Sochi’s Dolphins get big boost
Published 14 October, 2008, 07:27
Russia's performance in the Beijing Olympics will be discussed on Tuesday when President Medvedev meets state and sports officialsin Moscow region. Their attention will also turn to the future, specifically to preparations for the 2014 Sochi winter games.
Ice hockey is a sport you would not usually associate with Sochi. It is one of the few places in Russia that is considered a sub-tropical resort.
There are Black Sea beaches, tropical gardens with palm trees, and over two million tourists spend their summer vacation in Sochi annually. The temperature rarely falls below zero, and the city has little obvious connection with winter sports.
Nevertheless one year ago the city was selected to host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
Most sports facilities are being built some 40 kilometres away from the city centre, in the Caucasus Mountains, where snow never melts even in August.
One of the beneficiaries is the Black Sea Dolphins, the local ice hockey team, which looks set to benefit from the winter sports boost. Some of the Dolphins’ players are in their teens, while others are in their forties.
Many have come to Sochi from distant parts of Russia and have widely different backgrounds, but the one thing that unites this team is their love of ice hockey.
“We’re promoting this sport and developing it so that we’ll have good players for the games in Sochi. Of course, we have great plans for professional hockey. Even if it’s not as good as the Premier League, or the NHL, we hope to participate in the World Championship,” said Andrey Krynin, head of Sochi Hockey Federation.
For now the Dolphins share their training ground with figure skaters, part of a new generation of athletes in Sochi.
“Our little sandbox” is what the Dolphins call their temporary skating rink.
However, they are confident that in just a year or two, as preparations for the Olympics continue, the team will be playing in a big new sports centre.
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