Our history

Prologue

The rink was officially opened on July 2016 at Panari Hotel off Mombasa Road. Destined to be the best indoor rink in East and Central Africa offering international guests the opportunity to be able to experience the Nairobi National Park mere hours after a session on the all season rink.

The Fore Fathers (2006-2014)

Led by Andrew Gremley, the first game was played on the Solar Ice Rink by a number of expatriates who organized the first friendly game against the local skaters. Given the number of Kenyans was low, numbers were balanced in the game between the visiting team dubbed The “Winnipeg Jets” vs The “Kenya Hockey Team.

The first Kenyan Team (Ali Kilanga, Kevin Magina, Omari Ali) wore the original jersey designed by Bruce Strachan and is available in very limited numbers.

IN THE BEGINNING (2006)

Considered as the first All African Born and Raised team, we are working towards the dream that one day, the team will be able to represent itself not only in the Winter Olympics but also become officially recognised as a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. This is our history…

The Bruce Jersey Era (2014-2016)

During this era, only 5 jersey’s were printed and designed by Bruce. This was an improvement of the kikoi version as it was more refined towards current hockey jersey designs.

The jersey’s available are Azegere(1), Kilanga (2), Gremley (5), Magina (). The jersey’s story was featured in this link and a few versions with certificates of authenticity signed by Bruce Strachan.

The first Mashujaa Day game was played on 10th October 2016 as a homage to the Stanley Cup.

2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Sponsored by AliBaba (SA Jersey)

Having heard of the dream of being in the Winter Olympic games, several people came forward offering support to the team in various forms ranging from hockey gear to training. One of the voices which came through was the Alibaba Group, inspired by The Great Big Story.

In December 2017, 5 players were picked to shoot the Kenyans Dream Big Ad for the Winter Olympics. In addition to this, they experienced a few days in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea where Alibaba and The International Olympics Committee pledged to support the team in their dream to the games.

2018 Canadian Ice Hockey Experience Sponsored by Tim Hortons (Canadian Jersey)

Tim Hortons, CCM and Zulu Kilo Alpha also came through to support the team in August 2018 with the Canadian Ice Hockey experience. Through a documentary covering the story of 3 of the team members, the team got an opportunity to play in a full size hockey rink against a professional team with NHL’s Sidney Crosby Penguins) and Nathan Mackinon (Colorado Avalanche) on their side.

With the doors of support and opportunity opening up, the team rallied towards officially registering the team as the Kenya Ice Lions under the Kenya Ice Hockey League. The journey is not a simple one with several bumps in the road and working towards delivering the promise of making it to the 2022 Winter Olympics. Will we ever play in the Olympics? One day we will.

2006

Ice Rink officially opens

The Ice rink officially opens for business at the Panari Hotel, Nairobi Kenya. No ice hockey game has been played at this time

2007

The First Home Game

A group of expatriates passionate about ice hockey organize a friendly game against the Kenyan Hockey team comprised at the time of only 3 Kenyan-born players, rink marshalls (Benard Azegere, Omari Ali and Ken Magina). They did not have proper playing equipment and used soccer shin pads as shin guards. The Kenyan jersey makes it's first appearance in the form of a an African kikoi design.

2014

The Mashujaa Cup

The first ever organized tournament on the rink is organized - Kenya Hockey team vs The Expats. The trophy was made using jua kali artistry style and was won by the Expats.

2017

The First Junior Cup Tournament

The first tournament played by the junior team which practices on Sunday morning was organized by Omari Ali in collaboration with several of the senior players and hotel management. This was aimed at challenging the youth and preparing them for big things to come.

2018

The African version of Cool Runnings

Alibaba organized for five of the team members to be part of the Olympic games through an ad inspiring others to dream big and experience living the games. Several media houses picked up the story including snowboarding athlete Shaun White who hoped to get to meet them at the games (via facebook post on his account).

2018

Meet the Tim

Tim Hortons, CCM and Zulu Kilo Alpha arranged for the full team to experience ice hockey from it's native land and had the opportunity to experience the Hockey Hall of Fame and played alongside NHL greats Sidney Crosby and Nathan Mackinon.