Puerto Rico pulled off a significant victory by defeating Argentina, 7-6, in overtime to win the IIHF’s 3x3 women’s hockey tournament in Buenos Aires last week. The top team from Argentina had waltzed through the round robin with a perfect 4-0 record, including a 5-1 win over the Puerto Ricans, and a goals differential of 32-5. Brazil beat Columbia, 5-1, to take the bronze medal. Argentina also had a second team entered to make a five-team tournament. All games were two periods of 12 minutes.

The event was hosted by the Asociacion Argentina de Hockey Sobre Hielo y en Linea (AAHHL), and all games were played at the recently-opened Fantasy Skate Arena in Buenos Aires, a rink which measures 40m x 20m (specified ice size for 3x3 games).

“There was huge interest, several games were even sold out,” enthused Dicky Haiek, president of the AAHHL. “Tickets were free, but we needed to organize everyone, and on the last day we had a representative from the Ministry of Sport hand out player awards after the final game. Also, a businessman from Bariloche, Diego Fenoglio, who wants to build two, Olympic-size indoor rinks, was also at the final. He was happy with the tournament and the way things went, so he wants to work towards finalizing his plans. If he can do this, it would be an incredible step forward for hockey in Argentina.”

The host Argentines were led by defender Alma Ameigeiras Mina, who scored 15 of the team’s 44 goals and was named tournament MVP and Directorate Award winner as Best Defender. Iara Haiek had seven goals. The Puerto Ricans were led by Florida-born forward Katie Leffler, who had 18 of her team’s 50 goals, and the California-born Anastasia Sloan, who had eight goals. Estela Vazquez was named Directorate Best Goalie and Leffler, not surprisingly, was named Best Forward. Importantly, Brazil had a female coach, which also goes a long way to developing the game.

Although the games and scores were important, they were not the only focus of the event. “We feel that education is also an essential element,” noted Blanka Elekes Szentagotai, the IIHF’s Women’s Program Manager. “In Buenos Aires, teams participated in sessions to learn about the IIHF’s women’s hockey-related programs as well as the development of the 3x3 discipline. It was really successful, and many of the players asked questions enthusiastically.”

“Traditionally at this event we also break the competition to hold a few practices with our IIHF mentors,” Elekes Szentagotai continued. “This time we were led by Kristi Kehoe. The players love being on mixed teams with their opponents and playing scrimmages with these mixed teams. This was one of the highlights of the tournament, and I think really helped improve the players’ skills.”

 

New Rink, New Ambitions: Argentina Showcases 3x3 Format

The IIHF has been working towards including 3x3 hockey in the Olympics, and this event in Buenos Aires is one of a series to develop the game and promote the new format across the IIHF’s 84 Member National Associations. 

“Argentina, with its new ice rink, was a great opportunity to test the 3x3 discipline further on our specified ice size for the upcoming UHL Breaking the Ice Tour,” explained Florian Mayer, the IIHF’s 3x3 Sport Manager. “The goal is not only to promote and develop the new 3x3 discipline within the Americas but also to get a confirmation that our new format is well accepted by the teams and fans—proof of concept, as it were. Additionally, it is a great development format for the IIHF’s Associate Members to compete on an international level and participate in our development sessions. But our biggest goal is still to add the 3x3 discipline into the 2034 Winter Olympics.”

Indeed, Argentina doesn’t have full status at the IIHF because they don’t yet have a full-sized indoor rink, but under the leadership of Dicky Haiek, they are hopeful. In the meantime, they participate in the Development Cup and whatever other opportunities are available to them around the international hockey world. 

“The AAHHL with Dicky and Ramon Arana, as well the whole team behind them, did a tremendous job implementing this event,” Mayer continued. “As this was their first event hosting on an internation level, it provided them with helpful insight for the future. We are hoping that showcasing this event in Argentina will help the AAHHL receive more recognition by the government and sport ministry because their support is important to push ice hockey to the next level, hopefully by financing a new arena.”

All games were available to watch on IIHF.TV and also Argentina’s national broadcaster. The tournament was a rousing success on a small scale, so now Dickey Haiek returns to his regular job as AAHHL president, trying to grow the game.

“Now we go back to continue our work promoting hockey,” he said. “We want to start a women’s league at Fantasy Skate and do everything we can to organize another tournament like this with the IIHF. But our biggest goal is to qualify to play in the IIHF World Championship program. We have an Olympic size outdoor rink and a 3x3 indoor rink, so if we have a league, I hope we can qualify for the World Championship. This is the next step in our growth.”