The Sun God Ra
was the most important God in Ancient Egypt. He was believed to be swallowed by
the sky goddess Nut each night and reborn every morning. And, just like the God
Ra, the Egyptian Ice Hockey team have been reborn again. Returning in 2020 for
a new chapter in their story, which like the book of Ra, is set to have many thrilling twists and
turns.
2020 will see the
Pharaoh’s returning to the international stage for competitions such as the Kuwait
Arab Club Ice Hockey Championship. Providing
their players with further valuable international experience and much needed
publicity for ice hockey in the country, and wider region.
Speaking of their
invitation to the tournament Director of Operations for Egypt Ice Hockey,
Yasser Ahmed, spoke of his excitement to national magazine Egypt Today “We are very grateful to our hosts for inviting us to
this great tournament. We are excited to see how much the sport has progressed
around the Arab world and Egypt”.
Co- Captain Sameh Ramadan, in an interview for Ahram
Online took this excitement one step further highlighting the improvements in
the squad for 2020 “We really like our roster, this is the best Egyptian Ice
Hockey Club Team we have ever put together. It’s a group that brings
versatility and experience and includes players who have a lot of passion about
representing our country”.
The roster of 13 players includes Ramadan and his
fellow co-captain Ayman Abdullah. Ramadan, who resides in New York and Abdullah
in Cairo reflects the roster, which is made up of a mixture of Egyptians as
well as US and Canadian Egyptians.
Egypt’s participation in the Kuwait Arab
Club Ice Hockey Championship is another big step forward for both Egyptian and
African Ice Hockey. It was less than 4 years ago that Egyptian club Anubis made
its international debut at the first African Ice Hockey Cup of Champions in Morocco, this was followed shortly after
by an exhibition game between Anubis and Egyptian Expats living in the US and
Canada – the birth of the national team.
Despite losing their opening international game
to Tunisian Club Carthage Eagles 19-0, it was just one year before an Egyptian
club would post their first international victory, with the Pharaoh’s Club
defeating Morocco Club (B) 3-2 in a match in Montreal, Canada. And again, just
one year later in 2018, that the national team would gain its first
international victory, beating Algerian Corsairs Club 8-7 in the first Arab
Club Cup.
The growth of the sport in Egypt, across Africa
and the Middle East is not going unnoticed. Not only are national and international
media (including ESPN) following the Pharaohs, their rivals and tournaments, matches
are being broadcast live on TV and online, and followed by casinos online.
At present Africa has just 3 members of the International
Ice Hockey Federation; South Africa, Algeria and Morocco. With Egypt’s
continued appearance in international competitions and a growing desire for the
sport in the country, it may well soon become its 4th.