JAMAICA’S senior men’s ice hockey team has begun preparation towards the defence of the Challenger Series Trophy which the team won last July, beating Puerto Rico and Lebanon in a tri-city tournament which started in Chicago in April and ended in Toronto last July, following matches in New York in June.

In the final, Jamaica had to overcome a very spirited and aggressive Lebanon team, winning 12-8 and capping a series of matches in which the team scored more goals than any other and also conceded less.

The record of the team now stands at 21 victories across all tournaments, with just five losses. In 2019 the team won the LATAM Trophy, and in the 2023 edition defeated Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Columbia. It, however, was not not allowed to defend the trophy, being considered “too strong for the opposition”.

The squad will be drawn from players, all of Jamaican descent, who ply their trade for clubs and colleges in the USA and Canada, as well as with two players who now compete in Europe.

Coach Ted Cheesebrough has expressed optimism that, “This year we are likely to field an even stronger team as we have embarked on a recruitment drive to pull in other players who are currently playing in North America. In addition to this, the success of the team has resulted in a number of other players expressing a desire to play for the national team.”

The Jamaican Olympic Ice Hockey Federation now has over 80 players registered.

“There is also a possibility that we will be able to field a female team in one of the matches this year, as coming off our victory in Toronto we were approached by the representatives of the BlackGirls hockey team, which is comprised of a number of Jamaican players,” President Don Anderson said. “Efforts are now being made to recruit a number of them to participate, not only at the time of the Challenger series but also to qualify for a female tournament tentatively slated to be held in Brazil in November.”

Meanwhile the local programme, which is now three years in the making, is expected to be strengthened by the hosting of another summer camp in July. Over 50 children between the ages of 8 and 14 have been in the programme since 2022, and the federation has received gear from the National Hockey League Players’ Association to assist in building the local programme. A documentary on the local participants was also filmed at G C Foster College of Physical Education and Sport, in St Catherine, last year.

“The absence of an ice rink in country remains the biggest challenge to date and a block to participating in Olympic-qualifying tournaments, but efforts are ongoing to change this,” Anderson said.