What is the fondest memory of your hockey career so far?
I have a couple - scoring against Morocco in the Arab cup, and playing in the English National League for the team that I first went to watch when I was 12.
Could you give us three words that your teammates would use to describe you as a player?
Aggressive, Lazy, Late. LOL
Ice hockey doesn’t tend to get much media coverage outside of ‘winter sport’ nations – tell us what we’re missing!
It’s a very fast and physical sport, anyone who likes contact sports would surely like ice hockey. The rules aren’t overly technical either, I think someone could come down to a game and get the gist of things pretty quickly.
Your Wikipedia page labels you ‘the creator of Algerian Ice Hockey’. How exactly did you go about raising the profile of the sport in Algeria? And has it been a success?
I’m the creator of Algerian ice hockey only in the sense I took it upon myself to gather all the Algerian players from around the world and bring them together in one organization. I’m passionate about ice hockey and Algeria so it was only natural for me to put work into the creation of an Algerian ice hockey organization. There is still a long long way to go as far as putting the sport in Algeria and growing it, I think it will take someone else to do that.
We’ve heard about your community work in London promoting ice hockey, how has it gone down so far? Do you think using sport in this way can benefit education?
I just try to get the message across that you can come from a low income background or areas where there’s a lot of trouble and not many opportunities, but if you want something badly enough you can still achieve it.
Away from the sporting world, what occupies your time when you’re not out on the ice?
I like to go to the gym. I love food, I like to cook and eat at different restaurants. I probably spend a bit too much time on my laptop and iphone as well.
Finally, it’s hard not to compare your pioneering of Algerian Ice Hockey to the well known story of the Jamaican Bobsled team. Their film was entitled ‘Cool Runnings’, if a film was made about your story, what would it be called and why?
Yes we get compared to the Jamaican bobsled team all the time, they actually have an ice hockey team now as well, but it’s a tricky one. Maybe Battle of Algiers Part II. Because sometimes it’s like a battle on the ice, and the rest of the time we pretty much battle the government for support.
Images; Karim Kerbouche
Follow Karim on twitter @KarimKerbouche
39