林鋒

Imagine this scene. There are a dozen people covered from head to toe in thick padding（襯墊）. They are holding sticks in their hands and skating around on ice. Two of them are defending（守衛(wèi)）their nets， but the rest are chasing（追逐）a speedy black dot（點(diǎn)）. It is an ice hockey match！

Ice hockey is thought to have come from stick-and-ball games played in the British Isles long ago. It was later introduced to North America and became particularly popular in Canada， becoming the country’s official national winter sport. According to the International Ice Hockey Federation， Canada has the most ice hockey players with over 620，000 players registered（注冊(cè)）.

In China， ice hockey is becoming more and more popular. In 2006， Ying Da， a famous Chinese director（導(dǎo)演）， founded the Tiger Cub Ice Hockey Club with his friends. One year later， he helped launch（成立）the first Beijing Youth Hockey League（北京青少年冰球聯(lián)賽）to promote（推廣）the sport.

The league started with just four teams and 100 players， but now it has nearly 100 teams with over 2，000 players！ “Ice hockey is not a sport of giants（高大的人）， but a sport of ordinary people，” Ying Da told Ta Kung Pao（大公報(bào)）.

Ying Da’s son， Ying Rudi， has fallen in love with the winter sport. Ying Da said that ice hockey turned Rudi into a man， making him braver and stronger.

Ice hockey helps children learn the importance of good sportsmanship（體育精神）and how to work in a team. It is certainly a sport that combines（結(jié)合）speed， strength and strategy（戰(zhàn)略）. But most importantly， it requires teamwork. So， grab some of your friends and go hit the ice！