Event in Sao Paulo is another step towards Olympic recognition

3x3 hockey is heading to Sao Paulo next month as the IIHF continues to promote a fast-paced new variant of the game.

Six teams from five countries will compete in a Women’s 3x3 Event in Brazil as part of a week-long training and development process for Member National Associations in the Americas and Oceania.

The competition runs 7-13 November and will be played on a dedicated ice pad. Unlike some earlier 3x3 events, this one will not be played cross-ice on a traditional 60x30m rink, but will use a single, 26x18m ice pad specifically designed for 3x3 games.

Host nation Brazil is entering two teams, and is slated to take on opposition from Argentina, Colombia, Puerto Rico and Iran. The six teams will play a round-robin group stage before two days of classification and medal games.

At the recent IIHF Semi-Annual Congress in Rhodes, Greece, IIHF President Luc Tardiff spoke of his hopes that 3x3 hockey could become an Olympic discipline. Taking the format to Brazil helps to demonstrate the enthusiasm for this concept within the hockey family. A full proposal is due to go before the IOC in January, with a decision expected in March 2025. 

But the smaller-sized version of the game is not just about elite athletes: it offers benefits at all levels, particularly in non-traditional hockey countries. For instance, rosters are smaller – a maximum of 12 skaters and two goalies – making it easier to assemble teams and get people playing the game.

The shorter format makes event scheduling easier. Games run for three 10-minute periods, with no overtime or shootouts to decide group-stage games. During the first five-minute intermission, there is only dry ice cleaning. The second, 15-minute intermission includes a full ice clean. This means that in Brazil teams can play twice a day during the group phase. It makes for a fast-paced event, something else that helps to attract new audiences and players. 

Since 2017-18, the IIHF has been working to promote 3x3 hockey. Initially, it was trialled at the Youth Olympic Games as an exhibition event in Lausanne in 2020 and then as an official competition at Gangneung 2024. The success of those youth events led to the first IIHF-backed events for adult players.

These included a event in Sarajevo to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1984 Olympic Winter Games, and a tournament for pro and semi-pro players in Britain that featured GB international Rob Lachowicz. The event in Brazil brings 3x3 competition to South America and promises to be the first IIHF 3x3 event exclusively for women players.

Learn to Play heads to Latin America

As well as the Women’s 3x3 Event, Sao Paolo will also put on a Learn to Play (LTP) program. In the past two seasons, the IIHF held similar events for Asia in 2022-23 and Europe/Africa in 2023-24.

This year, a team of instructors from Canada, Mexico and the USA will be joined by IIHF staff to give MNA instructors the tools they need to set up their own effective LTP programs in their own countries. This helps achieve the IIHF’s ambition of seeing an active LTP program in every member association.
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There are 14 participants signed up for the course, representing Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Iran, New Zealand, Puerto Rico and the USA. They will divide their time between three-and-a-half days of seminars and on-ice clinics, sharing best practices about how to help new players get started in hockey.

Afterwards, the MNA instructors will have a chance to apply that knowledge over three days of training with local coaches and young players. The week finishes with a jamboree for the local kids.