The message reads, in part:
“The Night Hockey League is a vivid example of a successful mass sports project that has stood the test of time, proven its worth, and earned great popularity and influence.
This fifth anniversary is a good time to pursue promising new ideas for developing the league and attracting new teams and fans. Expanding the age limits for players and including in the festival teams from Crimea and Sevastopol are both important initiatives in this respect. I am sure that all of this will help to boost interest in hockey and promote the values of fitness and a healthy lifestyle in our country.”
The Night Hockey League is an amateur sports organisation that aims to popularise ice hockey and organises national amateur competitions.
The League holds an amateur teams’ national ice hockey festival every year. Starting in 2013, it has taken place in Sochi, at the ice hockey facilities built for the Sochi Olympics.
The festival’s winner receives a grant from the Russian Sports Ministry to build an ice hockey stadium in the winning team’s home region.