The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), sometimes referred to internationally as the British Elite League, is an ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey Superleague, it is the highest level of ice hockey competition in the United Kingdom.
Sport popularity in the United Kingdom plays an important role in British culture and the United Kingdom has played a significant role in the organisation and spread of sporting culture globally. In the infancy of many organised sports, the Home Nations were heavily involved in setting out the formal rules of many sports and formed among the earliest separate governing bodies, national teams and domestic league competitions. After 1922, some sports formed separate bodies for Northern Ireland, though many continued to be organised on an all-Ireland basis. For this reason, in many though not all sports, most domestic and international sport is carried on a Home Nations basis, and England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland are recognised as national entities. This is in contrast to the majority of other states that participate in international sports which field a single national team to represent the entire polity.
USA Hockey is the national ice hockey organization in the United States. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as the governing body for organized ice hockey in the United States and is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. Before June 1991, the organization was known as the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States (AHAUS).
British Fencing (BF), formerly the British Fencing Association is the national governing body (NGB) for the Olympic sport of fencing in the United Kingdom.
England Hockey is the national governing body for the sport of field hockey in England. There are separate governing bodies for the sport in the other parts of the United Kingdom.
The Slough Jets are an ice hockey team from Slough, Berkshire, England playing in the NIHL South Division 1. The team was founded in 1986 after the construction of the Slough Ice Arena in Montem Lane in Slough and joined the first division of the British League. With the help of Gary Stefan who had previously been with Streatham Redskins, the Slough Jets were formed.
The Chelmsford Chieftains are an Ice Hockey team based in Chelmsford, Essex that is currently playing in the NIHL South Division 1. Since the team was founded in 1987, the Chieftains have played their home games at the Riverside Ice and Leisure Centre.
Ice Hockey UK (IHUK) is the national governing body of ice hockey in the United Kingdom. Affiliated to the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), IHUK is the internationally recognised umbrella body in the United Kingdom. IHUK was created to replace the British Ice Hockey Association (BIHA). The organisation is responsible to the IIHF for the good order of the sport in the UK. The IHUK is charged with ensuring that all overseas players are properly cleared to play and that the rules and by-laws of the IIHF are upheld. Ice Hockey UK runs the national team, Great Britain men's national ice hockey team. Ice Hockey UK founded a youth development league in 2014, with the aim to grow future national team players.
The National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) is a set of semi-professional ice hockey leagues administered by the English Ice Hockey Association. It is currently the second tier of British ice hockey, below the Elite Ice Hockey League. Formerly called the English National Ice Hockey League (ENIHL), it was renamed in 2012 to recognise the inclusion of several teams from Scotland and Wales.
Invicta Dynamics are a women's Ice Hockey team based in Gillingham in Kent, England. Invicta currently play in Division One (South) of the British Women's Leagues.
Queen Bees IHC is a women’s ice hockey club based in Slough, Berkshire, England. They play at the Slough Ice Arena, having previously played at the John Nike Leisuresport Complex in Bracknell.
The Argentine Association of Ice and In-Line Hockey is the Argentine national governing body for ice and roller in-line hockey, responsible for national men's and women's team, the selection of hockey inline, part of the IIHF World Championships.
The Oxford University Ice Hockey Club (OUIHC) is home to the Men’s and Women’s Blues ice hockey teams of the University of Oxford, England. The Men's Blues, also known as Oxford University Blues, is one of the world's oldest ice hockey teams. Tradition places the origin of the team in 1885, when a match is said to have been played against Cambridge University Ice Hockey Club in St Moritz, Switzerland. This date is recognised by the Hockey Hall of Fame, and prior to the 1985 Ice Hockey Varsity Match, the International Ice Hockey Federation formally recognised the 1885 game as the first ice hockey match played in Europe. However, there is no contemporary evidence that this match took place, and Oxford now claims that this was a bandy match.
Sport in Cardiff is dictated by, amongst other things, its position as the capital city of Wales, meaning that national home sporting fixtures are nearly always played in the city. All of Wales' multi-sports agencies and many of the country's sports governing bodies have their headquarters in Cardiff and the city's many top-quality venues have attracted world-famous sport events, sometimes unrelated to Cardiff or to Wales.
The British Universities Ice Hockey Association was founded during the spring term 2003 by a group of hockey players from the universities of Oxford, London, Nottingham and Newcastle.
Floorball Canada is the highest governing body for the sport of floorball in Canada. Floorball Canada is a self-governed organization which is recognized by the International Floorball Federation (IFF), Government of Canada, Sport Canada, and the Canadian Olympic Committee.
Ice hockey has been played in the United Kingdom since the beginning of the twentieth century, and it was a game between English Army veterans played in Canada that is the first recorded use of a sawed-off ball, which led to the use of the puck in hockey. The Great Britain men's national ice hockey team enjoyed worldwide success through the 1920s and 1930s, achieving bronze at the 1924 Olympics, and gold twelve years later. They also won medals at the World Championships in 1935, 1937 and 1938, though never won the tournament. The national team has struggled since the Second World War, and has not finished better than twelfth in the World Championships since 1962. Ice hockey is played professionally in the United Kingdom in the Elite Ice Hockey League, a ten team league which was founded in 2003.
The North American continent is the birthplace of several organized sports, such as basketball, charrería/rodeo, gridiron football, ice hockey, jaripeo/bull riding, lacrosse, ollamaliztl, mixed martial arts (MMA), racquetball, ultimate, and volleyball. The modern versions of baseball and softball, skateboarding, snowboarding, stock car racing, and surfing also developed in North America.
The International Ice Hockey Association was a governing body for international ice hockey. It was established in 1940 when the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association wanted more control over international hockey, and was in disagreement with the definition of amateur used by the International Olympic Committee. The Amateur Hockey Association of the United States co-founded the association, with the British Ice Hockey Association joining later. The association oversaw the relationships between the National Hockey League, and leagues within the national amateur associations. W. G. Hardy served as its president, and planned for an amateur hockey World Series after World War II. The association was merged into the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace in 1947.
