by Rovena, AllHabs.net

Vitória, BR. — Hockey is not a popular sport in Brazil – yet – but there are people willing to change this. My country already has many ice hockey, inline hockey and grass hockey teams. Those that are located in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have better chances to gain attention and grow.  They also have better and appropriate places to practise.

For people that live in others states and want to start a team, it’s harder, but they’re finding a way.

I’m really happy and proud to be able to talk about them at AllHabs.net because I know all the hard times we go through here in my state without any support from the local government.  It makes my day knowing that there are people doing their best to make hockey a known sport here. They are the people who pay to play the sport they love and that fight with all their hearts to make the best out of what they have. Hopefully, they’ll get everything they need.

In Campo Grande, Espírito Santo, a small town just a few miles away from Vitória, we can find the D’Masters. The team began in 1999, when Leandro (the team captain) and Ricardo were invited to play hockey with a professional player from São Paulo. They fell in love with the sport and decided to form a team with other friends with who they used to skate with.

Soon, they were playing street hockey and later, they moved on to indoor soccer field, which was a problem, as the facility isn’t made for inline hockey. The floor wears out the wheels, necessitating the need to change them often. But despite the problems, they didn’t give up and achieved their goal of becoming the only team from Espírito Santo to be a part of the Brazilian Ice Hockey Confederation.

Another problem is the equipment used by the players. Since it is a very hard thing to find in Brazil, they had to improvise. They began using soccer shin guards instead of the ones made for hockey. Nowadays, things are different as they have better equipment, but they have to work hard in order to get the inline skates and other needed things. Hockey is a very expensive sport.

Most of the equipment they use is imported from the United States or sold by players of visiting teams. Yet, that doesn’t seem to be a bother, since they all love hockey and are willing to do whatever it takes to improve and become the best they can be.

Before making their way into the competitions, the D’Masters met Luiz Koenen, a player/coach from América Mineiro, from our neighbor state Minas Gerais. Luiz taught them everything he knew about the sport as they prepared to finally compete. Their first championship was in 2008, the first Copa Minas, in which they lost, but again they weren’t discouraged. It was a lesson of how they should improve.

In the same year, they played in the Campeonato Brasileiro Divisão III, in Bauru, São Paulo finishing in ninth place at the competition. With a lot of practise and dedication from the players, they managed to get a fifth place at the championship that took place in Curitiba, Paraná. Leandro won the MVP award and Maikel Garcia won the Best Assist award. Teammates won every other individual award marking a great improvement for them.

Every year during the vacations, a mall in Vila Velha opens a small ice rink and people from all ages go and skate. In 2009, the D’Masters played ice hockey in this small rink. For a team that’s used to playing on concrete floors, it was different and amazing.

“It was a great experience. Besides promoting our sport, so that people know about it, for a few moments we could imagine how it would feel like to play ice hockey”, said Renato, the goalie.

In 2010, they participated in the Campeonato de Seleções in São Paulo, ending in fifth place with a Fair Play trophy. They were able to make to this championship with the support of the Associação Cariaciquense de Esporte, an sports association from the municipality of Cariacica. That’s the only “sponsorship” they’ve got so far but they’re still looking for companies and even people that are willing to help them with what they need.

They’re going to keep participating in competitions, so that hockey in our state can attract attention and make other people interested in it. While they wait for this moment, they’ll just continue improving, watching videos and practising. I think they have a great potential and I’m sure we’ll hear more about them here in Brazil. And I’m not just saying this because we’re from the same state, but because I know how far they can go with hard work and dedication.