China’s women’s ice hockey team is coming to Canada in an attempt to improve its puck power for the upcoming world championship due to be held in April in Harbin.

 
China coach Zhang Zhinan said that his team will leave for Canada after the 11th National Winter Games, which will end on Jan. 28.  The national team had trained in Canada for more than a month last October, and played almost 30 matches with many strong teams there.
“The result of training abroad is quite good,” said Zhang.

“There are not enough professional teams in China, so it’s quite necessary for the national team to play games abroad.”

The Chinese women’s team finished sixth in the last World Championship. “We were very lucky last time,” said Zhang.

The Harbin worlds is also an Olympic trial, so we will try our best to prepare,” added Zhang.
“To be frank, Chinese women’s ice hockey team is shrinking,” said Yu Tiande, director of the ice hockey department of General Administration of Sport. “I have no idea how long the team can persist.”

“There are fewer people willing to take ice hockey as their career, so professional players are less and less,” said Yu. “Chinese women’s ice hockey almost has no reserve force.”
At present, the most important thing for the national team is to get the entrance of 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, or their situation will be quite dangerous. “As for now, if we cannot qualify for the Olympics, most of the players will choose to leave.” Yu said.

“And there may be no women’s ice hockey team in China.” However, to play the Vancouver Winter Games is no easy. “We’d better make the first six in the World Championships this April in Harbin, which also serves as an Olympic trial, or it will be very thorny,” Yu said.

One reason of the unpopularization of ice hockey in China might be its high cost. A normal equipment for ice hockey costs almost 10,000 yuan (about 1,400 U.S. dollars), and a goalkeeper’s gear is even more expensive, which costs about 30,000RMB (about 4,000 dollars).

“Most families cannot afford the high expense,” Yu said.  As to Yu, the education system in China, the poor treatment for the ice hockey players, and the awkward situation after retirement all lead to the crisis.

“Most parents want their children to study hard and find a decent job rather than be professional athletes in such an unpopular sport.” Yu explained. “Not to mention the poor treatment. Only seven or eight players in the national team have salaries paid by their clubs.”