How a Disney movie paved the way for Philippine Hockey

MANILA, Philippines – Playing hockey in a tropical country like the Philippines may come as a surprise to a lot of people.

The fact that we have a hockey league and a national team? Borderline shocking.

But perhaps the most interesting story about Philippine hockey is how it all started.

Nobody would've guessed that a Disney movie would spark Filipino interest in the winter sport.

"Basically, it started off with the Mighty Ducks movie," Francois Gautier, Executive Vice President of Hockey Philippines, told Philstar.com.

The Mighty Ducks is a sports comedy-drama film about a youth league hockey team that was released in 1992.

Barely a year after the film's release, Gautier and his fellow pioneers began planting the roots of the Philippine hockey that we know today.

The Philippine Ice Hockey Team

"That was really the only access to the sport that we had. Back then, cable was just starting and Ice Hockey was not really a sport here in the Philippines," he said.

Decades after its inception, Philippine hockey has come a long way.

Institutionalized with its own federation and recognition from the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee, hockey is here to stay.

Watch Philstar.com's special feature on Philippine Hockey here: