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For the past nine years, William Douglas has been writing a hockey color blog. Douglas joined NHL.com in March 2019 and writes about people of color in the sport. Today, he introduced the efforts of the Los Angeles Kings to develop hockey in Mexico.

When the Los Angeles Kings held a youth hockey training camp in Mexico City from November 12th to 14th, Francisco X. Rivera had an idea: finally.

Since they held their first youth hockey training camp there in October 2018, the Little Mexico City Kings training camp marked the Kings' return to the Mexican capital. 

Since the first visit, logistical issues and the subsequent coronavirus pandemic have forced the Kings to shelve their Mexico plans three times.

"We have waited so long, but we finally did it," said Rivera, the Spanish game announcer, team consultant and independent NHL.com/es correspondent for the Kings. "For me, it is so important to develop or help develop games in my home country."

Los Angeles made up for lost time with former Kings forwards Derek Armstrong and Brad Smith, while Rivera allowed nearly 45 players aged 5-16 to play at the Centro Comercial Santa Fe skating rink in Mexico City.

In the 1993-03 season, team ambassador Smith played 88 games for the Kings, Florida Panthers, New York Rangers, Nashville Predators and Ottawa Senators, scoring 28 points (15 goals, 13 assists) . Armstrong, the Kings Community and Hockey Development Director, scored 221 points (72 goals, 149 assists) in 477 games for the New York Islanders, Rangers, Kings and St. Louis Blues. 

"The kids are great, but they are willing to learn and their enthusiasm for being truly iced," Smith said. "At this point, their level of talent will be similar to the ability of low-end competition or high-end family leagues. You can see that a certain percentage of children are on the ice more than others, and they're going further."

The Kings said they hope to narrow this gap through their grassroots efforts in Mexico. Last year, they extended the Jr. Kings program to Mexico City to keep players in touch with the Kings coach through Zoom.

The 18 members of the Little Mexico City Kings Program participated in the Kings Summer Camp at the Kings Training Ground in El Segundo, California in August. They also met with Marcela Celorio, Consul General of Mexico in Los Angeles.

The Kings are not the only team trying to expand hockey in Mexico and increase the base of Hispanic fans on both sides of the border.

The Dallas Stars held a learning game clinic in Mexico City in February and March 2019 and plans to return before the pandemic. 

On October 3, the Stars and the Arizona Coyote participated in the 2020 Kraft Hockey US Preseason in El Paso, Texas. This city is located on the Texas border and has a large Spanish Descent community. 

Officials of each team stated that they hope the game at the El Paso County Stadium Activity Center will prompt the NHL to play a game in Mexico in the future.

"I have publicly stated that we want to be a Mexican team," Stars CEO Brad Alberts said in September. 

Rivera said that he hopes the Kings can achieve this title through their continued efforts.

"We hope this will be a turning point in Mexico's hockey sport, where people will be more closely connected with the game there," he said of the Kings training camp. "They will say,'Oh, the NHL team wants to come to Mexico to help us develop the game.' For us, this will be for the coach to come to the United States and receive training. This will be a grassroots effort, but it also requires consistency. effort."

The chairman of the Kings team Luc Robitaille said that their presence in Mexico reflects the country's passion for the game and love for the team. 

"We think this is important because we like hockey games, so we have the opportunity to play hockey there and share our passion for the game with them," Robitaille said. "At the same time, we know that the Los Angeles Kings are very popular there, so I think this is one of the situations we can't give up." 

Mexico has a history of hockey. It has been a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation since 1985, with more than 3,000 registered players and 18 indoor skating rinks.

The country’s women’s national team is ranked 26th in the International Hockey Federation, and the men’s team is ranked 37th internationally.

Luisa Wilson won the gold medal in a 3-on-3 hockey match at the 2020 Lausanne Youth Winter Olympics in Switzerland, becoming the first Mexican player to win a medal in the Winter Olympics.

Claudia Tellez became the first Mexican-born player to enter the Canadian Women's Hockey League roster in 2016 as a substitute for Calgary. 

Armstrong said that he can't wait to return to Mexico City to help inherit the inheritance.

"Of course, I would be happy to have a four-day, one-week camp there," Armstrong said. "It's a very cool experience. Hockey has evolved to the present... I am very happy to be a part of it."

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