World Para Ice Hockey seeking bids for five events in 2023 and 2024

Within the past six years, World Para Ice Hockey has seen great expansion, adding a C-Pool World Championships, a first-ever sanctioned Women’s World Challenge and the addition of new men’s teams in the European and Pan Pacific regions.

With that comes a demand for more events, and therefore more hosts for tournaments. Hosting a World Para Ice Hockey event provides major benefits to organisers and local communities, including but not limited to new awareness of Para ice hockey and Para sports, an opportunity to leverage potential sponsors in the community, media and marketing attention for the city, and a chance to be part of a worldwide movement to creating last change for people with an impairment. 

The Local Organising Committees (LOCs) for the events will be expected to provide everything from facilities, transportation, accommodation and catering to technology, medical services, sponsorship, marketing and broadcasting.

Below is a roundup of future tournaments that World Para Ice Hockey is seeking bids for from potential host cities.

2023 Para Ice Hockey Women’s World Challenge

Following on from the inaugural Women’s World Challenge this year in Green Bay, a five-team tournament featuring national women’s teams and/or combined teams would take place in October or November of 2023. The first-ever edition of the event, presented by Citi, delivered some memorable and historic moments, and World Para Ice Hockey is now looking to build off that with another edition of the event. This will help create a stronger pathway toward the ultimate goal of creating a women’s World Championships and adding a women’s tournament to the Paralympic Winter Games. The deadline for interest organisers to submit a bid interest form is 30 November 2022.

2023 World Para Ice Hockey Championships B-Pool

Six teams  — those ranked numbers 9-14 in the world — will compete in September or October of 2023, with the top two finishers earning themselves a spot in the next year’s A-Pool.  This will serve as a crucial tournament for many teams looking to qualify for the Milano-Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games. The event has been held eight times previously since it began in 2008, with Ostersund, Sweden hosting the most recent edition in 2021. The deadline for interest organisers to submit a bid interest form is 30 November 2022.

2024 Para Ice Hockey European Championships

For the first time since 2016, World Para Ice Hockey is aiming to put together a European Championships in March of April 2024 ahead of the next Paralympic Winter Games taking place in Italy. This tournament would include eight national teams from Europe in a round-robin format followed by a medal round. The event has been held four times previously, with Germany, Norway, Italy and Russia having taken the gold. The deadline for interest organisers to submit a bid interest form is 27 January 2022.

2024 Para Ice Hockey Pan Pacific Championships 

The lone Pan Pacific Championships took place in Buffalo, New York in the USA in 2016, and now World Para Ice Hockey is hoping to bring back the event with eight national teams from North America and Asia. The event would ideally take place in April or May of 2024. The deadline for interest organisers to submit a bid interest form is 27 January 2022.

2024 Para Ice Hockey Women’s World Challenge 

Following on from the inaugural Women’s World Challenge this year in Green Bay and another edition of the event in 2023, a six-team tournament featuring national women’s teams and/or combined teams would take place in October or November of 2024. The first-ever edition of the event, presented by Citi, delivered some memorable and historic moments, and World Para Ice Hockey is now looking to build off that with another edition of the event. This will help create a stronger pathway toward the ultimate goal of creating a women’s World Championships and adding a women’s tournament to the Paralympic Winter Games. The deadline for interest organisers to submit a bid interest form is 27 January 2023.

More information and the Bid Interest Forms can be found here.