The "Golden Puck" tournament has began in Sakhalin

Today in Sakhalin Region, special games run by the "Golden Puck" association have begun. The new hockey season between local children's teams was opened on the well known Cheremushki rink, and the matches themselves will take place on four different rinks.

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk physical culture and sport member Egor Umnov:

- Last year, we reconstructed thirteen outdoor local rinks. Work on this will continue, and the Cheremushki rink has new boards and warm dressing rooms.

Vladimir Shemberg, the head of the new "Sporting City" project:

- We are going to make fourteen ice rinks where hockey matches will take place, free skating sessions will be set up, our coaches will hold open air training sessions and new local children's teams will be created. I want to have more local backyard coaches, as this will create more children's teams and make the city an even more sporting one. 

The first to emerge on the ice were children's teams from the island's capital. Within the timespan of three weeks eleven teams will compete to qualify for the final tournament stages between children of eleven, twelve/thirteen and fourteen/fifteen years of age. Then, the three best children's teams will compete on behalf of Sakhalin Region with the other best teams of the Far East to then play in the grand All-Russian final of the "Golden Puck".

Andrei Khapochkin, member of the "Golden Puck" project in Sakhalin Region:

- The main thing is that all of our plans will be backed, and support for local sports in the community and finanicial municipal and provincial funds will go towards the reconstruction and construction of old and new rinks. Our task is that starting with these sporting rinks, children will join sports clubs and will begin to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Russian Ice Hockey Federation