the sledge in the 196o because they wanted to continue to play hockey despite their physical disabilities. Their design included two skate blades on a metal frame that allowed the puck to pass underneath. They completed the ensemble by including two round poles with bike handles for sticks. Although there are many restrictions to the measurements and weight of the sleds used in the Paralympic Games, the basic design of modern sleds remains true to the original 1960s simple sleds for kids. These sleds were then m a d e to be used hockey. Despite the initial lack of interest and awareness in the few years that followed, competition between sledge hockey teams started up in 1971 that

included five teams in Europe. In 1981, Great Britain established their first sledge hockey team, and that was shortly followed by Canada in 1982. It was not until 1990 that the United States developed their first ice sledge hockey team. Sled hockey continued to expand when Estonia and Japan developed their teams in 1993. Sledge hockey was introduced to the Winter Paralympics in 1994, with Sweden claiming the first gold medal. Since 2010, sledge hockey has been a mixed- gender event.

On November 30, 2016, as part of an effort to improve and unify the marketing of its self-sanctioned sports outside of the Paralympic Games, and citing that the word "sledge" had differing meanings between languages, the International Paralympic Committee announced that it would henceforth refer to sledge hockey as Para ice hockey (with its sanctioning sub-division consequently renamed World Para Ice Hockey).

•  Equipment

The sticks have a blade curved at one end in a manner similar to regular ice hockey, and generally six to eight metal teeth at the opposite end of the blade for maneuvering and propulsion. Movement is achieved by using the metal teeth as a means to grip the ice and push oneself forward. The metal teeth cannot be too pointy nor protrude farther than 1 cm beyond the stick, to prevent damage to the ice or injury of other players. Other equipment includes a helmet with face mask, shoulder and elbow pads, shin guards, and hockey gloves. Pants and footwear are at the discretion of both the player's comfort and need. Goaltenders wear the standard mask, chest and arm protector, blocker pad and catching glove, plus a leg pad if they so desire and a stick with teeth on both the paddle as well as the knob of the stick. Additionally, goalies may make modifications to their equipment: a common mod is to attach the plastic outsoles of track spikes onto the outer part of their gloves to aid in lateral mobility.

• Rules

Essentially all of the standard rules of ice hockey apply to sledge hockey. The differences are those necessitated by the ice sled and the athlete. The first set of international rules was created in 1990 and were drafted from Canadian rules. The only penalty unique to sledge hockey is Teeing the act of charging an opponent using any part of the front radius of the sled. Players with limited mobility in their arms are permitted the use of a non-disabled assistant. Pushers must wear a team jersey and safety equipment, and cannot exceed the speed of the average player on the ice nor can they enter the "house" (the area extending from the goal crease to the end-zone faceoff dots, extended to the top of the faceoff circles) while in the defensive zone.

Games are divided into three 15-minute periods. If there is a tie at the end of regulation time, ti is followed by overtime, and fi still tied after the overtime period, a shootout occurs to determine the winning team.

Our best wishes for Eid-El-Fitr to all Muslims and everyone around the world who celebrates this occasion

With the sight of the new moon, Ramadhan Kareem is finally over. May God grant us the Tawfeeq to apply the gems of wisdom from Ramadhan into our daily lives. Eid is a time to amend, forgive and reflect. Eid is a day to cheer and to laugh with all your heart. It's a day to be grateful to God for all of his heavenly blessings on Us.

Happy Eid al Fitr Mubarak.

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Higher, more exciting and of course more difficult

Iran ice hockey upgraded to the IIHF World Championship Division III B 

by Iran Mall Sport

Kaveh Sedghi, former head coach of Iran's national ice hockey team, said: "On the sidelines of the friendly match between Icebox and M.R; both teams formed from Iran NT, we were informed that members of the IIHF World General Congress 2022 in Finland have made a decision that may the sweetest news for Iranian ice hockey. The members of this congress, which was formed on the sidelines of the World Championship, made this big decision for the Iran NT due by the positive performance of this t e a m in their first world appearance in Kyrgyzstan IHF World Championship division IV, which ended as the runner-up title.

"The members of our national team will play against strong teams such as Teams

• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Hong Kong
• Iran - Promoted from Division IV
• Kyrgyzstan - Promoted from Division IV

Kyrgyzstan and Bosnia in IHF World Championship Division I B next year in Bosnia." Sedghi said.

He continued: "Iranian ice hockey to maintain this great event and this valuable position needs the full support of the National Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Sports so that qualified Iranian athletes can provide the necessary equipment for the national team, establish regular domestic and international camps and also Holding preparatory meetings while maintaining its position in this Division, should also have a glimpse of upgrading to the next division. Although this issue seems like a dream for Iranian ice hockey, but with the reference of Iranian athletes' efforts, motivation and hard work, I promise that with the appropriate support, these players can properly make Iran proud in the international arenas in this fledgling sport in Iran."

It is anniversary day! 

Iran Mall Ice Box second anniversary

Iran Mal Icebox celebrated its second anniversary on June 6, 1401 by holding a youth competition with the participation of 150 players in the form of a speed challenge. The unique reception of this gathering and the presence of all the active personnel in the complex along with the families and users of this complex made it a memorable day in the Ice box complex.

Winter Sports World

ThirdEdition:SpeedSkating 

by Iran Mall Sport

Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. In the Olympic Games, long-track speed skating is usually referred to as just "speed skating", while short-track speed skating is known as "short track". [a]The International Skating Union (ISU), the governing body of competitive ice sports, refers to long track as "speed skating" and short track as "short track skating" An international federation was founded in 1892, the first for any winter sport. The sport enjoys large popularity in the Netherlands, Norway and South Korea. There are top international rinks in a number of other countries, including Canada, the United States, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Kazakhstan, China, Belarus and Poland. A World Cup circuit is held with events in those countries plus two events in the Thialf ice hall in Heerenveen, The standard rink for long track is 400 meters long, but tracks of 200, 250 and 3331/3 meters are used occasionally. It is one of two Olympic forms of the sport and the one with the longer history. ISU rules allow some leeway in the size and radius of curves. Short track speed skating takes place on a smaller rink, normally the size of an i c e hockey rink, on a 111.12 m oval track. Distances are shorter than in long-track racing, with the longest Olympic individual race being 1500meters (the women's relay is 3000 meters and the men's relay 5000 meters). Event are usually held with a knockout format, with the best two in heats of four or five qualifying for the final race, where medals are awarded. Disqualifications and falls are not uncommon.

There are variations on the mass-start races. In the regulations of roller sports, eight different types of mass starts are described. Among them are elimination races, where one or more competitors are eliminated at fixed points during the course; simple distance races, which may include preliminary races; endurance races with time limits instead of a fixed distance; points races; and individual pursuits. Races usually have some rules about disqualification if an opponent is unfairly hindered; these rules vary between the disciplines. In long track speed skating, almost any infringement on the pairmate is punished, though skaters are permitted to change from the inner to the outer lane out of the final curve if they are not able to hold the inner curve, as long as they are not interfering with the other skater. In mass-start races, skaters will usually be allowed some physical contact.

Team races are also held; in long track speed skating, the only team race at the highest level of competition is the team pursuit, though athletics-style relay races are held at children's competitions. Relay races are also held in short track and inline competitions, but here, exchanges may take place at any time during the race, though exchanges may be banned during the last couple of laps.

Most speed skating races are held on an oval course, but there are exceptions. Oval sizes vary; in short track speed skating, the rink must be an oval of 111.12 meters, while long track speed skating uses a similarly standardized 400 m rink. Inline skating rinks are between 125 and 400 meters, though banked tracks can only be 250 meters long. Inline skating can also be held on closed road courses between 400 and 1,000 meters, as well as open-road competitions were starting and finishing lines do not coincide. This is also a feature of outdoor marathons.

In the Netherlands, marathon competitions may be held on natural ice on canals, and bodies of water such as lakes and rivers, but may also be held on artificially frozen 400 m tracks, with skaters circling the track 100 times, for example.

The origins of speed skating date back over a millennium in the North of Europe, especially Scandinavia and the Netherlands, where the natives added bones to their shoes and used them to travel on frozen rivers, canals and lakes. In contrast to what people think, ice skating has always been an activity of joy and sports and not a matter of transport and travel. For example, winters in the Netherlands have never been stable and cold enough to make iceskating a regular way of traveling or a mode of transport. This has already been described in 1194 by William Fitzstephen, who described a sport in London. Later, in Norway, King Eystein Magnusson, later King Eystein I of Norway, boasts of his skills racing on ice legs. However, skating and speed skating was not limited to the Netherlands and Scandinavia; in1592, a Scotsman designed a skate with an iron blade. It was iron-bladed skates that led to the spread of skating and, in particular, speed skating. By 1642, the first official skating club, The Skating Club of Edinburgh, was born, and, in 1763, the world saw its first official speed skating race, at Wisbech on the Fens in England for a prize sum of 70

guineas.[2] While in the Netherlands, people began touring the waterways connecting the 1 cities of Friesland, a challenge which eventually led to the Elfstedentocht.

The first known official speed skating competition for women was in Heerenveen, the Netherlands from 1to 2 February 1805. The competition was won by Trijntje Pieters Westra By 1851,North Americans had discovered a love of the sport, and the all-steel blade was later developed there. In Norway speed skating also became popular, as there was a huge interest in the 1885 speed skating race at Frognerkilen between Axel Paulsen and Renke van der Zee. The Netherlands came back to the fore in 1889 with the organization of the first world championships. The ISU (International Skating Union) was also born in the Netherlands in 1892. By the start of the 20th century, skating and speed skating had come into its own as a major popular sporting activity.

At the 1914 Olympic Congress, the delegates agreed to include ice speed skating in the 1916 Olympics, after figure skating had featured in the 1908 Olympics. However, World Wart put an end to the plans of Olympic competition, and it was not until the winter sports week in Chamonix in 1924 retroactively awarded Olympic status--that ice speed skating reached the Olympic program. Charles Jewtraw from Lake Placid, New York, won the first Olympic gold medal, though several Norwegians in attendance claimed Oskar Olsen had clocked a better time.Timing issues on the 500 were a problem within the sport until electronic clocks arrived in the 1960s; during the 1936 Olympic 500- meter race, it was suggested that Ivar Ballangrud's 500-metre time was almost a second too good. Finland won the remaining four gold medals at the 1924 Games, with Clas Thunberg winning 1,500 meters, 5,000 meters, and all-round. It was the first and only time an all-round Olympic gold medal has been awarded in speed skating. Speed Skating is also a sport in today's Olympics.

Norwegian and Finnish skaters won all the gold medals in world championships between the world wars, with Latvians and Austrians visiting the podium in the European Championships. However, North American races were usually conducted pack-style, similar to the marathon races in the Netherlands, but the Olympic races were to be held over the four ISU-approved distances. The ISU approved the suggestion that the speed skating at the 1932 Winter Olympics should be held as pack-style races, and Americans won all four gold medals. Canada won five medals, all silver and bronze, while defending World Champion Clas Thunberg stayed at home, protesting against this form of racing. At the World Championships held immediately after the games, without the American champions, Norwegian racers won all four distances and occupied the three top spots in the all-round standings.

Norwegians, Swedes, Finns, and Japanese skating leaders protested to the USOC, condemning the manner of competition and expressing the wish that mass-start races were never to be held again at the Olympics. However, the ISU adopted the short track speed skating branch, with mass-start races on shorter tracks, in 1967, arranged international competitions from 1976, and brought them back to the Olympics In 1992.

In 1992, short track speed skating was accepted as an Olympic sport. Short track speed skating had little followed in the long track speed skating countries of Europe, such as Norway, the Netherlands and the former Soviet Union, with none of these nations having won official medals (though the Netherlands won two gold medals when the sport was a demonstration event in 1988). The Norwegian publication Sportsboken spent ten pages detailing the long track speed skating events at the Albertville Games in 1993, but short track was not mentioned by word, though the results pages appeared in that section.

Although this form of speed skating is newer, ti is growing faster than long- track speed skating, largely because short track can be done on an ice hockey rink rather than a long-track oval.

Short-track speed skating

Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track with a length of111.111 meters (364.54 ft). The rink itself is 60 meters (196.85 ft) long by 30 meters (98.43 ft) wide, which is the same size as an Olympic-sized figure skating rink and an international-sized ice hockey rink. Related sports include long track speed skating and inline speed skating.

Short-track skating developed from speed skating events that were held with mass starts. This form of speed skating was mainly practiced in the United States and Canada, as opposed to the international form, where athletes skated in pairs. At the 1932 Winter Olympics, speed skating events were conducted in the mass start form. Competitions in North America tended to be held indoors, for example in Madison Square Garden, New York, and therefore on shorter tracks than was usual for outdoor skating.

In 1967, the International Skating Union (ISU) adopted short-track speed skating, although it did not organize international competitions until 1976. World Championships in short-track speed skating have been officially held since 1981, although events held in 1976-1980 Under different names have since received the status of World Championships retrospectively. The name of the competition was changed several times before it was eventually titled the "World Short Track Speed Skating Championships" in 1989; the championships are now held annually.

Short-track speed skating was introduced as a demonstration sport at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada. tI was upgraded to a full Olympic sport in 1992 and has been part of the Winter Olympics ever since.

There were only four short-track events in the 1992 Winter Games, but the program was expanded to include six events in 1994 and 1998, and finally eight events in the 2002 Winter Games. The events are the same for both men and women: 500 meters, 1000 meters,1500 meters, plus the relay event (5000 meters for men , 3000 meters for women). Starting with the 2018-19 World Cup season, a 2000-meter. mixed-team relay was added, and will appear in the 2022 Winter Olympics. A 3000-meter super-final event is included in the European Championships, but this is not currently part of the Olympic short-track program.

After watching the Iran national ice hockey team play in the IIHF Kyrgyzstan World Cup Division IV, a group of European tourists who were planning a trip to visit Iran's historical sites came to Iran Mall ice rink to experience this exciting hockey game in Iran this time as well. The group, played 5 friendly matches with Iranian club teams in three consecutive day son the Iran Mall Ice Box from June 1 to 3 .The purpose of these competitions was to strengthen sports tourism and to increase the participation of the Iranian sports society in the movement of sports tourism, the Identification of Iran hockey by the international sports communities, and to gain a new experience of playing ice hockey in Iran. There is no doubt that the Iran mall civilization complex, while attracting domestic tourists, will henceforth witness the presence of foreign tourists, including in the field of sports tourism.

Challenges!

Iran Mall Ice Box is ready for the hottest season of the year

by Iran Mall Sport

Considering the beginning of summer, in the last week of June, Iran Mall's Icebox complex celebrated the beginning of the summer season with three main programs:

-Sunday, June 19, from 20:00 to 23:00, children's competition (challenge on ice) with 200 participants

-Wednesday, June 22, hockey players conference from g to 11 am with the presence of 400 professional athletes

-Thursday, June 23, at 21:00, an al stars match between 30 of the best ice hockey players in Iran

El Capitano!

An inter view with Farzad Hooshidari Iran’s Men Ice Hockey National Team Captain

by Iran Mall Sport

Farzad HOOSHIDARI

Born: Sunday, September 6, 1987

Birthplace: Tehran, IRI H: 170 Cm

W: 75 Kg Shoots: Left

• 1. Please introduce yourself?

I am Farzad Hooshidari, born on September 15th, 1987 in Tehran.

• 2. Tell us a little about your family roots

l am from a military-based family, both of my grandfathers and one of my grandmothers have been employee of the army. My parents were born in

Tehran, but my grandfather (my father's father) is from Kermanshah city, so l am proud to come from a Kurdish root.

• .3 Does anyone else in the family follow sports seriously?

no

• 4. When did you start your sports activities?

I started my sports activities since 1990 recreationally with skating and in 1994, 1 started skating hockey considering that there was no ice rink at that time and we were all inline skating athletes.

• 5. How many days a week do you exercise?

I train 6 days a week, and most of my training is specialized and on ice.

• 6. What is the most difficult ice hockey position?

In my opinion, all the positions are extremely difficult and each one has a description of duties that even if a player missed a single one, it will end up severely harming her/his team. But, in my opinion, the center position has much more physical activities in comparison with other positions.

• 7. How was the experience of playing abroad? Where did you play? And do you like to play in foreign leagues again?

The experience of playing abroad was a very good experience, ti was extremely difficult and the work was not easy at all, and if Iwant to go back and play again, I will do it one hundred percent. When I left here, we didn't have an ice rink and I trained there without any training on ice but I went to become a member of the team in Ankara, Turkey. Now with this experience, I feel that playing overseas makes me enjoy a lot more.

• 8. What is the difference between being a captain and being a player?

The captain has much more responsibility, establishing a relationship with the head coach and other coaches and of course, you should always pay attention to the team's spirit, discipline, order, and such issues, in my opinion, ti is one oft h e heaviest responsibilities in the team.

• 9. Which competitions have you participated in and what ranks have you obtained?Where have you traveled to?

Until now, I think that I have traveled to more than twenty countries for various tournaments, the results of these trips

and the best officials we got were the Asian championship in inline hockey and the runner-up in the world division 4 in ice hockey.

Asian championship in Inline Hockey 2018 was held in South Korea and IIHF world championship division IV 2022 was in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

• 10. What things or who do you owe your success?

Kaveh Sedghi and no one others

• 11. Do the available facilities in your field meet the needs of those interested?

Of course not, we are happy and grateful for the facilities, but the equipment that we have to provide, we should buy via one person in abroad or we can hardly buy it ourselves.

• 12. What deficiencies do you feel in your field of activity that hinder the progress of athletes?

Considering that we have a unique standard ice rink in the Iran Mall, we are very grateful for this and we owe our progress and numbers to this rink, but only one ice rink in the country is not enough for good and bigger progress.

• 13. What do you expect from the top officials of Iranian sports authorities?

Just two words: Paying Attention

• 14. What would you do if you were the president of the federation?

fI I were the head of the federation, I would try to form an independent federation called the Ice Hockey Federation as a member ofIIHF for this

field like other countries.

• 15. What are your plans for the future? We know that you are a coach now. How serious do you take coaching?

I participated in a series of coaching courses, plan to participate in a number of others, and I would like to take coaching more seriously considering that I am currently playing, I cannot devote 100% of my time, energy, and concentration to coaching, but in the future for sure, I will do this.

• 16. What is the role of parents and coaches in encouraging children to play sports? How much time did your parents spend on sports?

The role of parents is very important in this matter, my family is the biggest favor that was given to me by allowing me to decide and choose this field and telling me that I will do it as long as I enjoy this field and someday, I didn't enjoy it, Ican change it. It wasn't to reach the championship and the national team, and these conversations didn't exist at all at that time, so I started this sport for myself and continued, and it always helped me in this sport, and really, I owe it to my family.

• 17. If you go back to being a child once again, would you follow this way?

If I go back, I will follow exactly the same way

• 18. Does the income of a national ice hockey player cover his expenses?

National ice hockey players do not have any income from this field. Their income is mainly from coaching or they haveother jobs. As players, they do not

receive salaries from the federation, and if many of them work, ti is only for the purpose of being able to somehow cover the expenses of the ice hockey field.

• 19- What would you be doing now if you didn't become an athlete?

fI I didn't become an athlete, I would probably try to be active in IT.

• 20. Until what age do you want to continue the championship sport?

Until the age of 38

• 21. How much injury do you get?

Minor injuries, I think, are once a month, but more serious injuries, which I hope will not happen to any athlete, are on average once a year or once in two years.

• 22. fI you have a child, what sports field would you like him to play?

If I have a child, first of all I will let him choose by her/himself, but before that I will definitely go to a talent center and let them analyze her/his physical, temperament and intelligence and introduce to my child which sport is best for her/him. It is more suitable.

• 23. Do you do other sports?

No, all my time is spent on ice hockey

• 24. Your sweetest and bitterest memory since you played ice hockey

If Iwant to talk only about ice hockey, my bitterest experience was in 2017 is the Asian Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan, where our multi nations players were not allowed to play, and we were disqualified from this tournament, and unfortunately, we had to spend two weeks and played in Japan without get any points for those games. My sweetest experience was about 3 months ago in March 2022 in Kyrgyzstan when we achieved the silver medal in I F Division IV World Championship. I think it is the best ice hockey achievement in the history of Iran's sport.

• 25. What is your prediction regarding the position of ice hockey in Iran?

Isee an extremely bright future for the field of ice hockey and its athletes, we cannot talk about where exactly we will be in the world ranking, but in both women and men, soon, that is, in the next 3 or 4 years, we will definitely be one division higher. we will go.

• 26. Have you ever lost your temper in a game?

Our game is a game of going crazy, and if the opposing team and the opposing player are not afraid of your appearance, behavior, and game, you cannot control it in any way, that's why I generally lose my temper a lot.

• 27. Which national team player are you more comfortable with? Which oft h e m makes you mad in the game?

I am comfortable with all the players who appear at the national level, I have a series of expectations from them, who have always been kind to me and my expectations have been met, my expectations are generally in line with improving the hockey culture of our country but, I cannot separate my teammates.

• 28. Which of the current players do you see with a brighter future?

Al players who are between the ages of 14 and 19, Isee a better future for them than the players who are older, and even the younger players, I see a brighter future for them than the 15-16-year-olds.

• 29. Professional dream? Are you reaching it or have you reached it?

I have too much dreams, the men's team reaching Division I b, the women's team playing in Division Il, coaching a foreign team, and certainly the successes that can be achieved in the field of coaching. 

• 30. Popular city in Iran and the world?

My favorite city in Iran is certainly Tehran, considering that I spent most of m y life in Tehran.

My favorite city in the world is Ottawa, considering that ice hockey is the first sport in Canada and Ottawa is the capital of this country.

• 31. Popular player in Iran and the world?

My favorite player in Iran right now is Arshia Ghafouri, considering his age, his progress is very good and Ibelieve that in the future of this team will be on Arshia's shoulders. I like Cale Makar and Victor Hedman too much.

• 32. Regardless of gender, if Farzad Hooshidari was a movie actor, which actor would he be?

Stephen Graham

• 33. How much are you interested in cinema or other arts?Favorite artist?

Yes, Im' interested, but unfortunately, I can't spend much time watching theater, movies, cinema or other arts. 

• 34. The last word?

Thank you again to Iran Mall Group, management and employers Hoping for the increasing success of our country's ice hockey

__________________________________________________________________________________J U L Y 2 0 2 2​___________________________________________________________________________________

A Special Guest!

Iran ice hockey hosted Kyrgyzstan U20 national hockey team

By Iran Mall Sport

Kyrgyzstan's under-20 ice hockey team, which is preparing for the World Championships in Mexico, decided to travel to Iran due to the lack of a Mexican embassy in this country, and while completing the legal procedures for obtaining visas for the team members, held a joint camp with the Iran youth ice hockey team. In this very useful camp for Iranian players, this team practiced along with Iranian hockey players at the Iran Mall ice rink in Tehran in five days.

In the first friendly match on July 15th, Iran's under-20 hockey team lost 4-0 to their strong rival in their first match against Kyrgyzstan's national team at Iran Mall's ice rink in the presence of more than a thousand excited Iranian spectators. Two days after, the second match between Iran hockey NT vs Kyrgyz U20 NT also ended with the result 5-3 in favor of the Kyrgyz U20 NT.

Kyrgyzstan... Land of Manas!

Iran ice hockey hosted Kyrgyzstan U20 national hockey team

Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kygryz Republic, is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asai. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan t o the west, Tajikistan t o the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. Its capital and largest city is Bishkek. Ethnic Kyrgyz make up the majority fo the country's six million people, followed by significant minorities of Uzbeks and Russians . The Kyrgyz language is closely related to other Turkic languages.

Kyrgyzstan's history spans a variety of cultures and empires. Although geographically isolated by its highly mountainous terrain, Kyrgyzstan has been at the crossroads of several great civilizations as part of the Silk Road along with other commercial routes. Inhabited by a succession of tribes and clans, Kyrgyzstan has periodically fallen under larger domination. Turkic nomads, who trace their ancestry to many Turkic states such as the First andSecond Turkic Khaganates, have inhabited the country throughout its history. nI the 13th century, Kyrgyzstan was conquered by the Mongols; it regained independence, but was later invaded by Dzungar Khanate. After the fall of Dzhungars, Kyrgyz and Kipchaks were an integral part of KokandKhanate. In1876, Kyrgyzstan became part of the Russian Empire, and in1936, the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic was formed to become a constituent republic of the Soviet Union. Following Mikhail Gorbachev's democratic reforms in the USSR, in 1990 pro-independence candidate Askar Akayev was elected president. On 13 August1991, Kyrgyzstan declared independence from Moscow and a democratic government was established. Kyrgyzstan attained sovereignty as a nation state after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

After independence, Kyrgyzstan was officially a unitary presidential republic; after the Tulip Revolution ti becamea unitary parliamentary republic, although it gradually developed an executive president and was governed as a semi- presidential republic before reverting t o a presidential system in 2021.

Ice Hockey is very popular sport inKyrgyzstan like other previous soviet countries. Kyrgyzstan joined officially to IIHF since 2011. Total hockey players number is 1530person including 1200 males, 30 females and 300 junior players.Total number of official referees are 5. This country has three indoor rinks as well as eight outdoors.

Winter Sports World

Fourth Edition: FigureSkating 

by Iran Mall Sport

Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance; the four individual disciplines are also combined into a team event, first included in the Winter Olympics in 2014. The non-Olympic disciplines include synchronized skating, Theater on Ice, and four skating. From intermediate through senior-level competition, skaters generally perform two programs (the short program and the free skate), which, depending on the discipline, may include spins, jumps, moves in the field, lifts, throw jumps, death spirals, and other elements or moves.

Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level at local, regional, sectional, national, and international competitions. The International Skating Union (ISU) founded in the Netherlands in 1892, was created to oversee skating internationally regulates international figure skating judging a n d competitions. These include the Winter Olympics, the World Championships, the World Junior Championships, the European Championships, the Four Continents Championships, the Grand Prix series (senior and junior), and the ISU Challenger Series. The sport is also associated with show business. Major competitions generally conclude with exhibition galas, in which the top skaters from each discipline perform non-competitive programs.

Many skaters, both during and after their competitive careers, also skate in ice shows, which run during the competitive season and the off-season. The most visible difference to ice hockey skates is that figure skates have a set of large, jagged teeth called toe picks on the front part of the blade. These are used primarily in jumping and should not be used for stroking or spins. If used during a spin, the toe pick will cause the skater to lose momentum, or move away from the center of the spin. 

Blades are mounted to the sole and heel of the boot with screws. Typically, high- level figure skaters are professionally fitted for their boots and blades at a reputable skate shop. Professionals are also employed to sharpen blades to individual requirements. Blades are about 4.7 millimeters (3/16 inch) thick. When viewed from the side, the blade of a figure skate is not flat, but curved slightly, forming an arc of a circle with a radius of 180-220 centimeters (71-87 inches). This curvature is referred to as the rocker oft h e blade. The "sweet spot" is the part of the blade on which all spins are rotated; this is usually located near the stanchion of the blade, below the ball of the foot. The blade is also "hollow ground"; a groove on the bottom of the blade creates two distinct edges, inside and outside. The inside edge of the blade is on the side closest to the skater; the outside edge of the blade is on the side farthest from the skater. In figure skating, it is always desirable to skate on only one edge of the blade. Skating on both at the same time (which is referred to as a flat) may result in lower skating skills scores. The apparently effortless power and glide across the ice exhibited by elite figure skaters fundamentally derives from efficient use of the edges to generate speed.

Skates used in singles and pair skating have a set of large, jagged teeth called a "toe pick" on the front of each blade.

The toe picks are mainly used to help launch the skater into the air for the take-off when performing jumps. Ice dance blades have smaller toe picks than blades used for the other disciplines.

During a spin, skaters use the "sweet spot" of the blade, which is one of two rockers to be found on a blade and is the

roundest portion of the blade. The sweet spot is located just behind the toe pick and near the middle of the blade The other rocker is the more general curvature of the blade when stroking or gliding.

Ice dancers' blades are about an inch shorter in the rear than those used by skaters in other disciplines, to accommodate the intricate footwork and close partnering in dance. Dancers' blades also have a smaller toe pick as they do not require the large toe pick used for jumping in the other disciplines. Hard plastic skate guards are used when the skater must walk in his or her skates when not on the ice, to protect the blade from dirt or material on the ground that may dull the blade. Soft blade covers called soakers are used to absorb condensation and protect the blades from rust when the skates are not being worn. In competition, skaters are allowed three minutes to make repairs to their skates.

There are many different types of boots and blades to suit different disciplines and abilities. For example, athletes who are performing advanced multi- rotational jumps often need a stiffer.

boot that is higher and gives more support. Athletes working on single or double jumps require less support and may use a less stiff boot. Ice dancers m a y prefer a lower cut boot that is designed to enable more knee bend.

Likewise, blades designed for free and pairs skating have a longer tail to assist landing. The blade profile and picks are designed to assist with spinning and with jump entry, take-off, landing and exit. Modern blade technology increasingly uses carbon fiber and materials other than steel to make blades lighter. These materials may also be more flexible and help cushion jump landings and be protective of young athlete's joints. Ice dance blades have short tails to enable close foot work and reduce the risk of blade clash in close complex moves. They may also be thinner to assist with glide and fast changes of edge.

Ice rinks and rink equipment

There is significant variation in the dimensions of ice rinks. Olympic-sized rinks have dimensions of 30 m x 60 m (98.4 ft × 197 ft), NHL-sized rinks are 26 m x61 m (85 ft ×200 ft), while European rinks are sometimes 30 m x 64 m (98 ft × 210 ft). The ISU prefers Olympic-sized rinks for figure skating competitions, particularly for major events. According to ISU rule 342, a figure skating rink for an ISU event "if possible, shall measure sixty (60) meters in one direction and thirty (30) meters in the other, but not larger, and not less than fifty-six (56) meters in one direction and twenty-six (26) meters in the other."The scoring system rewards skaters who have good ice coverage, i.e. those who efficiently cover the entire ice surface during their programs. Olympic-sized rinks make the differences in skill between skaters more apparent but they are not available for all events. If a rink has different dimensions, a skater's jump setup and speed may be hindered as he or she adjusts.

Ice quality is judged by smoothness, friction, hardness, and brittleness. Factors affecting ice quality include temperature, water quality, and usage, with toe picks causing more deterioration. For figure skating, the ice surface temperature is normally maintained between -5.5 C° (22.1 °F) and -3.5 °C (25.7 F), with the Olympic disciplines requiring slightly softer ice (-3.5 C ) than synchronized skating (-5.5 C). Typically after every two warm-up groups, an ice resurfacer cleans and smooths the surface of the ice sheet. Inadequate ice quality may affect skaters' performances.

Some rinks have a harness system installed to help skaters learn new jumps in a controlled manner. A heavy- duty cable is securely attached to two of

the walls around the ice, with a set of pulleys riding on the cable. The skater wears a vest or belt, with a cable or rope attached to it, and the cable/rope is threaded through the movable pulley on the cable above. The coach holds the other end of the cable and lifts the skater by pulling the cable/rope. The skater can then practice the jump with the coach assisting the completion. This is used when a skater needs more help on a jump. However, if the coaches see fit, they could use another harness usually called "the fishing pole harness." It is named that because it looks similar to a fishing pole. The skater will put on the harness and the coach will adjust it so it fits the skater. The skater will go and do the jump with very little help from their coach. They can also do the jump on any pattern they choose, whereas, the other harness, they must do in a straight line.

Disciplines

Olympic disciplines

As an Olympic sport, figure skating comprises the following disciplines:

Singles competitions for men and for w o m e n (previously referred to as "ladies" in ISU rulebooks until the 2021- 2 season). Individual skaters perform jumps, spins, step sequences, spirals, and other elements in their programs.

Pair skating teams, consisting of a woman and a man skating together. Pairs perform elements that are specific to the discipline such as: throw jumps, in which the man 'throws' the woman into a jump; lifts, in which the woman is held above the man's head in one of various grips and positions; pair spins, in which both skaters spin together about a common axis; death spirals; and other elements such as side-by-side jumps and spins in unison.

Ice dance couples, consisting of a man and a woman skating together. In contrast to pair skating, ice dance focuses o n intricate footwork performed in close dance holds, in time with the music. Ice dance lifts must not go above the shoulder, while throws and jumps are disallowed.

The four disciplines of men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance, are also incorporated into a team event which appeared on the Olympic program for the first time at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Other disciplines

Synchronized skating (formerly known as "precision skating") is for mixed- gender groups of between twelve and twenty figure skaters. This discipline resembles a group form of ice dance, with additional emphasis on precise formations of the group as a whole and complex transitions between formations. The basic formations include wheels, blocks, lines, circles, and intersections. The close formations, and the need for the team to stay in unison, add to the difficulty of the footwork performed by the skaters in these elements. Formal proposals were put forward by the ISU to include synchronized skating in the 2022 Winter Olympics, but those efforts have been unsuccessful.

Ice theatre (also known as "Theatre on ice" or "Ballet on ice") is a form of group

skating that is less structured than synchronized skating and allows the use of theatrical costuming and props.

Four skating is a discipline in which a team of four skaters, consisting of two men and two women, perform singles and pairs elements in unison, as well as unique elements that involve all four skaters.

Special figures is the tracing of elaborate original designs on the ice. This was a common discipline in the early days of figure skating (hence the name of the sport) and appeared once at the Olympics, in 1908.

Adagio skating is a form of pair skating most commonly seen in ice shows, where the skaters perform many

acrobatic lifts, but few or none of the other elements that are performed by competitive pair skaters.

Acrobatic skating (also known as "Acrobatics on ice" or "Extreme

skating") is a combination of circus arts, technical artistic gymnastics skills, and figure skating.

Competitors' expenses, income, and funding

Figure skating is an expensive sport.This is particularly due to the costs of ice time and coaching. In the late 19805, the expenses of a top-ten women's competitor at the U.S. Championships reached nearly US$50,000 a year. In October 2004, a U.S. Figure Skating article estimated the annual expense at US$9,000-$10,000 for pre-juvenile, US$18,000 for juvenile, US$35,000- $40,000 for novice, and said junior and senior levels were somewhat more expensive. In the 20105, American senior national medalists had expenses in the mid-five- figure range. Swiss skater Stéphane Lambiel said his costs were around CHF 100,000 per season. World champion Patrick Chan's expenses were Can$150,000. In 2015, CBC Sports estimated that a Canadian pair team had expenses of about Can$100,000 per year.

Prize money is relatively low compared to other sports. A men's or women's singles skater who won the 2011 World Championships earned US$45,000, about 1.8% to 2.5% of the US$1,800,000-$2, 400,000 for winners of the tennis US Open and Australian Open.A couple who won the pairs or ice dance title split US$67,500. A winner of the senior Grand Prix Final in December 2011 earned US$25,000.

Some national associations provide funding to some skaters fi they meet certain criteria. Many skaters take part- time jobs and some have tried crowdfunding. In Germany, many elite skaters join the army to fund their skating. In Italy, some skaters join police agencies' sport groups, such as the Polizia Penitenziaria's Fiamme Azzurre (Carolina Kostner, Anna Cappellini, Luca Lanotte) or Polizia di Stato's Fiamme Oro (Federica Faiella, Paolo Bacchini). Some competitive skaters depend on income from shows. Shows must be sanctioned by their association, i.e. skaters may lose their competitive eligibility if they take part without permission. In some cases, skaters may feel pressure to compete through injury to be allowed to perform in a show. Others may become involved with coaching younger athletes in order to fund their own training costs.

The closing ceremony of the13th International Sports Film Festival of Iran was held on Wednesday evening, July20, with the message of Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Speaker of the Islamic Parliament of Iran, and the exhibition of selected works of the photo section at the Ghadir Sports Cultural Complex.

In this ceremony and in the long documentary section, the best research and research of the national long documentary dedicated to "There is no place for angels "(authors: Sam Kalantari- Mehran Kashani) and also this film won the best national feature documentary (Producers: Mohammad Shakibania- Mohsen ShahmohammedMirab).

Congratulations to this wonderful artist team!

O Captain! My Captain!

An interview with Azam Sanaei Iran's Women Ice Hockey National Team Captain

by Iran Mall Sport

Azam SANAEI

Born: Wednesday, February 7th, 1990

Birthplace: Tehran, IRI H: 166 Cm

W: 54 Kg Shoots: Left

• 1. Please introduce yourself?

I am Azam Sanaei, born on February 7th, 1990 in Tehran.

• 2. Does anyone else in the family follow sports seriously?

Yes. My two elder brothers were former Iran national squash players and coaches.

• 3. When did you start your sports activities?

l entered the world of sports from the age of 4 because of my father's job, and at first I started my activity with swimming and then squash, and from the age of 12 l got to know skating. At first, I started speed skating and joined the hockey team in 2006.

• 4. Who were your coaches?

Until today, I had the honor of being a student of many great coaches, but Ican boldly say that I owe everything I have achieved in this sport to my biggest coaches and supporters, Kaveh Sedghi and Farzad Houshidari.

• 5. How many days a week do you exercise?

Due my career and professional job, Ican say my training sessions are in 7 days a week.

• 6. What is the most difficult ice hockey position?

Most people believe that the most difficult position in hockey is goalkeeping, but in my opinion, there is no most and every position has its own difficulties.

• 7. What is the difference between being a captain and being a player?

In fact, the captain is a player with more commitment and responsibility towards the team and her teammates as well as towards the team coach.

• 8. Which competitions have you participated in and what ranks have you obtained? Where have you traveled to?

My first experience in inline hockey was the Hong Kong Open Cup in 2009. Then, I experienced the Asian Games 4 times in 2012-2014-2016 and 2018, which were held three times in China and once in South Korea, and the results of these competitions were three bronze medals for the Iranian team. Also, in 2016, Iwas delegated to the World Championships in Italy. But in the ice hockey, because we have only started our activity for 2years, we were delegated to the Emirates Open Tournament only once, and we were able to win the runner-up of the tournament.

• 9. What things or who do you owe your success?

Kaveh Sedghi, Farzad Houshidari, my teammates, my family, and of course my hard efforts.

• 10. Do the available facilities in your field meet the needs of those interested?

Considering the time, ti took to start ice hockey in Iran, we currently have relatively good facilities and we hope that more and better conditions and facilities will be provided to us in the future.

• 11. What do you expect from the top officials of Iranian sports authorities?

Paying attention to the situation and our requirements

• 12. What would you do if you were the president of the federation?

Actually, I am not interested in this position at all, but maybe at least what I was doing was trying to do my duties in the best way for the benefit of the collective and not the individual.

• 13. What are your plans for the future? We know that you are a coach now. How serious do you take coaching?

As a coach, my main plan is to focus as much as possible on young and teenage players along with adult teams and train coaches and participate in more coaching courses to improve my coaching level. Also, as a player, I try to always keep myself as an effective player for the team and improve.

• 14. What is the role of parents and coaches in encouraging children to play sports? How much time did your parents spend on sports?

Parents have the first and the most important role in attracting and motivating their children. In fact, the family is the first platform that defines the path of success for their children. After the family, it is the coach and the team that can have the greatest influence on the player.

The main reason for my familiarity with sports and my interest in it and continuing on this path were undoubtedly my parents, who, knowing me and the sports community, always supported me in every way. I definitely had a lot of trouble for them in this way, but I have always tried to be able to respond to their efforts in the best way.

• 15. If you go back to being a child once again, would you follow this way?

Definitely yes but this time with much more seriousness and effort

• 16. Does the income of a national ice hockey player cover his expenses?

Unfortunately, don't have income from we any sports that can cover our expenses.

• 17. Has exercise affected yoUr studies? Which is more important for one of the conveniences, greatest and you, studies?

sports or It didn't hurt because I tried to have both together as much as possible, but ti was influential in my decisions. | have a bachelor's degree in business administration from Tehran University.

When I entered the university, I never thought that I would finish my studies before getting a PhD, but finally, in an era, sports became a priority for me. But now I don't regret my decision at all, because sports age is limited, but, I can continue my education again at any time.

• 18. Until what age do you want to continue the championship sport?

I want to say a number, it might be 36 or 37, but actually as long as Ican be a good and influential player for my team.

• 19. How much injury do you get?

Injuries are a part of every sport, and naturally I have suffered from this a lot, but thanks God, I have only had one serious injury that forced me not to exercise for a year.

• 20. If you have a child, what sports field would you like him to play?

Definitely, my first suggestion for my child would be ice hockey, but I would like my child to make her/his own decisions and live according to her/his interests and talents

• 21. Do you do other sports?

Yes, If I have enough time I usually play squash.

• 22. Your sweetest and bitterest memory since you played ice hockey?

My playing life on the ice is not long, but maybe I can say that the sweetest memory was our first international appearance and the victory vs the Russian team. The most bitter memory was last year when we could not participate in the World Championships.

• 23. What is your prediction regarding the position of ice hockey in Iran?

Certainly, due to the potential and talents of our players, there are bright days and great events wait for Iran ice hockey. In the women's section, we will soon see the achievement of the Asian position and move to a higher division, and the men will also be promoted to the third division, considering that they have become the runner-up of the fourth division, and these improvements will continue.

• 24. Food or sport? Which one is more attractive for you?

Both of them actually

• 25. What are your issues in this sport? Do you think being a woman is a problem for progress? Doesn't being a woman slow you down in your sport?

The presence of honest, compassionate and skilled people like Kaveh Sedghi and Farzad Houshidari in this sport and their efforts and support as well as the ice rink that is always available for us for free is one of the greatest convenience’ and perhaps the biggest problem is financial problems. Being a woman does not cause any problems

• 26. What is the difference between the look of an athlete girl and a normal girl?

In my opinion, an athlete girl is more and better able to resist problems and hardships and is better at teamwork and manages her life more easily, and most importantly, she values herself and her abilities more.

• 27. What do you think about the hijab of Iranian girls in competitions and training?

This is the rule of this country, and if I want to play under the national flag andfor our homeland, I must respect its rules, whether it is approved by me or not.

• 28. Which national team player are you more comfortable with? Which of them makes you mad in the game?

With all the players, because most of them are either my students or my teammates, we grew up together in this sport. We are friends and respect each other a lot.

• 29. Which of the current players do you see with a brighter future?

We have many players with a bright future, but in general, players who are younger will definitely have a better future because they will have more opportunities and situations.

• 30. Popular city in Iran and the world?

I can't name a city in Iran or the world as my favorite city, but in general, I am very interested to quiet and small cities that have pristine nature and there is peace in them.

• 31. Popular player in Iran and the world?

Dorsa Rahmani and Arshia Ghafouri who are very young and talented players.

I like Connor McDavid very much.

• 32. The last word?

I am grateful to all those who work hard for this sport and I hope to see the progress and growth of this field day by day.

Mom is not only a simple word; it is truly a universe. After the first heart break, the consoling lap of your mom would be the best medicine in this world. No therapist can bring such a comfort as a mom's hug and lap. Losing a mother is one of the most painful things you will

ever experience. A mother's love is selfless, unconditional, and never-ending. Her arms are more comforting than any one else's. Her eyes are filled with pure tenderness. She devotes every thing she has and everything she is to help you become the person you are today.

Dear Farzad.....

Iran Hockey community would like to offer you sincerest condolences on the death of your mother. Although most of us never got the chance to meet her, but surely know that she must have been a wonderful person. You captain and your family are in our thoughts and

prayers. May her soul rest inpeace.

__________________________________________________________________________________A U G U S T 2 0 2 2___________________________________________________________________________________

Another The FIRST!

The first international inter-companies ice hockey tournament in Iran 

by Iran Mall Sport

The first International Ice Hockey Tournament in Iran will be held in Tehran, in two days from Oct 26th 2022 to 27th in Iran Mall, which is the biggest brand-new shopping center in Iran. In this tournament, Iran Mall IceBox will be hosting the first ice hockey tournament in Tehran, the capital of Iran.

This tournament is organized by Federation of Amateur and Workers Sport of I.R. Iran, Iranian Association for Companies Sport, and IFITPRO Sports Holding. Participated teams in the tournament is two teams from Russia, one from Belarus, and one team from Iran.

Looking to the future! 

Iran Mall IceBox second anniversary

These days, many ice hockey training classes are held in Iran Mall's Icebox. After the success of theIran national ice hockey team in the world championships, the fans of this field have multiplied in Iran, and the Iran Mall ice rink, as the only standard ice rink in the country, witnesses the attendance of fans of this exciting sport every day. Children and teenagers have a more colorful presence and the players of Iran's women's and men's national teams share their experiences with them. These kids will make the future of ice hockey in Iran!

Winter Sports World

Fifth Edition: SpongeHockey 

by Iran Mall Sport

Sponge Hockey - Spongee is Hockey played on foot, not skates, using a standard Hockey stick, a sponge puck, and soft soled footwear. Spongee takes the best of football, basketball, and ice Hockey in an effort to make its unique brand of Hockey. A cult sport played almost exclusively in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada by thousands of players in dozens of leagues. It gets its name from the puck that is used: instead of the hard vulcanized rubber puck that is used in regular ice Hockey, a soft sponge puck is used. It is generally played on outdoor rinks and differs from ice Hockey in a number of significant ways, the most important and obvious being that instead of skates, players wear soft-soled shoes. Broom ball shoes are normally used.

Players generally do not wear helmets or padding, except for goalies. Some players wear volleyball knee pads, elbow pads and/or shin pads, wearing slippery footwear on ice means that game play and strategy and skills are also different than those required in Hockey. There are usually two twenty- minute periods.

One of the original leagues was the Robertson League, named after its founder, John Robertson, who adapted Spongee Hockey and made sure that there is no contact involved. In spongee Hockey, icing occurs only the last three minutes of the game unless the winning team is shorthanded.

Hockey sticks must be safe and can only be used if said so by the referee. No spikes or tacks on the bottom of shoes, only soft- soled rubber shoes are allowed. Broom ball shoes are normally used. Players are not allowed to use any product on the soles of their shoes that would create greater grip on the ice. Goalies are allowed to wear anything necessary when playing their position. Helmets, masks and protective eye wear are recommended. Each team must have the same color uniform with a number written on the back that is visible. The captain must have the letter "C" on front of their jersey. There is only allowed one alternate and he/she has to be identified by the letter "A" on their jersey.

Rules

Only the captain and alternate may talk to the referee while the game is in session for any clarifications. The goalie must stay in their area, they are not allowed to go past the center. There is absolutely no body checking or any form of physical contact allowed. A warning will be issued fi a player has their Hockey stick a bove waist level. The key is a 20' by 20' marked box in front of the net. A player may not stand in the opposition's key for longer than three seconds. Violations of the key are not called if the puck is ni the key, fi the offensive team does not have control of the puck, or fi the puck is on the opposite side of center.

A double minor penalty is a result of six minutes, a minor penalty is a result of three minutes, a major penalty is also six minutes plus a free shot for the other team. Players may not go back and play on the ice unless they served their penalty fully. If one of the players receives three penalties, he/she will be taken out of the game. If a team receives seven penalties it results in a penalty shot for the opposing team. The player who was on the ice while the penalty was taking place will be able to take this shot. All faceoffs when a penalty is called will go in the defensive zone of the team taking the penalty, except when there are coincidental penalties, then faceoff is at closest faceoff circle.

If the score is tied at the end of the game, they will have a five-minute sudden victory. If the winner is still not determined there will be a shootout. The first shooters must be different and will participate until a winner is determined. If a winner is still not determined, a one for one shoot out occurs. This means that after the first team shoots, the other team has to match it, or they will automatically lose.

Equipment

It is generally played on outdoor rinks and differs from ice hockey in a number of significant ways, the most important and obvious being that instead of ice skates, players wear soft-soled shoes, also called broomball shoes (D-gel or Aacia brand). Players generally wear less protection aside from hockey helmets (visor or cage use is roughly 10- 20% of players), jocks or jills, and gloves.

Most players wear lightweight D-gel branded knee pads, elbow pads, and shin pads. Extra protection such as padded shirts or roller hockey girdles have been slowly gaining popularity with grinder types of players. S o m e players add extensions to their sticks to allow for greater reach due to the limited mobility compared to skates. Goalies typically wear the s a m e equipment as ice hockey with the exception of broomball shoes in place of skates.

Hockey sticks must be safe and can only be used if said so by the referee. No spikes or tacks on the bottom of shoes, only soft-soled rubber shoes are allowed. Broom ball shoes are normally used. Players are not allowed to use any product on the soles of their shoes that would create greater grip on the ice. Goalies are allowed to wear anything necessary when playing their position. Helmets, masks and protective eyewear are recommended. Each team must have the same color uniform with a number written on the back that is visible. The captain must have the letter “C” on front of their jersey. Up to two alternates are allowed and they must be identified by the letter "A" on their jersey

Team composition 

Each team can have a maximum of six people playing at a time. You can play in multiples of six, five, four, three or two. If there are six players against each other, seven are allowed on the ice, having one the goalie. fI there is a limited number of players on a certain team, one player must become the goalie.

History

Spongee is an adaptation of road Hockey. It originated in Winnipeg, Manitoba at River Heights Community Centre, probably in the 50's. Originally, a tennis ball was used, and players wore standard winter boots. The game's appeal was twofold. First, in very cold weather feet in skates are subject to frostbite, whereas boots allowed for much longer exposure. Second, skating skills were not required, so poor, or non- skaters could play. The spongee puck originated when someone took a red, white and blue ball and cut out the center, leaving a rude approximation of a standard Hockey puck.

End result

If the score is tied at the end of the game, a five-minute sudden victory overtime will be played. If a winner still cannot be determined, the game will be decided by a three-round shootout. The shootout consists of each team taking three penalty shots on the opposing goalie. A single player may not take more than one of the initial three shots (i.e., three different players must be selected by each team). If a winner is not determined after each team has taken three shots, the shootout proceeds to the "one for one" stage. In this stage, each team puts forth one shooter to take a penalty shot. This stage repeats until one team scores and the other does not. Shooters are permitted to be repeated in the "one for one" stage.

It's not necessarily the amount of time you spend at practice that counts; it's what you put in to the practice. 

-Eric Lindros

Fast as an avalanche!

An interview with Mohammad Shahidi Iran's Men Speed Skating National Team member

By Iran Mall Sport

Mohammad SHAHIDI

Born: Wednesday, August 23, 1989 Birthplace: Tehran, IRI

H: 184 Cm

W: 88 Kg

• 1. Please introduce yourself?

I am Mohammad Shahidi, Iran's NT Speed Skating player

• 3. Does anyone else in the family follow sports seriously?

My elder brother is one of the country's champions in judo and kickboxing

• 4. When did you start your sports activities?

I started playing professional sports when I was 7 years old. I started speed skating with Behrouz Mohammadzadeh, and started playing hockey under supervision of Ramin Atigechi

• 5. How many days a week do you exercise?

Every single day. In my opinion, speed is the result of effort, and we should be able to reach speed for any sport field before it.

• 6. Which competitions have you participated in and what ranks have you obtained? Where have you traveled to?

China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Colombia, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, Malaysia, Cyprus, and Turkey, I participated in free travel and competitions.

• 7. What things or who do you owe your success?

Mr. Atigechi, as a coach and supporter of my own personal efforts and continuing on my path by his motivation along with using my father's experiences and recently, the support of Mr. Sedghi to starting this new project, which motivated me to continue with strength again.

• 8. Do the available facilities in your field meet the needs of those interested?

We have only one ice rink in Tehran, Iran Mall, which is our dreams came true after many years

• 9. What deficiencies do you feel in your field of activity that hinder the progress of athletes?

For now, it is acceptable, but moving forward, I promise, we must think about much more facilities

• 10. What do you expect from the top officials of Iranian sports authorities?

Have the courage to make a decision and at the moment of making a decision consider themselves and their children as the athletes and if they did not have a problem with the decision then do it.

• 11. What would you do if you were the president of the federation?

I would never accept this position and I would like to be with the federation as an active member and supporter

• 12. What are your plans for the future? We know that you are a coach now. How serious do you take coaching?

I am constantly thinking and deciding to become a coach

• 13. What is the role of parents and coaches in encouraging children to play sports? How much time did your parents spend on sports?

Obviously, the role of them is very important. My parents rarely spent time for my sport and I struggled with this issue myself. They only supporting me mentally.

• 14. If you go back to being a child once again, would you follow this way?

I will definitely and one hundred percent make the same choice again. Thanks God for putting me into this path

• 15. Does the income of a national ice hockey player cover his expenses?

If the income can be achieved wisely, ti can be enough, but we cannot have this idea for the public, only we can say that usually professional sports cannot be a suitable provider for them.

• 16. What would you be doing now fi you didn't become an athlete?

I am active in commercial business and currently engaged in economic consulting for various businesses.

• 17. Until what age do you want to continue the championship sport?

At least 40

• 18. How much injury do you get?

Injuries in professional sports are inevitable, but fi we follow the codes, we can minimize it

• 19. If you have a child, what sports field would you like him to play? 

Definitely skating and definitely the speed skating discipline

• 20. Do you do othersports?

Yes, skiing, cycling, and running are also part of my life routine

• 21. Did sports hinder not your education progress?

Vice versa. In my opinion, education hurt my sport, and I don't know why education is very important in our society. I believe that skills and personal development are much more important than just having a degree.

• 22. Good and bad memories from sports?

The worst memory was in 2006, when my passport was lost before the tournament, and of course it was found after the national team returned. My good memory is signing an important contract for the expansion of professional sports in China with Sign Spot and their al- round support for me.

• 23. Which of the current players do you see with a brighter future?

There are many good talents in skating. One of my students, Mohammad Soroush Mehr is one of the famous champions in the country and I personally have a deep belief in his success.

• 24. Popular city in Iran and the world?

Rasht in Iran and Tokyo in the world

• 25. Sport or Food?

Food after exercise is great

• 26. Popular player in Iran and the world?

Bart Swings, Belgian long track speed skater

• 27. How much are you interested in cinema or other arts? Favorite artist?

I watch all the movies in the cinema and I watch almost all the foreign movies. My favorite actors are Mohammad Reza Golzar and Mehran Madiri.

• 28. The last word?

I hope those who are active in this sport consider honesty and honor and try to develop this sport.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity and I hope to see speed skating in its real position.

__________________________________________________________________________________S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 2 ___________________________________________________________________________________

Young Leopards on the Rink!

The First U14 Ice Hockey Tournament 

by Iran Mall IceBox

After several Ice Hockey Talent Search Camp under the supervision of the technical staff of the national youth team like Farzad Hoshidari, Arman Bahri, Oveys Hassanzadeh, . . . and with the cooperation with Tehran ice hockey association, The First U14 Ice Hockey Tournament was held in the first week of September 2022 in the Iran Mall IceBox ice rink.

These competitions are very important since these teenagers are the support of Iran's senior national team and they can make the great dream of Iranian ice hockey true, which is to participate in the Winter Olympics Games.

Photo Album

U14 Ice Hockey Tournament b y Iran Mall IceBox

Winter Sports World

Sixth Edition: Bandy 

by Iran Mall Sport

Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal.

The playing surface, called a bandy field or bandy rink, is a sheet of ice that, at 90-110 meters by 45-65 meters - about the size of a football pitch - is considerably larger than the ice rinks commonly used for ice hockey, short- track speed skating or figure skating. The goal cage used in bandy is 3.5 m (11 ft) wide and 2.1 m (6 ft 11 in) high and is the largest one used by any organized winter team sport.

The sport is considered a form of hockey and has a common background with association football, ice hockey, and field hockey. Bandy's origins are debatable, but its first rules were organized and published in England in 1882.

Internationally, bandy's strongest nations in both men's and women's competitions at present are Sweden and Russia, and these two countries are also the only ones where the highest leagues are fully professional. In Russia, it is estimated that more than one million people play bandy. The sport also has organized league play and dedicated fans in other countries, most notably Finland, Norway, and Kazakhstan. The premier international bandy competition for men is the Bandy World Championship and t h e premier international bandy competition for women is the Women's Bandy World Championship.

The international governing body for bandy is the Federation of International Bandy (FIB). In 2001, bandy was recognized as a sport by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Both traditional eleven-a-side bandy and rink bandy (which is played on a smaller rink) are recognized by the IOC. According to the Federation of International Bandy (FIB), based on the number of participating athletes, bandy is the world's second-most participated winter sport after ice hockey.

Background

The earliest origin of the sport is debated. Though many Russians see their old countrymen as the creators of the sport - reflected by the unofficial title for bandy, "Russian hockey" - Russia, England, Wales, and Holland each had sports or pastimes, such as bando, which can be seen as forerunners of the present sport.

The sport's first published set of organized rules were codified in 1882 in England by Charles Goodman Tebbutt of the Bury Fen Bandy Club. When the international federation was founded in 1955, it came about after a compromise between Russian and English rules, in which more of the prevailed.

Since association football was already popular in England, the codified bandy rules took after much of the footbal rules. Like association football, games are normally two 45-minute halves and there are 1 players per side. Players sticks are curved like large field hockey

sticks and the bandy ball is roughly the size of a tennis ball with a cork core and hard plastic coating. Bandy balls are either orange or more commonly nowadays, cerise. Shouldering is allowed in checking situations and body contact therefore does occur, but body checking and fighting are illegal. The offside rule in bandy is similar to the offside rules used in association football. Goalkeepers use gloves made specifically for their position and wear them on both hands but do not use any type of stick.

Early days

Bandy as an ice-skating sport first developed in Britain. English bandy developed as a winter sport in the Fens of East Anglia. Large expanses of ice would form on the flooded meadows or shallow washes in cold winters where fen skating, which has been a tradition dating back to at least medieval times, took place. Bandy's early recorded modernization period can be traced back to 1813.

Members of the Bury Fen Bandy Club published rules of the game in 1882, and introduced it into other European countries. A variety of stick and ball games involving ice skating were introduced to North America by the 18005 but failed to organize and develop popular rules codes. However, these stick and ball games became one of the eventual antecedents of the modern sport of ice hockey whose first rules were codified in Canada in 1875, almost a decade before the rules of modern bandy were established in Britain.

The first international bandy match took place in 1891 between Bury Fen and the Haarlemsche Hockey &Bandy Club from the Netherlands (a club which after a couple of club fusions now is named HC Bloemendaal). The same year, the National Bandy Association was established in England as a governing body for the sport in England. [15] National governing federations for bandy were also founded in the 18gos in the Netherlands and Russia and in the following decade in Finland, Sweden, and Norway.

The match later dubbed "the original bandy match", was actually held in 1875 at The Crystal Palace in London. However, at the time, the game was called "hockey on the ice", probably as ti was considered an ice variant of field hockey.

An early maker of bandy sticks was the firm of Gray's, Cambridge. One such stick, now in the collections of the Museum of Cambridge, has a length of rope twisted round the handle to rescue any player who might fall through the ice, as the game was played on frozen lakes back then. An 1899 photo of two players demonstrating the game shows the sticks being held single-handed.

Historically, bandy was a popular sport in England and in some central and western European countries until the First World War, and from 1901 to 1926 it was played in the Scandinavian Nordic Games, the first international multi- sport event focused on winter sports.

Etymology

The sport's English name comes from the verb "to bandy" from the Middle French bander ("to strike back and forth"), and originally referred to a 17th- century Irish game similar to field hockey. The curved stick was also called a "bandy". The etymological connection to the similarly named Welsh hockey game of bando is not clear.

An old name for bandy is hockey on the ice; in the first rule books from England at the turn of the Century 1900, the sport is literally called "bandy or hockey on the ice". Since the mid-20th century, the term bandy is usually preferred to prevent confusion with ice hockey.

The sport is known as bandy in many languages though there are a few notable exceptions. In Russian bandy is called "Russian hockey" or more frequently, and officially, "hockey with a ball" while ice hockey is called "hockey with a puck" or more frequently just "hockey". If the context makes it clear that bandy is the subject, it as well can be called just "hockey". nI Belarusian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian it is also called "hockey with a ball"). In Slovak "bandy hockey" is the name. In Armenian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Mongol and Uzbek, bandy is known as "ball hockey". In Finnish the two sports are distinguished as "ice ball" and "ice puck", as well as in Hungarian, although in Hungarian ti is more often called "bandy" nowadays. In Estonian bandy is also called "ice ball". In Mandarin Chinese ti is "bandy ball". In Scottish Gaelic the n a m e is "ice shinty". In old times shinty or shinney were also sometimes used in English for bandy.

Because association of its football, similarities with bandy is also nicknamed "winter football".

Women's bandy

Women are playing bandy to the exactly same rules as men, but the women's games are separate. Women have been playing bandy since the sport was originally developed, but even if plans to organize leagues for women's teams were made many times before, regular leagues were only started in the 19705 in Sweden and Finland and the 19805 in Norway and the Soviet Union.

Bandy moving indoors

Starting in the 198o5 and increasingly since the turn of the millennium, more and more indoor arenas for bandy have been built (often as joint arenas to be used also for football or speed skating). The use of indoor arenas makes the effects of the weather on a game virtually insignificant, something which earlier always have been a factor to consider for the teams and the audiences. However, unlike some other sports, bandy is still the same game with the same rules indoors or outdoors and no changes are made to the rules depending on whether there's a roof overhead or not. Many games, even in the highest leagues, are still played outdoors.

Overview

Bandy is played on ice, using a single round bandy ball. Two teams of 1 players each compete to get the ball into the other team's goal using bandy sticks, thereby scoring a goal. The team that has scored more goals at the end of the game is the winner. If both teams have scored an equal number of goals, then, with some exceptions, the game si a draw. The game is designed to be played on a rectangular sheet of ice, called a bandy field, which is the same size as a football (soccer) field.

In a typical game, players attempt to propel the ball toward their opponents' goal through individual control of the ball, such as by dribbling, passing the ball to a teammate, and taking shots at the goal, which is guarded by the opposing goalkeeper. Opposing players may try to regain control of the ball by intercepting a pass or tackling the opponent who controls the ball. However, physical contact between opponents is limited. Bandy is generally a free-flowing game, with play stopping only when the ball has left the field of play, or when play is stopped by the referee. After a stoppage, play can recommence with a free stroke, a penalty shot or a corner stroke. fI the ball has left the field along the sidelines, the referee must decide which team touched the ball last, and award a restart stroke to the opposing team, just like football's throw-in.

In terms of rules, bandy has several rules that are similar to football. Each team has 1 players, one of whom is a goalkeeper. The offside rule is also employed. A goal cannot be scored from a goal throw, but unlike football, a goal can be scored from a stroke-in or a corner stroke. Al free strokes are "direct" and allow a goal to be scored without another player touching the ball. A primary rule is that players (other than the goalkeepers) may not intentionally touch the ball with their heads, hands or arms during play. Although players usually use their sticks to move the ball around, they may use any part of their bodies other than their heads, hands or arms and may use their skates in a limited manner. Heading the ball results in a five-minute penalty.

The rules do not specify any player positions other than goalkeeper, but a number of player specializations have evolved. Broadly, these include three main categories:

1. forwards, whose main task is to score goals
2. defenders, who specialize in preventing their opponents from scoring
3. midfielders, who take the ball from the opposition and pass it to the forwards.

Players in these positions are referred to as outfield players, to discern them from the single goalkeeper. These positions are further differentiated by which side of the field the player spends most time in. For example, there are central defenders, and left and right midfielders. The ten outfield players may be arranged in these positions in any combination (for example, there may be three defenders, five midfielders, and two forwards), and the number of players in each position determines the style of the team's play; more forwards and fewer defenders would create a more aggressive and

offensive-minded game, while the reverse would create a slower, more defensive style of play. While players may spend most of the game in a specific position, there are few restrictions on player movement, and players can switch positions at any time.

The layout of the players on the pitch is called the team's formation, and defining the team's formation and tactics is usually the prerogative of the team's manager(s). Formation in bandy is often comparable to the formation in association football.

Rules

There are eighteen rules in official play, designed to apply to all levels of bandy, although certain modifications for groups such as juniors, veterans or women are permitted. The rules are often framed in broad terms, which allow flexibility in their application depending on the nature of the game. A game is officiated by a referee, the authority and enforcer of the rules, whose decisions are final. The referee may have one or two assistant referees. A secretary outside of the field often takes care of the match protocol.

Players

Each team consists of a maximum of 11 players (excluding substitutes), one of whom must be the goalkeeper. A team of fewer than eight players may not start a game. Goalkeepers are the only players allowed t o play t h e ball with their hands or arms, and they are only allowed to do so within the penalty area in front of their own goal.

Though there are a variety of positions in which the outfield (non-goalkeeper) players are strategically placed by a coach, these positions are not defined or required by the rules of the game.

The positions and formations of the players in bandy are virtually the same as the common association football positions and the same terms are used for the different positions of the players. A team usually consists of defenders, midfielders and forwards. The defenders can play in the form of center-backs, full-backs and sometimes wing-backs, midfielders playing in the center, attacking or defensive, and forwards in the form of center forward, second strikers and sometimes a winger. Sometimes one player is also taking up the role of a libero.

Any number of players may be replaced by substitutes during the course of the game. Substitutions can be performed without notifying the referee and can be performed while the ball is ni play. However, if the substitute enters the ice before his teammate has left it, this will result in a five-minute ban. A t e a m can bring at the most four substitutes to the game and one of these is likely to be an extra goalkeeper.

Formation

Formation in bandy describes how the players in a team generally position themselves on the rink and is often comparable to the formation in association football.

Bandy is a fluid and fast-moving game, and with the exception of the goalkeeper) a player's position in a formation does not define their role as rigidly as for, for instance, a rugby player, nor are there episodes in play where players must expressly line up in formation (as in gridiron football). The bandy games are more similar to association football in this regard.

Nevertheless, a player's position in a formation generally defines whether a player has a mostly defensive or attacking role, and whether they tend to play towards one side of the pitch or centrally.

Duration and tie-breaking measures

A standard adult bandy match consists of two periods of 45 minutes each, known as halves. Each half runs continuously, meaning the clock is not stopped when the ball is out of play; the referee can, however, make allowance for time lost through significant stoppages as described below. There is usually a 15-minute half-time break. The end of the match is known as full-time.

The referee is the official timekeeper for the match and may make an allowance for time lost through substitutions, injured players requiring attention, or other stoppages. This added time is commonly referred to as stoppage time or injury-time, and must be reported to the match secretary and the two captains. The referee alone signals the end oft h e match.

If it is very cold or if it is snowing, the match can be broken into thirds of 30 minutes each. At the extremely cold 1999 World Championship some matches were played in four periods of 15 minutes each and with extra-long breaks in between. In the World Championships the two halves can be 30 minutes each for the nations in the B division.

In league competitions, games may end in a draw, but in some knockout competitions if a game is tied at the end of regulation time it may go into extra time, which consists of two further 15- minute periods. If the score is still tied after extra time, the game will be replayed. As an alternative, the extra two times 15-minutes may be played as a "golden goal" which means the first team that scores during the extra time wins the game. If both extra periods are played without a scored goal, a penalty shootout will settle the game. The teams shoot five penalties each and fi this doesn't settle the game, the teams shoot one more penalty each until one of them misses and the other scores.

Ball in and out of play

Under the rules, the two basic states of play during a game are ball in play and ball out of play. From the beginning of each playing period with a stroke-off (a set strike from the center-spot by one team) until the end of the playing period, the ball is in play at all times, except when either the ball leaves the field of play, or play is stopped by the referee. When the ball becomes out of play, play is restarted by one of six restart methods depending on how it went out of play:

• Stroke-off 
• Goal-throw 
• Corner stroke
• Free-stroke
• Penalty shot
• Face-off

Equipment

The basic equipment players are required to wear includes a pair of bandy skates, a helmet, a mouthguard and, in the case of the goalkeeper, a faceguard.

The teams must wear uniforms that make it easy to distinguish the two teams. The goalkeeper wears distinct colors to single him out from his or her teammates, just as in football. The ice skates, sticks and any tape on the stick must be of another color than the bandy ball, which is orange or cerise.

In addition to the aforementioned, various protections are used to protect knees, elbows, genitals and throat. The pants and gloves may contain padding.

Bandy field

A bandy field is 45-65 meters (148-213 ft) by 90-110 meters (300-36o ft), a total of 4,050-7,150 square meters (43,600- 77,000 sq ft), or about the same size as a football pitch and considerably larger than an ice hockey rink. Along the sidelines a 15 cm (6 in) high border (vant, sarg, wand, wall) is placed to prevent the ball from leaving the ice. tI should not be attached to the ice, to glide upon collisions, and should end 1-3 meters (3 ft 3in- 9ft 10in) away from the corners.

Centered at each short line is a 3.5 m (11 ft) wide and 2.1 m (6 ft 1 in) high goal cage and in front of the cage is a half- circular penalty area with a 17 m (56 ft) radius. A penalty spot is located 12 meters (39 ft) in front of the goal and there are two free-stroke spots at the penalty area line, each surrounded by a 5 A center spot with a circle of radius 5 m (16 ft) denotes the center of the field. A center-line is drawn through the center spot parallel with the short lines.

At each of the corners, a1m(3ft 3in) radius quarter-circle is drawn, and a dotted line is painted parallel to the short line and 5 meters (16 ft) away from ti without extending into the penalty area. The dotted line can be replaced with a 0.5- metre (1 ft 8 in) long line starting at the edge of the penalty area and extending towards the sideline, 5 meters (16 ft) from the short line.

Protective equipment

Bandy players require protective equipment, some of which is designed specifically for the sport such as the bandy chainguard. Equipment is similar to that worn in ice hockey but istypically smaller, lighter, and more flexible, and more closely resembles the equipment worn in the modern sport of ringette.

All players are required to wear helmets.

While some bandy players are required to wear facemasks such a young player, some outfield players only wear a helmet with a bandy chin guard. Goaltenders are the exception and must wear a helmet and facemask at all times.

International federation

The Federation of International Bandy (FIB) has had 3 members at most, each representing a country where bandy is played. Currently, there are 27 members of the federation. Formed in 1955, the name was changed from International Bandy Federation in 2001 after the International Olympic Committee approved it as a so-called "recognized sport". The abbreviation "IBF" was at the time already used by another recognized sports federation, and IOC considers it important that the official abbreviations of sports federations are unique, so that the federations are not mistaken for one another. In 2004, FIB was fully accepted by lOC. FIB is now a member of Association of 10C Recognized International Sports Federations.

Never Give up!

An interview with NegarArjmand

Iran's Women Ice Hockey National Team Member

By Iran Mall Sport

• 1. Please introduce yourself?

I am Negar Armand, Iran's Women Ice Hockey National Team member

• 2. What does your name mean?

It's an ancient Persian name, means soulmate or beautiful lover

• 3. Does anyone else in the family follow sports seriously?

No. The rest of the family members are busy with artistic works.

• 4. When did you start your sports activities?

From the age of ten

• 5. How many days a week do you exercise? Five days, sometimestwice a day 6 .Who were your coaches?

At the beginning, Iwas practicing speed skating under the supervision of Mr.Sheikh Jafari, and after that Istarted in- line and so ice hockey.

• 7. What is the most difficult ice hockey position?

In my opinion, all the positions are extremely difficult

• 8. Which competitions have you participated in and what ranks have you obtained? Where have you  traveled to?

In-line Hockey World Championship in Italy and Asian Championship in South Korea which we have achieved 3rd place in this tournament.

• 9. What things or who do you owe your success?

My family and of course M.r Sheikh Jafari

• 10. Do the available facilities in your field meet the needs of those interested?

Trainers and active sports complexes support those interested in this field as much as possible, but there is always a shortage.

• 11. What deficiencies do you feel in your field of activity that hinder the progress of athletes?

There is no ice rink in Tehran or in the country except Iran Mall, and this issue makes it impossible for the enthusiasts to try ice skating even once.

• 12. What do you expect from the top officials of Iranian sports authorities?

In other parts of Tehran or in other cities, it is possible to provide access to ice rinks and equipment so that all people can get familiar with this field.

• 13. What would you do if you were the president oft h e federation?

I certainly put all my energy and focused on improving the level of skating so that all the people of the country get to know all the branches of skating, both in terms of the environment and the facilities.

• 14. What are your plans for the future? We know that you are a coach now. How serious do you take coaching?

One of my main targets is to participate in overseas camps to improve my hockey level.

• 15. What is the role of parents and coaches in encouraging children to play sports? How much time did your parents spend on sports?

The role of the family is the most important role. My family was also too busy with me and my sports activity. I am forever indebted to them

• 16. If you go back to being a child once again, would you follow this way?

Of course, yes

• 17. Does the income of a national ice hockey player cover his expenses?

Not at all, almost all players are busy with coaching or other jobs.

• 18. What would you be doing now if you didn't become an athlete?

Probably my father's job, painting

• 19. Has sport exercises affected your studies? Which is more important for you, sports or studies??

No. My friends who are more interested in studying have very good grades. I liked specialized courses and studied most of them.

• 20. Until what age do you want to continue the championship sport?

As long as Ican have the performance and ability of professional sports.

• 21. How much injury do you get?

Thanks God, not too much

• 2. We know that you are a coach now. How serious do you take coaching?

It is very important to me because it builds the children's future and I do my best to make them learn well and have fun too.

• 23. If you have a child, what sports field would you like him to play?

Ice hockey for sure

• 24. Do you do other sports?

run and swim. Last winter, won the first place in the first Iranian winter Triathlon competition

• 25. Good and bad memories from sports?

Being selected for the world championship was the sweetest one. I don't remember the bitter ones now.

• 26. Food or exercise? Which is more attractive?

Of course, sports, but food is also really attractive.

• 27. What is your prediction regarding the position of ice hockey in Iran?

Iran will gain a very good position both in Asia and the world too soon.

• 28. What are your difficulties and comforts in sports? Do you think being a woman is a problem for progress? Doesn't being a woman slow you down in your sport?

The only positive point is having a standard rink where we can practice. In our country, women are really valued less, and I think women are given less attention.

• 29. Have you ever lost your temper in a game?

I was upset, but Idid not lose my temper

• 30. What is the difference between the look of an athlete girl and a normal girl?

In my opinion, an athlete girl's (of course, a professional athlete) life is very different from a normal girl, their outlook on life and their life priorities are very different. I myself have always prioritized my sport over spending time with my friends, parties, or even my lifestyle. If I fail, how should I face it? Or, in general, in sports, you will experience unique feelings and touches that will make your life different.

• 31. What do you think about the hijab of Iranian girls in competitions and training?

Part of the focus of every girl who is sent to competitions is really involved in the issue of hijab and that her hair is not exposed, which is difficult, but the ice hockey equipment ensures that no part

• 32. How much are you interested in cinema or other arts? Favorite artist?

I like cinema a lot and I enjoy doing artistic work, especially music.

• 33. The last word?

I really liked that in our country we were not so limited that it was very difficult to raise our level. There was a situation for me to be able to play in the Russian league, but unfortunately, I didn't able to go due to chaos in the region. I definitely won't be disappointed and won't give up. One of my targets and actually my most important target that I really love with all my heart is to be able to do it.

Remarkable Achievement

Iran became a permanent member of the World Ice Hockey Federation with the majority of votes.

The 2022 IIHF Semi-Annual Congress in Antalya Türkiye approved the change from associate to full membership for Iran following the country's first participation in the

IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship program.