Ice hockey is growing in China, fast – and with Beijing and Zhangjiakou having recently secured the rights to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, it’s only going to get bigger still. We met up with China-based Canadian hockey coach Mark Simon to get the lowdown on the sport’s development.
How did you get involved in hockey in China?
I came over here from Canada in 2006 just to teach English for a year – I had no idea that people played hockey in China. But, then about a year in, I discovered a men’s league in Beijing, and through that I got connected to one of the local kid’s clubs –called the Imperial Guard – where I began coaching. I realized there was a gap in the market for someone like me – someone from a hockey background, someone passionate about the sport – who wanted to help promote hockey and coach in China. So, I stopped teaching English and just put everything into hockey.
Today I run hockey training camps all over Asia, promoting the game, helping to organize tournaments and of course, coach wherever possible.
So it’s safe to say you’ve always loved hockey?
Oh yeah! It’s been my life since I first started playing around four or five years old. I continued playing through high school at quite a high level until I was around 19 when I realized I wasn’t going to become professional. After that I played mainly for fun.
Who’s your team?
The Montreal Canadians. I was born in Montreal, and that’s where I spent most of my childhood.
Comparatively, how popular is hockey in China right now?
There’s about 2,000 kids playing hockey in Beijing. It’s growing a lot, in line with all the new ice rinks being built. The first kids league was started in 2008, with just four teams – of which ours was one – and that developed into four divisions of different age groups and lots of kids. Shanghai, meanwhile, is roughly five years behind Beijing in terms of development, mostly due to its more southern – and hotter – location.
So what’s next for you?
I’m just finalizing a new role with a company called champion rinks, who have about 25 rinks around China in different cities. Their flagship rink is in Joy City Mall, which is where I held a recent tournament this summer. The plan is to start doing a lot tournaments, in addition to the current camps in China and other places like Thailand, as well as the liaising, consulting and coaching.
How much of an improvement has taken place since 2006?
Numbers wise, it’s great – it’s gone from a few hundred to a few thousand kids playing regularly in Beijing. It’s really good to see so many kids out there each week. The disappointing part for me, is that playing lives tend to be limited to five years for most kids. What that means, is that most kids will start at around six years old, play like crazy for about five years, and then slowly give up. Unfortunately, despite the massive enthusiasm on a grass roots level, there’s not yet a real player development infrastructure in place. And so once these kids reach 12 or 13, there’s nowhere for them to go. There’s no leagues for kids aged 13 and up.
In addition, there’s no single unified league structure. Right now, the system is incredibly fragmented. There’ so many competing leagues and teams across China, that it’s impossible to determine the very best players – or create an all star team. Which is what you need ultimately, if the sport is going to develop at a higher level in China.
What affect do you see the Winter Olympics having on the sport?
The growth has never been an issue and I think there’s no doubt the Olympics will help to further stimulate that growth. I truly hope from an infrastructure perspective it has an affect too. There’s a kid from Beijing who was recently drafted into the NHL [US National Hockey League]. He left Beijing when he was 10 and moved to Toronto, so he’s not a direct product of China’s hockey scene – but he has the potential to be its superstar, it’s Yao Ming.
I hope these things will make everyone ask how can China mirror the Canadian structure here. Now, I’m not saying you can just airlift a program from one country to another. Lots of cultural adjustments will need to be made. But the relevant sporting authorities here need to create a system whereby kids – especially teenage kids – can play a Triple A level [highest standard] of hockey.
I think there’s opportunities to make that happen and I’d love to be a part of that discussion.
For more information about how to get involved in Beijing hockey, email marksim14@hotmail.com
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