Hockey Night in Bolivia

On a typical night, about 70 to 80 people  drive as much as an hour to play floor hockey, a sport they didn’t know existed at this time a year ago.

Taking its cue from the long-running weekly televised ritual Hockey Night in Canada, the Bolivian version trades NHL ice palaces for a pole barn and concrete slab. Participants’ attire stands in still greater contrast with that of flamboyant commentator Don Cherry.

“These people in this community all came from the Old Order colonies, some only a couple months out, others maybe three years. Only a few are five or seven years out,” said project leader Wilfried Hiebert. “Once in a while we get some Old Order people, but not very often because of their views.”

The Evangelical Free Church of Canada hosts the activities at the Bridge Ministry Center near the Brazilian border. Not far away is the denomination’s Trans World Radio Center, which broadcasts Low German programming to Old Order colonies.

Hiebert has been head of EFCC construction projects since he arrived in Bolivia in 2012. He is also a youth leader, and when he needed to come up with activities, he thought back to his teenage years.

“The family I married into, they came from Canada. They were always talking about playing [hockey] in Canada,” he said. “I grew up in Paraguay, so they showed us some pictures, this and that, and we as youth started a floor hockey thing.”

The rules are lax. There are no blue lines, and anyway, it’s too warm for icing. It takes time to introduce a sport.

“When I came in to present in a local church here, I walked to the front with a hockey stick, and it was a fun reaction,” he said. “They figured, ‘What’s this guy doing with a stick here?’ ”

Hiebert said the first gathering took place in December before Christmas and about 40 people showed up, moderately exceeding his expectations. When Hockey Night resumed in January, crowds sometimes as big as 200 — including teams of women, skirts and all — came to play.

“Most of the time they like to play women against women because the men are a little bit rough,” he said. “The word has spread, and everyone wants to play. If I had it every weekend, it would be full every weekend.”

It’s a family event, and a few folks help sell hamburgers, hotdogs and ice cream. The proceeds purchase groceries for struggling families.

“Some of the families have between three to seven kids and have no idea how to survive because they have been completely out of the colony,” Hiebert said. “That’s our goal with this whole thing.”

Steve Neufeld, Latin America area director for Evangelical Free Church of Canada Mission, has been impressed with participation. “It’s just that they’ve broken the sticks, and we’ll have to get more,” he said. But EFCCM has plans that go far beyond hockey sticks. Weekend camping is already in place, and expansions could include a library and cafeteria.

“We’re definitely going to crank up the sports involvement at that ministry center,” Neufeld said. “They’re talking about a climbing wall, beach volleyball. The older idea is no sports, but you need to get these teenage guys into sports, because they have nothing to do.”

Original article on Mennonite World Review

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