“Our moto is "Dream Big," and we just need a small spark to develop Greek hockey.” 

So says Sotiris Patsalas of the Hellenic Winter Sports Federation, the national organization which oversees the development and promotion of ice hockey in Greece.

It hasn’t been easy, and it hasn’t been a straight line, but there are signs that several “sparks” in recent years will help create a healthy atmosphere in the country to promote and enhance the popularity of the sport in the coming years.

Greece joined the IIHF on April 29, 1987, and is currently an Associate Member. The country played at the Men’s World Championship ten times between 1992 and 2013 and first competed at the junior level in 1991 at the World U20 Championship, C Pool. Since 2013, however, there hasn’t been anything in the way of IIHF participation, largely because the country is without a fully-functioning arena.

But after a period of inactivity, things are starting to pick up. The senior men’s team played at the Development Cup in 2024 and again this past season, finishing fifth the first time and fourth just a few months ago. More promising, the team is composed of Greek nationals who are also young, two facts that suggest the future is looking up for the men.

As well, in 2023-24, the Hellenic Winter Sports Federation organized the first ever Greek Ice Hockey Coaching Academy. This was achieved under the IIHF’s Domestic Development Plan in cooperation with Aristotle University of Thesssaloniki.

And this past season, again under the auspices of the IIHF, Greece organized its first officiating academy alongside the IIHF’s Officiating Department.

But most important, Patsalas and the Hellenic Federation have been working to build an Olympic-size arena. “This is the main obstacle for further development,” he acknowledges. Current efforts are again relying on the IIHF, this time through the “Growing the Game Fund,” but nothing has been confirmed just yet.

The Hellenic Federation has also reached out to Greek communities in Canada and the United States, creating what they call Greek “heritage teams” which participate in the Amerigol LATAM Cup and the Challenger Series, facing teams from Lebanon, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica, among others. Impressively, Greece’s men’s heritage team won the 2025 Challenger Series. The 2025 Amerigol LATAM Cup, an independent initiative aimed at advancing and promoting the sport internationally, was held in Florida in August, and the Greek heritage teams swept the Championships in all three adult divisions, winning Men’s Division 1 and 2 and Women’s Division 1.

“Five players from the Greek National Team also participated on these heritage teams for further experience, and it was also a good opportunity to raise funds and find sponsors or investors for the development of Greek hockey inside Greece,” Patsalas explained.

Further, the Greek federation is also very much interested in developing women’s hockey, and recruiting efforts are under way to achieve greater participation.

Greece is also benefited by significant activity at the grassroots level, activity which has been created and organized by current and former national-team players and coaches. For example, the nation holds a five-team tournament that plays out over nine months (September-May), the third season beginning shortly. There is also a 3x3 tournament every spring, now in its eighth year. The most recent edition attracted some 120 players and 30 teams from seven countries. There are weekly practise sessions for the next generation of young players who hope to play for the senior national team some day. And, there are camps and training sessions in Czechia and Bulgaria during the season.

“The grassroots activities in Greece are led by former Greek national team coaches and players, notably Panagiotis Efkarpidis, Spiros Ploutsis, Murel Dumitrache, and Dimitris Kalyvas,” said John Koufis, general manager of the Greek men’s national team. “They have been instrumental in keeping the sport alive and providing the fundamental training for players of the national team. These activities are truly rooted in the adage, “for the love of the game,” and young players in Greece are the beneficiaries.”

It all takes time, but right now Greece seems more committed than ever to bringing hockey back to life and becoming more and more active in the world of international hockey.