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Chris Patenaude-Vaz makes a glove save in Canada Ball Hockey Korea action during the spring 2012 season at Jamsil Sports Complex. |
By Matt Flemming
What began as a small game of pickup ball hockey has grown into one of Korea's biggest and most well-organized expat groups. Now gearing up for its 10th season, Canada Ball Hockey Korea (CBHK) is aiming to be bigger and better than ever.
Looking to increase its membership to about 130 players on 10 teams, the league promotes itself as not just a high-quality recreational sports league, but as a fun and welcoming community for expats in Korea.
Since the fall of 2008, the CBHK has played fall and spring seasons on Sunday afternoons at an outdoor rink at Jamsil Sports Complex. The majority of players are Canadian, many of whom grew up playing hockey either on ice with a puck, or on the streets and in driveways with a ball. But there is always a large American contingent and the league has had members from Britain, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Korea. The hockey is competitive and fast paced but players of all skills levels are welcome and experience playing hockey is not required.
David Winger, a 24-year-old English teacher from Georgetown, Ontario, Canada, joined the league last season and was immediately impressed.
"One of the first things I noticed was that the league was run by volunteers and everyone seemed to have the same goals in mind. They wanted to play hockey and have a great time," Winger said. "The draft party was a lot of fun and got me thinking that the league takes hockey pretty seriously, but I mean serious in a good way. It is well organized and people care about the game, but this is done while maintaining a fun and community-like atmosphere around the rink."
The day before the season begins, the captains hold a draft at a secret location. The picks are announced one by one at the draft party, where league members enjoy free beer and watch as the teams are selected. The draft party is the first of a series of exciting league-organized soirees, which includes the sponsor bar pub crawl and the year-end banquet.
Parties, banquets and pub crawls aside, the league's biggest strength is that it is completely volunteer-run. This includes the board members, the referees, the captains, the time and stat keepers, goal judges and those who build and maintain the league website. But there's also the generosity of members who go above and beyond to make the CBHK even cooler. League photographer Andrei Cherwinski made personalized hockey cards for every player in the league and gave them out at the season ending banquet, while a number of members lead efforts to raise money for the league's injury fund by selling food and drinks at the rink every Sunday.
The league takes safety very seriously and injuries are rare, but do occur ― and sometimes players will incur some medical bills as a result. Winger, who suffered a broken nose as a result of a high stick, was one such player. "What happened to me was a complete accident and no one is to blame, but I did have a pretty big bill to deal with," Winger said. "The generous people of the CBHK stepped up big time and came up with the majority of the cash needed to cover my medical costs. The league really has a great sense of community and you see this with the events and volunteering that goes on all the time around the rink every weekend."
Bob Surh is among a small group of original members who have seen the league evolve over the last five years. "There is a lot of pride for the 10-15 of us that used to play pick up hockey at the rink in seeing the league grow each year into what it is now," Surh said. "Most of the original members just do whatever it takes on a weekly basis to make this the best league that we can make it."
Fees are 160,000 won if paid before Feb. 1 and 170,000 won after. Fees include a 14-week regular season and up to three weeks of playoffs, free beer at the league's draft party, free food and drink at the season-ending banquet and a team jersey. All first-time players must attend at least one pickup session or rookie day prior to the draft to be eligible to play. Visit www.cbhk.org for more information.
