Kenya Admitted to the International Ice Hockey Federation

Nairobi, 

Friday, 27 September, 2024 

McCreadie, Athlons

Kenya has been voted in to become a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) with 100% of the votes cast on Thursday. 

Kenya was one of three countries added to the IIHF this week, followed by Bahrain and Greece.

Back in 2018, the Kenya Ice Lions were the country's only team. Without any teams to play against, Tim Hortons and the NHL flew the Ice Lions out to Canada to play their first competitive game.  

What made the situation even more notable was that the Ice Lions were joined by NHL superstars Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon. After the game, Kenya captain Benard Azegere described the experience as "a dream." 

"When we first started playing in Kenya, we didn't even have full equipment," said Azegere after the game."Not only do we have that, we can say we've played a real game with some All-Star teammates."

Hockey has grown across Kenya ever since the Ice Dogs lined up with Crosby and MacKinnon. International teams have began to visit the country to face the Ice Dogs and that trend will likely continue given the latest IIHF announcement.  

It remains to be seen how long it'll take for Kenya to qualify for its first IIHF World Championship event. Whenever it does happen, though, we can expect a similar level of passion as the one we saw in Kenya Ice Hockey's reaction video. 

"I'm thrilled to learn that Kenya was admitted as a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) during the 2024 IIHF Semi-Annual Congress today in Greece.

Congratulations to the team behind this feat alongside the courageous players who continue to beat all the odds to play ice hockey in Kenya. With this recognition, we now take up the challenge to give our players the support they need to succeed. Well done!"Kenya's Sports CS Kipchumba Murkomen said following the announcement. 

Ice hockey is becoming one of the most popular sports in the world with each passing year. The NHL has worked hard throughout the last few decades to expand the game, playing a role in having over 1.6 million athletes across the globe in organized leagues, per the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). 

Hockey's popularity is now expanding into some unlikely countries, including Kenya. The NHL has been working to grow the sport in the African country for nearly six years and it finally paid off on Thursday when it was revealed that Kenya is the latest nation to be added to the IIHF.