Color of Hockey: Colombia women to play in first IIHF Development Cup

William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog since 2012. Douglas joined NHL.com in 2019 and writes about people of color in the sport. Today, he profiles the Colombia women's national team, which will play in the first IIHF Women's Development Cup in Kuwait Nov. 6-12.

The Colombia women's national hockey team will travel outside the Americas for the first time to play in the inaugural IIHF Women's Development Cup in Kuwait.
Colombia will face host Kuwait, Andorra, Ireland, Luxembourg and the United Arab Emirates in the tournament at the Kuwait Winter Games Club in Kuwait City Nov. 6-12.
"We're so excited because we're going to play against girls who we don't know how good they are, how they look," Colombia captain Lorena Pedraca said. "This will be huge for us because we don't have ice in Bogota."
Pedraca said her team hopes to follow the success of Colombia's men's team in Development Cup play. It won the tournament in Fussen, Germany, in May, defeating Portugal, Andorra, Liechtenstein, Algeria and tying Ireland.
"It's so important for us because we are trying to build an ice hockey rink in Colombia, so we need results to help have that dream come true," Pedraca said.

The Development Cup was established in 2017 for IIHF members unable to compete in the governing body's world championships because they don't meet some of the organization's requirements for full membership, such as having a regulation-size ice rink in-country.
Colombia became an IIHF associate member in 2019.
"The Development Cup helps to really showcase the story of these countries," said Aaron Guli, a Development Cup director and president of the Irish Ice Hockey Association. "And that's why we started the Development Cup; to have that event be part of the steppingstone for these countries to be able to get an ice rink."
Without sufficient ice, players from countries like Colombia like Argentina, Brazil and Chile keep their hockey skills sharp by playing inline hockey.
When they compete in ice hockey tournaments like the Amerigol LATAM Cup, hosted by the Florida Panthers in the fall and Dallas Stars in the spring, they arrive early to practice and adjust from skating on wheels to steel blades.
Guli said the Colombian women were invited to play in the Development Cup based on the progress the country's ice hockey program has made over the years.
"I know the guys who really run Colombia hockey and the coaches there," he said. "I have a lot of admiration for what Colombia is doing because when it comes to hockey, particularly internationally, South America seems to be the last uncharted territory, if you will.
"They put a lot of focus on Asia, and Africa is there too, South Africa has been in IIHF world championships for quite a long time, but South America hasn't had anybody on the international level. I like what [Colombia] is doing, I like where they're going and how they're going there."

Colombia's women finished third at the LATAM Cup at the Florida Panthers IceDen in Coral Springs, Florida, in September. Coach Rich Garvey said the tournament was a good tuneup for the Development Cup.
"Honestly, if we have the dream of playing in the Olympic Games one day, the Colombian women's national hockey team has a better shot, a faster track, to the Olympic Games," he said. "So this Development Cup in Kuwait upcoming for us is a huge step in that direction."
Guli said the Development Cup appearance will also help Colombia and the other participants shed the label of being so-called "non-traditional" hockey countries.
"We hear it in Ireland and I'm sure Colombia hears it, too: 'We're not traditionally a hockey or a winter sports country,'" he said. "Well, this is soon to be 2023, and I don't think there is such a thing as a 'ice hockey country' or a 'non-ice hockey country.' In today's global economy and society, people move around so much that ice hockey can be anywhere."
Photos: Courtesy of BC Photography, Eliot Schechter