Ice Hockey

The ultimate team sport at the Universiade, ice hockey demands force, power, precision and speed, as well as a very strong team spirit.

A hugely popular discipline throughout North America and most of Europe, ice hockey is considered to be the best known sport on ice at global level. It is a sport where physical contact between the players is standard and guarantees exciting matches, with barely time to catch your breath.

In the history of the Universiade, the first hockey tournament was organised in 1962 during the 2nd Universiade in Villars, Switzerland. On that occasion four teams took part in the men’s tournament and the first nation to win the gold medal was Czechoslovakia. Since 1962, ice hockey has been present in the programme of the Universiade no less than 21 times, and starting from the 2009 Universiade in Harbin (China) there has also been a women’s tournament.

At the Universiade in Erzurum, Turkey, no less than 126 ice hockey players from 6 different countries participated in the women’s tournament, demonstrating the success of this sport also among women.

A large number of athletes participating at the Universiade have gone on to have successful careers at international level, joining important teams and achieving major success with their respective national teams at World Championships and the Olympics.

During the 2015 Winter Universiade in Granada, both women’s and men’s tournaments will be organised.