Inspired by the 1990s film "Mighty Ducks", Ice hockey's history in the Philippines began in the early 2000s. What started as casual skating sessions quickly evolved into organized play, with a passionate local community driving the sport forward.
But because the Philippines is a tropical country with no winter season, ice hockey and some other winter sports are played on artificial ice rinks. This kind of sport may not be the first sport that comes to mind in a tropical country like the Philippines, but its unlikely rise has been nothing short of remarkable.
In February 2015, the governing body of ice hockey in the country, the Federation of Ice Hockey League (FIHL), was formed.
The FIHL was admitted as an associate member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) on 20 May 2016 and they secured Philippine Olympic Committee membership by July 2016. During this year, there were already 211 registered players from five clubs in the country, and the popularity of this sport suddenly increased.
A IIHF sanctioned league, the Philippine Hockey League was organized in 2018 fulfilling a prerequisite for the Philippine men's national team participation in the Ice Hockey World Championships.
Prior to 2008 and before the formation of the FIHL, club selection teams competed in regional competitions as unofficial national teams.
The main league in the country is the Philippine Hockey League which follows IIHF regulations. A recreational ice hockey league, the Manila Ice Hockey League, is also held.
After the formation of the FIHL, national ice hockey teams were officially organized. The men's national team made their official debut at the 2017 Asian Winter Games while the women's team made theirs at the 2017 IIHF Women's Challenge Cup of Asia.
The team lost 10–5 in their first official match against Kyrgyzstan. The Philippines secured their first official win as a FIHL member by defeating Qatar with a score of 14–2, followed by an 8–3 triumph over Kuwait, which competed as the Independent Olympic Athletes. The team placed third in their division after a 9–2 win over Macau in the play-off for third place.
The Philippines participated at an ice hockey tournament event of the 2017 Southeast Asian Games whose mentor, Czech head coach Daniel Brodan started their Southeast Asian Games campaign with a 12–0 victory over Indonesia. This was followed by their game against Singapore which ended with a 7–2 triumph.
This was then followed by their game against Malaysia which saw the ejection of the Philippine captain, Steven Füglister from the game in the first period. He was given a game misconduct penalty for hitting a Malaysian player in the head while pursuing the puck although the skipper said the infraction was an unintentional accident. The match ended with a 7–7 tie after regulation time after an extra five-minute-period which led to a shootout. The Philippines outscored Malaysia to register a win.
The Malaysian organizers decided to suspend Fuglister for the final match against Thailand. Despite playing without their captain, the Philippines wrapped up their campaign, undefeated with a 5–4 win over Thailand and clinched the first ever ice hockey gold medal in the history of the regional tournament.
In April 3 to 8 2018, The Philippines hosted the Top Division of the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia, the national team’s first IIHF-sanctioned tournament, at the SM Mall of Asia Ice Skating Rink in Pasay, Metro Manila. The team was mentored by American head coach, Jonathan De Castro. The national team settled for bronze after tying in points with champions Mongolia and runners-up Thailand.
The national team improved its best finish in the tournament in the following edition of the tournament in 2019 hosted in Malaysia. They lost to Mongolia in the final, settling for second place. The Philippines failed to defend their Southeast Asian Games title at home in the 2019 edition of the regional games, settling only for a bronze medal finish.
The country actually qualified for the 2020 edition of the world event, but the tournament got cancelled due to the pandemic. The team faced similar problems in 2022, rendering them unable to participate.
In 2023, the Philippine ice hockey team decimated its competition to capture the gold in the 2023 IIHF World Championship Division IV in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Sweeping the competition mostly by decisive margins, the wins included a 14-0 beatdown of Indonesia, another 14-0 victory against Kuwait, and a slim 7-6 victory against the host country that took overtime.
The title run also propelled the Filipinos to Division III B, where they joined other Asian countries like Singapore, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, and Hong Kong, as well as other European squads like Bosnia and Herzegovina.
When not in competition, the players continue to hone their craft under the tutelage of their Finnish coach Juhani Ijäs, and the leadership of captain Manvil Billones, the leading scorer of the Division IV tournament.
With the partnership of Philippine Skating Union (PSU) and its energetic head Nikki Cheng, the team practices in several skating rinks across Metro Manila situated inside big malls.
One of the focuses now of Hockey Philippines is its grassroots program. According to former Philippine Hockey team Captain Steven Fuglister, Kids can come and get gear for free and they can go to a six-week program, which is conducted every Sunday.
“That is where kids can come, you get gear, there’s gear that is provided to you for free. And you can go to I think like a six-week program, also every Sunday. And just have fun, ’cause I think at that level, how you can get the kids in, it’s like having fun and a good time. And I think so far, it’s been pretty well organized.” said Fuglister.
