The most popular sport in Mexico is soccer. Fans are passionate about baseball and boxing as well. But another sport is now trying to find its own base: ice hockey. LA Times staff writer Kevin Baxter went to Mexico City to find out how the LA Kings are trying to establish a foothold and an untapped market. Baxter joined Kelvin Washington on “LA Times Today.”
Baxter explained how ice hockey has gained popularity in Mexico.
“Mexico has had a national team for quite some time taking part in international tournaments. But what’s really exciting now is the sport is growing at the grassroots level. In addition to the Mexican Ice Hockey Federation national team, they say that there are 2,690 players in Mexico registered right now. And 1,600 are junior players, kids, essentially. So, 60% of the players in Mexico now are children. I think that speaks to the development and growth of the sport. It’s the kids that are playing now, and the number of players will grow,” Baxter said.
One of the main issues facing young ice hockey players is access to rinks.
“A lot of kids are playing inline hockey out in the streets, which is how the sport grew in Southern California. But when you talk about ice rinks, the ice rink in Guadalajara closed. There are actually more international airports in Mexico than there are ice rinks. So that’s a problem. The ones that do exist by and large are in shopping malls. There are three ice rinks in Mexico City. They’re all in shopping malls,” Baxter explained.
As a result, families travel for hours to get their children to the rink. On top of the time commitment, Baxter explained the financial commitment is sizable.
“For this particular place that the [Los Angeles] King’s work with, it’s in a neighborhood called Santa Fe in Mexico City. You pay a $125 per player to register for a year. It’s $146 a month for ice time and lessons, and then it’s at least $1,000 a year for equipment. More if your son is bullied. There are some women and some girls who play. And the kids outgrow that hockey gear within the course of the year. So, you’re talking about $1,300 a year per kid,” he said.
The LA Kings have a program to help popularize hockey in Mexico and make it accessible to families who can’t afford the rink costs.
“One of the things the Kings are doing is they’re helping to sponsor children. They’re providing equipment to children that can’t buy it themselves. They’re providing uniforms or helping pay for the ice time. They’re also going out and giving clinics. There’s an old saying, if you don’t see it, you can’t be it. If you don’t see yourself on the ice, if you don’t see your friends on the ice, you don’t think you can do that. So, the Kings are coming down and trying to teach ice hockey to kids and show them, yes, you can do this,” Baxter shared.
NHL games have very popular viewing in Mexico. Baxter said there are plans to bring some league games into the country, like the ones the NFL plays there.
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