TUNIS – With its beaches and year-round sun, Tunisia is not the most obvious home for the winter sport of ice hockey. But one man is quite determined to make it happen.
Two years ago, Ihab Ayed quit his job in finance in the French capital to realise his dream of creating the North African country’s first ice hockey team.
Ayed had dreamt of a Tunisian team to play the game internationally ever since he first learned at the age of five how to hit a black rubber puck on ice.
“It took me six years, from 2006 to 2012, to bring together 40 players from around the world,” says the 36-year-old Franco-Tunisian.
“I combed ice hockey websites. I’d randomly type in Sami, Mohammad — Arabic names” to see whether any Tunisians came up, he says.
With the help of social media and tips from friends, he cobbled together a team of amateurs and professionals, all of whom have at least one Tunisian parent.
In 2014, the first ice hockey team from the birthplace of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings played — and lost — its first game outside Paris.
But on July 30 this year, the Carthage Eagles won for the first time in Morocco and even went on to become champions of the Africa Ice Hockey Cup.
– No easy feat –
The unlikely competition — in which they faced off against teams from Egypt, Morocco and Algeria — may not be recognised internationally, but their win sparked the interest of Tunisia’s authorities.
It was no easy feat. All of the team’s members paid for their own flights to Morocco, and money from sponsors covered accommodation and team kit.
And the team’s players — largely from France, but also from Belgium, Finland, Sweden and even Canada — cannot even train together.
“Each player trains with his own club,” Ayed says.
Before the games in Morocco, “we’d do a quick warm-up to see what the ice rink was like on Monday morning, and on Monday evening we’d be playing”.
But for the players, despite the obstacles, playing means reconnecting with their Tunisian roots.
“Today I’m proud to say I’m Tunisian,” says 26-year-old Nathan Benmessaoud, who lives in France.
Franco-Tunisian player Mehdi Belhassen, 30, is just as enthusiastic after the team’s victory in Morocco.
“It was a beautiful adventure and I hope the beginning of a great story,” he says.
Ayed hopes that the Tunisian Ice Hockey Association — which is registered in France — can now become a legal entity in the North African country.
– Olympic ice rink –
The dream, he says, is to see Tunisia become “an affiliated member of the International Ice Hockey Federation” with its own Olympic ice rink.
“The sport won’t be able to exist in Tunisia if we don’t have an ice rink… with the official dimensions,” Ayed says.
The ministry of sports and youth has said the project is feasible and that it would waste no time in initiating procedures to turn the association into a federation.
And the minister has also said the Carthage Eagles are great for the image of the country, which is still reeling after two major jihadist attacks on tourists last year.
But the Eagles’ success also comes as Tunisia’s government is about to change.
Prime minister-designate Youssef Chahed began talks last week aimed at putting together a unity government to tackle major economic and security challenges.
Ayed is still optimistic about the future, however.
“Our ambition is for Tunisia to become renowned worldwide for ice hockey and for it to be able to send a team each year to the world championships.”
“There can be changes of cabinet or president, but our goal is clear. We know where we’re headed.”
