The Independent Amateur Hockey League (NAHL — Latvian: Neatkarīga amatieru hokeja līga) is the largest amateurice hockey league in the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania). Located in Riga, Latvia. It unites more than 80 teams and about 2 400 players in 8 leagues (including 2 oldtimers leagues).
Latvian is a Baltic language spoken in the Baltic region. It is the language of Latvians and the official language of Latvia as well as one of the official languages of the European Union. It is sometimes known in English as Lettish, and cognates of the word remain the most commonly used name for the Latvian language in Germanic languages other than English. There are about 1.3 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and 100,000 abroad. Altogether, 2 million, or 80% of the population of Latvia, speak Latvian. Of those, 1.16 million or 56% use it as their primary language at home. The use of the Latvian language in various areas of social life in Latvia is increasing.
An amateur, from French amateur "lover of", is generally considered a person who pursues a particular activity or field of study independently from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist.
Ice hockey is a contact team sport played on ice, usually in a rink, in which two teams of skaters use their sticks to shoot a vulcanized rubber puck into their opponent's net to score points. The sport is known to be fast-paced and physical, with teams usually consisting of six players each: one goaltender, and five players who skate up and down the ice trying to take the puck and score a goal against the opposing team.
At the end of summer in 1996 a group of enthusiasts decided to unite the unorganised groups of amateur hockey players and organize their 1st ice hockey championship for amateur teams. The tournament was successful - 7 teams took part in it ("Krāsainie Lējumi", "Bauska-Inčukalns", "Tiesneši", "Ledus Vaboles", "Vakara Ziņas", "Balsts", RTU). The first season in 1997/1998 started with even more teams - 16 teams in two groups.
Bauska is a town in Bauska Municipality, in the Zemgale region of southern Latvia. Bauska is located 66 km from the Latvian capital Riga and 20 km from the Lithuanian border on the busy European route E67.
Inčukalns is a village in Inčukalns municipality, Latvia. Inčukalns had some 2,028 residents in 2006.
Riga Technical University (RTU) is the oldest technical university in the Baltics established on October 14, 1862. It is Located in Riga, Latvia it was previously known as Riga Polytechnical Institute and Riga Polytechnicum.
The first NAHL Championship took place in autumn 1999, where 7 teams participated ("Anatta", "Lūši", "Vektor", "Lattelecom", Jaunpils, Jūrmala, "Vikingi-Eglīte").
Lattelecom is a Latvian internet service provider, telecommunications, technology and entertainment company. Since 2017, it also is an electricity service provider.
Jaunpils is a village in and centre of Jaunpils municipality, Latvia.
Jūrmala is a city in Latvia, about 25 kilometres west of Riga. Jūrmala is a resort town stretching 32 km and sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River. It has a 33 km stretch of white-sand beach, and a population of 56,646, making it the fifth largest city in Latvia.
In the season 2001/2002, 25 teams competed in two divisions. In the strongest group such teams as "Anatta", "Kurbads", "Lūši", "RD Electronics", "Profsistems", "Memphis/Smokers", "Berģu nams", "Viva sports-1", "Viva sports-2", "Mamuti", "Buldogi", "DSM" participated.
The increase in the number of participants required more effort for organising the tournaments - Oļegs Siračenko, Aleksandrs Mejlehs, Sergejs Šarkovs, Eduards Andersons, Oskars Miljons, Guntars Precinieks and Aleksejs Rešetņikovs joined the NAHL management. They put the finishing touches to the regulations of competitions and elected the League Council.
Independent Amateur Hockey League "NAHL" has been an officially registered sport public organization since autumn 2001. It provides the hockey competitions not only in Riga, but also in other hockey halls of Latvia.
The season 2002/2003 started with 43 teams. They are all divided into 3 groups - the Superleague (16 teams), Higher League (14) and the First League (13).
NAHL teams have an experience of friendly matches in abroad - NAHL hockey clubs have participated in friendly matches in Canada, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Ireland, Belarus and Russia.
Currently NAHL unites 80 amateur teams, which are divided, according to their level, into 6 leagues, plus 2 old-timer leagues divided into Group А (ex-professionals) and В (amateurs). There are also the Latvian regional teams – their numbers are about 200.
NAHL competitions take place in 10 ice halls. The league has annually organised the Latvian ice-hockey championship among amateur hockey teams (from September to March), and then – the NAHL CUP in April. Besides the regular Championship and the NAHL CUP - NAHL also organizes tournaments, where teams from Lithuania, Estonia, Russia, Switzerland and Finland are participating.
The hockey season begins with the Captains Match, at the end of the January a Star Match takes place. Spring is the season of "Bank Cup", in May-June the following tournaments are usually organized - it’s “NAHL - PREMJERA” for the beginner teams, and the senior tournament 45+ "SENJOR" ("SENIORS").
Helmuts Balderis-Sildedzis is a retired Latvian soviet ice hockey player. He played right wing.
Oleg Valerievich Znarok is a Soviet-Latvian-German professional ice hockey player and coach who represented the USSR and Latvia, internationally, and currently represents Russia.
Aleksandrs Kerčs is a Latvian retired professional ice hockey left winger who played five games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Edmonton Oilers. He also appeared in several World Championships and the 2002 Winter Olympics for the Latvian national team. Previously, he represented the Soviet Union at the 1987 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.
Amateur teams from Lithuania are also interested in participating. The Lithuanian team "LEDO LINIJA" from Šiauliai participates in NAHL championship.
Šiauliai is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 107,086. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County. Unofficially, the city is the capital of Northern Lithuania.
The league's latest project is the tournament Open Ice Riga. The first part of it – Spring 2008 – took place in March 2008. The teams from Russia, Lithuania and Latvia took part in these games for the teams in the "C-Club" group.
The Latvia national football team represents the country in international football competitions, such as the World Cup and the European Championships. It is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Latvia. They have never qualified for the World Cup, but they have, however, qualified for the European Championship in 2004, under Aleksandrs Starkovs.
Sports in Latvia include association football, ice hockey, basketball, athletics, rugby, tennis, cycling, and others. Association hockey is historically the most popular of the Latvian sports and is closely followed by basketball. Some of Latvia’s most notable athletes include hockey player Sandis Ozoliņš, football player Māris Verpakovskis, olympic javelin thrower Jānis Lūsis, two-time Olympic BMX champion Maris Strombergs, and basketball player Kristaps Porziņģis.
The Baltic Cup is an international football competition contested by the national teams of the Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Also Finland has participated as a guest twice. Though originally held annually the competition has been biennial since 2008, running on even-numbered years. It is one of the oldest football tournaments for national teams in Europe after the British Home Championship, and the oldest one still organized.
Latvijas Televīzija is the state-owned public service television broadcaster in Latvia.
Edgars Masaļskis is a Latvian ice hockey coach and former player. Playing as a goaltender, Masaļskis represented the Latvian national team, and has played for a number of clubs, with five seasons in Liepājas Metalurgs as his longest stay at any club. He retired after the 2016–17 season, and joined Dinamo Riga's coaching staff on October 2, 2017.
Dinamo Riga was an ice hockey club, based in Riga, Latvia. It was founded in 1946 and disestablished in 1995 as Pārdaugava Rīga.
SELL Student Games is a multi-sport event that is open for all university and college students all over the world. The name of the games is according to the first letters of the hosting countries – Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – in their respective languages . The principles of the games are that everyone can participate and therefore the event combines top sports and joyful student event. Nowadays the games gather around 1800–2000 students.
Harijs Vītoliņš is a Latvian former professional ice hockey centre. After being selected twice in the NHL Entry Draft, Vītoliņš played eight games in the National Hockey League with the Winnipeg Jets during the 1993–94 season, going scoreless.
Jānis Rozītis was a Latvian football forward and ice hockey player, a two time champion of Latvia and a Latvia national football team regular in mid-1930s.
Arvīds Jurgens was a Latvian footballer, ice hockey, basketball and bandy player who play played for Latvia national teams in all four of these sports. He was one of the best all-around Latvian sportsmen.
Kristaps Sotnieks is a Latvian professional ice-hockey defenseman. He currently plays for Dinamo Riga in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).
Oļegs Malašenoks is a Latvian professional footballer who currently plays as a striker for AFA Olaine.
Sergejs Boldaveško is a retired Latvian ice hockey forward, who played for Dinamo Riga later HK Pārdaugava Rīga of the Soviet Hockey League, Liepājas Metalurgs and various German regional teams. He also was a part of Latvian national team during its resurrection after fall of Soviet Union.
Latvijas Berzs Riga is an ice hockey team in Riga, Latvia. They play in the Latvian Hockey League, and formerly played in the Pervaya Liga.
Alans Siņeļņikovs is a Latvian footballer who plays for the Latvian Higher League club FK Rīgas Futbola Skola and Latvia national football team.
Vladislavs Gabovs is Latvian football right-back who plays for the Latvia national football team.
HK Mogo are an ice hockey team based in Riga, Latvia. They are members of the Latvian Hockey Higher League and also compete for the Latvian Cup. HK Mogo was founded in 2014 by Mogo Finance and joined the Latvian Hockey Higher League in the same year. The team won both the regular season title and the playoffs during their first season and as a result qualified for the 2015–16 IIHF Continental Cup. In 2016 HK Mogo joined the newly revived Latvian Cup after defeating HK Kurbads in the final. Two seasons team played their home games out of the Inbox.lv ledus halle, since October 2016 team has its own arena - Mogo ledus halle.
The 2018–19 Latvian–Estonian Basketball League, known as OlyBet Latvian–Estonian Basketball League for sponsorship reasons, was the inaugural season of the newly formed Latvian–Estonian Basketball League, the combined top basketball division of Latvia and Estonia.
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