CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — The Florida Panthers are working to grow the game of hockey in South America and other nontraditional countries.
This week, the organization teamed up with Latin American teams to showcase up-and-coming talent at the Amerigol Latam Cup.
WATCH BELOW: Ice hockey's growth breaking barriers in Latin America
The event was created to break barriers and bring ice hockey to non-traditional areas like South America.
The tournament has grown in seven years and is receiving international attention.
"We had five teams in 2018, and fast forward to today, and this year we have 62 teams," Juan Carlos Otero, the tournament's founder and president, said.
Initially, Amerigol was created to bring ice hockey to South America, and it's done that and more. Now, it has teams competing in the tournament from countries like Colombia.
The Colombian squad is led by head coach Sam Orth, a Navy veteran, who has toured the world and used his travels to promote the game.
"We practice ice hockey out there. The ice hockey rules, the offsides, all of the above, but it's on tiles," Orth said.
That's right. Players in Colombia are learning hockey not on ice skates, but on tiles while wearing roller skates.
"In Colombia, we only roller skate because of the weather conditions, and the country has very difficult conditions for ice," Santiago Daga, a Team Colombia forward, said.
With no ice available to practice on in South America, the players spend hours roller skating on tile and concrete, which makes it interesting when they convert to ice.
"I think ice is more faster-paced and it's very agile, especially with other things like the puck slides a lot more," Daga said.
With a team not used to ice skating, the coach got creative and expanded the Colombian team to a national team, and has kids from all over, like Justin Anderton from New Jersey, to join the team and help teach his teammates the ins and outs of ice hockey.
"It's great, you get to learn things about their culture, and just meeting them is a cool experience I've never felt before," Anderton said.
Mixing players has been challenging yet rewarding.
Now, they're hoping to become pioneers of the game.
"I just hope to expand the game and hope that it can continue to grow across every country," Anderton said.
