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Dubai: Dubai Sandstorms Ice Hockey Club will send their under-12 junior team to take part in an international tournament to be held in Canada next month.
"In past we have sent our senior teams to international tournaments in Prague, De Hague, Belgium, Tilburg and Birmingham. For the first time we will be sending our Under-12 team to the biggest international ice hockey tournament in Quebec City, Canada," said Isabelle Jones, the President of the Dubai Sandstorms.
Five divisions
The tournament will be held from February 14 to 24. There are also plans to send their senior team to Latvia in March.
Dubai Sandstorms Ice Hockey Club has been teaching the skills of the sport to Dubai youth since 1990. "We are a non-profit organisation dedicated to the teaching the skills of the sport in a friendly environment that nurtures competitive spirit and good sportsmanship," said Isabelle.
All the matches and practice is held at the Al Nasr Leisureland.
"In the past we used to have two tournaments every year but due to increased cost on ice time we have only one. We are expecting teams tom Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain Qatar and Kuwait to take part," she said.
"We have five divisions called novice, atom, peewee, bantam and midget. Each division have two teams.
"Our season starts from September till end of April," said Isabelle, who is delighted with the increasing popularity of the sport .
"Since its inception we have expanded rapidly attracting over 175 youngsters annually between the age of 5 to 17.
"More than 20 nationalities which include Europeans, North and South American, Australian, Asian and African expatriates play in the different divisions."
The club is hoping to increase their activities and international tours with more sponsorship support. "We want support to make the sport affordable for everyone," she said.
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