Ice Hockey Becomes Big Hit in Sweltering Oman

MUSCAT, Oman — The rivalry between the Wadi Bashers and the Jebel Icers is the best in the Jebel Blades League. It’s the only rivalry in the league.

But it’s not all that easy putting together an ice hockey league on the southeastern tip of the Arabian peninsula, where the temperature hovers around 115 degrees.

But that is exactly what John Dorr has done.

Never mind that his league only had two teams. After all, Oman only has one rink.

Until a few months ago few Omanis had seen, let alone played, ice hockey.

Enter John Dorr, the 42-year-old fisheries research scientist from Ann Arbor, Mich., who carries the nickname “Jaws” because of his line of work.

Hundreds of Omanis gather in the cool of the Al-Khuwair Ice Center rinkside to watch the Wadi Bashers do battle with the Jebel Icers.

“Jebel” is Arabic for mountain, of which there are plenty in Oman. “Wadi” means gulch.

“I wanted to find a way to get to know the Omanis and at the same time try and promote relations between the U.S. and Oman,” Dorr said.

“It’s very difficult to set up social relationships with them in the stiff, rather formal environment of the office or an official reception. It doesn’t come easily or comfortably. Sport is an ideal vehicle,” he said.

Dorr, who arrived in Oman 21 months ago, decided to teach Omanis how to play by starting a hockey club with American, Canadian, West German and Finnish enthusiasts in Muscat.

“The response was amazing,” said Dorr, a former Michigan amateur league player with 10 years’ experience who skippers the Icers from the goal.

“It’s a very foreign thing, but seeing expatriates play was proof it was fun. Word spread fast and Omanis came along, saying they wanted to have a try,” he explained.

Dorr, who is on a three-year contract with the Omani government’s Marine Science and Fisheries Center to train Omani scientists, noted: “People went wild the first time they saw an Omani out there going for the goal.

“The biggest problem is that they’re jumping in right at the beginning into what is going to be quite a competitive league by the time more teams join in the fall.

“They’re learning how to skate at the same time as learning the game. But they’re doing incredibly well,” he said.

Dorr now has two Omani regulars in his Icers line-up, forwards Saleh Abdullah, 27, and Rashid Mohammed, 25, who turn up in their traditional long white dishdasha robes.

But they don shirts and tracksuit bottoms, pads and skates to glide into the fray.

The ice center’s skating instructor, Mike Fernandes from Goa, India, who first saw ice himself in neighboring Dubai only seven years ago, reckons it would cost $400 to outfit a players -- that is if clothing and equipment was available in Oman.

He and Dorr hope local companies will help out and bring them from the United States or Europe.

“Equipment is our main limitation at present. We need sticks, skates, shin and elbow pads, helmets, you name it,” Dorr said.

Wadi Bashers forward Erny Cowan of Canada brought 11 sticks in with him after he heard there was a rink in Oman.

The Omani version of the game has been scaled down to fit the Al-Khuwair rink, which is about one-third the size of a professional surface.

Instead of the rough-and-tumble style of professional hockey, the teams play five-a-side on modified bump-and-skate rules to accommodate the player’s wide range of abilities.

They also play for two 30-minute periods instead of the usual three 20-minute periods.

Fernandes is confident the game has a future in Oman.

“Some people simply enjoy watching non-stop action while others have found that they can learn to play it in a surprisingly short time,” he said.