VIERUMAKI – With hockey breaking ground in the Persian Gulf region, Oman and Qatar seek a new generation of players and increased cross-border cooperation to achieve long-term success.

Debuting in 2010, the United Arab Emirates blazed the trail when becoming the first country in the Gulf region to play in the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship program. Since then three new members from the region, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman have all become IIHF associate members, with the latter two being present at the 2015 IIHF Hockey Development Camp and eager to make the most of it.

"We have a long-term plan which we have started working on step by step, which includes participation at the World Championships and the Asian Winter Games ahead of 2020," said Marius Gliga. The Romanian joined the Qatar Winter Sports Federation as national team head coach and development coordinator.

With the Qatar Ice Hockey Federation founded in 2010 it became the 72nd member of the IIHF two years later. Their development had until then followed a well-trodden path with expatriates introducing the game, followed on by locals joining in and soon with the game soon ended up at its crossroads.

The dilemma of either continuing with recreational hockey or going down the road of restructuring the game from top to bottom was in Qatar's case sealed with the appointment of Gliga. Arriving to Qatar in October last year, his assessment of the state of the country's game was that it was rudderless.

"There was no hockey development and not a real national team program in place. Now we have started to work with all the federation programs which will be needed for us in order to fulfil the minimum participating standards of the IIHF," said Gliga.

Hoping to push on their development, Qatar has arrived for their first visit to Vierumaki in great numbers. With a Qatari contingent of five which is in theory larger as both Gliga and Nico Kivilahti, in charge of Qatar's youth development and recruitment program, are both present in Vierumaki but in other capacities during this week.

"I am like a sponge when I am here," said Jonathan Galang about his experience of the Learn to Play program in Vierumaki where he’s learning about the work of instructors for the youngest. "Hockey is an evolving sport and here everyone helps out and shares knowledge."

Originally from the Philippines, Galang got involved with hockey when his family emigrated to the Pacific Coast of the USA. Having worked with hockey in Qatar since 2013, Galang is now working with the development and recruitment program in Qatar and has noticed a stark difference from the days of his arrival.

"Since the launch of the national program and with people like Marius and Nico coming in there has been a pretty big change in the development. The character of the players is also improving and everyone is taking responsibility. For the next few years marketing the sport and getting kids in Qatar involved in hockey will be very important as it needs to grow," said Galang.

50 kids are currently involved in the Learn to Play program, around 16-20 kids in the recruitment program and 20 players at the national team program level. In February 2017, Sapporo will host the Asian Winter Games where Qatar is hoping to field its ice hockey national team.

In order to raise the ante, Qatar's national team will as of next season play in a four-team strong national championship against expatriate teams who have agreed to bade farewell to matches played over 2 x 24 minutes where time is running non-stop for the IIHF standard of time-keeping and three periods.

There is still hope that the national championship would move from the presently only full-sized ice rink inside a shopping mall in Qatar's capital Doha to the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, a multifunctional venue completed for the 2015 World Men's Handball Championship, which initially was earmarked to become a home for hockey.

"They tested it for two weeks with ice and boards and it looked great," said Gliga of the 7,500-capacity arena where ice can be put in place in 24 hours. "Since then there's been no ice as it has hosted various sporting events such as basketball and boxing, but our national league is set to start on 3rd October and it is not yet clear where we will play."

While Qatar might have both the financial clout and infrastructure in place, it is the other Vierumaki newcomer from the Gulf region, Oman, which so far featured more prominently at the regional ice hockey stage.

Finished fourth out of six teams at the 2015 IIHF Ice Hockey Challenge Cup of Asia Division I held in Kuwait City in April, it marked Oman's first official matches since the IIHF Annual Congress last year accepting the Oman Ice Sports Committee as its 73rd member.

It was the fruits of labour dating back over ten years where Anad Al Balushi had played an instrumental role. The level-headed 34-year-old national team player and President of the Oman Ice Sports Committee is quick to tone down of any unrealistic expectations of the prospects of Oman taking part at a World Championship in the near future.

"Let's be honest, to make it at that level it takes years and years of preparation. The dream is always there, but it will definitely take time, proper planning, execution and patience," said Al Balushi, who is in Vierumaki to take part in the Administrator's Education Program.

Formed just last year, the Oman Ice Sports Committee currently runs their activities from one ice rink with the measurements of 44.9 on 24.64 metres in Oman's capital of Muscat while the closest full-size ice rink is located a three-and-half-hour drive across the border in Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates.

"So far we have only three teams in Oman so it is really hard to make a league," said Al Balushi. "So while we have been thinking about a cross-league with the United Arab Emirates, the skill set is quite high in the UAE compared to us. For me there is no point going to a place and crash with defeats such as 20 or 30 to 1, so we have decided not to and instead wait for another year until we get a fourth team, then we can start the league system."

According to Al Balushi there are currently 54 local players that are active and on top of that 21 foreigners. With work continuing towards the construction of a new full-sized rink, attracting new faces to the sport for the nation with 3.6 million at the south-eastern tip of the Gulf is also a priority.

"We are trying to get the message across to families that hockey is not a dangerous sport, but that it is actually a very clean and fast sport," said Qasim Al Bourai, also from Oman, who is in taking part in the Team Manager program in Vierumaki and happy with what he is experiencing in Finland.

"There are so many things from this camp to take with me and try and implement at home, but it will take time and for that we also need more players," said Al Bourai.

His compatriot Al Balushi also praises what he has experienced so far at the Finnish Sports Institute.

"If I would manage to bring my whole team here on a summer camp to Vierumaki, the results would be outstanding once they go back. The mindset towards ice hockey would definitely change 360 degrees, so I would definitely like to come back here."

Widening the appeal for a new sport in the Gulf region is an ongoing process with Al Balushi explains how the Gulf nations are cooperating closely, also when it comes to developing hockey.

"We have formed as small sporting association within the six countries in the Gulf where we promote the sport. At the same time, we also try to push for countries like Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, who are not members of the IIHF so far," said Al Balushi.

For the Qatari federation, they are also eager to extend their cross-border cooperation in the near future to spur each other on to future success.

"We go to Abu Dhabi to play and to get the juniors playing there will help as they are more advanced in their development and hopefully it can help us. It is convenient for us to go to United Arab Emirates. They are close and they are from the same culture," said Gliga.

"The same goes for Oman who are very enthusiastic, and I also know that Bahrain is interested, so that would be also be very good. As for Kuwait, I am not aware of them yet running a long-term development program but I know they have a national team, so that might be another option for the future."

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