| Ice hockey in Mexico | |
|---|---|
| Country | Mexico |
| Governing body | Federación Deportiva de México de Hockey sobre Hielo |
| National teams | Men's national team; Women's national team |
| First played | 1960s |
| National competitions | |
| International competitions | |
Ice hockey is a minor sport inMexico, but is slowly growing.[1][2]Football has dominatedMexican sports for decades, but ice hockey has grown in popularity in Mexico since the 1960s.
Women's ice hockey is also growing in Mexico.[3][4]
The game of ice hockey was played in the country for the first time in the 1960s, however, the Mexican Federation of Winter Sports (Spanish:Federación Mexicana de Deportes Invernales A.C.) was not founded until 1984. Mexico joined theInternational Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) on 30 April 1985. It is the thirdNorth American nation afterCanada and theUnited States to join the IIHF.
The Mexican Elite Hockey LeagueLiga Mexicana Élite de Hockey is a semi-professional ice hockey league in Mexico and was inaugurated as the Mexican Elite League (Spanish:Liga Mexicana Élite) on 2 October 2010, with the goal to establishing Mexico's high-level international competitor in ice hockey. Currently, it has four professional teams and 17 associated equipment.
Themen's national team played its first game on 10 April 2000 during the2000 World Championship Pool D tournament inReykjavík,Iceland, losing toBelgium 5–0. It is the onlyLatin American team that competes in the IIHF tournaments.
Thewomen's national team played its first game on 18 February 2012 againstArgentina in an exhibition game inCuautitlán Izcalli, losing to them 1–0. The following day, they played the Argentinians again, this time winning by a score of 7–1. The women's national team did not compete in anyWomen's World Championship tournaments until 2014 when they played inDivision II Group B Qualification tournament. They won all three of their games and earned a promotion to Division II Group B for 2015.
Thejunior national team played its first game on 30 December 1996 during the1997 World Junior Championship Pool D tournament inSofia,Bulgaria, in a 13–1 loss toSpain.
Mexico City hosted thePan American Tournament from 2014–2017. The men's national team was the runners-up three times until2017, they won their first ever Pan American Tournament by defeatingColombia 1–0 in the final, however, their opposition is currently not a member of the IIHF due to lack of governing bodies of ice hockey inColombia.
On 15 January 2020,Luisa Wilson became the first Mexican to win an Olympic medal in anyWinter Olympics sport when her team won the gold medal at thegirls' 3x3 mixed tournament, during the2020 Winter Youth Olympics inLausanne, Switzerland.[5]
| Individual sports | |
|---|---|
| Team sports | |
| In international competitions | |
