Warren County is helping to bring international hockey to Egypt.

Matt Gernold, a Warren County Adult Probation offier, joined the Friendship League because it sounded like a good way to use his interest in hockey for good.

“The Friendship League is a sports tourism organization that uses sport to foster cross-cultural engagement between otherwise distant communities,” Gernold said.

It’s not just hockey. But, in Gernold’s case, “They identify organizations in unusual destinations that are trying to grow the game of hockey,” he said. “They’ve gone to North Korea, Turkmenistan, Kenya.”

Photo submitted to Times Observer Friendship League Goaltender Matt Gernold (right), a Warren County Adult Probation officer, poses for a post-game photo with the goalie from the Egyptian team at the first ever international ice hockey tournament in Egypt last month.

Gernold’s team, including members from Japan, Sweden, Canada, and the United States, went to Cairo, Egypt, in October.

“We participated in the first ever international ice hockey tournament in Egyptian history,” Gernold said.

The team’s members represented a variety of skill levels. Gernold, a goaltender, played collegiate hockey at Mercyhurst University for three years. “I still play in the adult hockey league in Jamestown,” he said.

It was the perfect opportunity.

“Egypt has always been on the top of the bucket list,” he said. “I couldn’t turn down the opportunity.”

Photo submitted to Times Observer Participants, including Matt Gernold of Warren County (kneeling, in gray), in the first ever international ice hockey tournament in Egypt pose for a group photo in front of the Pyramids of Giza.

The Friendship League was one of six teams in the tournament. There were teams from Detroit – the Duster Line, and Germany. One team was made up of Egyptians. The other two were comprised of players who were of Egyptian heritage.

“It was a friendly tournament to show people in Egypt what hockey is about,” he said. The guys on the ice knew what they were doing. “The level of play was a lot higher than I expected.”

Gernold didn’t have as much free time as some of the other players. He was the only goalie on his team. “The Detroit team and the German team didn’t bring a goalie,” he said. They asked Gernold to mind the net for them when his team wasn’t on the ice.

Bringing hockey to a place that doesn’t have it meant improvising the facility.

“They have an ice rink in Genena Mall – literally in the middle of a mall,” Gernold said. “Our locker room was in a storage room. When we got dressed, we had to walk probably 50 yards through the mall.”

“You get some strange looks walking through the mall in full goalie gear,” he said.

The mall was not a temperature-regulated arena. The ice conditions were not ideal. “In the mall it was about 80 degrees,” Gernold said. “That was rough. The ice started out rough and it was pretty flooded at the end.”

The rink was not intended for hockey. The ice was about half as long and half as wide as a regulation hockey rink.

They made do. “It was three-on-three – three skaters and a goalie,” he said.

“We brought and donated regulation goals,” he said. That was another part of the mission.

“We were all asked to bring old equipment to donate, to help build the sport,” Gernold said. “They definitely need it more than I do.”

The Friendship League team and the German team each played semifinal games against the Egyptian heritage teams. Gernold was in net for both, but didn’t get to the all-Egyptian heritage finals.

Still, he was a medalist. “Thanks to the Egyptian Ministry, all the participants came home with solid silver medals.”

Competition was not the primary goal. “One of the days we had kids from an orphanage come to our game,” Gernold said. “We took them out of the ice and were able to teach them how to skate.”

The players did not feel any danger, he said. “Everyone that we came across was nice, hospitable, super friendly.”

The players were famous enough to justify an armed escort, though. “We ended up getting press coverage from many countries,” Gernold said.

During down times, the players went out and saw the sights. “We went to the Church of St. Simon. We went on the dinner cruise down the Nile. We saw the Pyramids of Giza and Saqqara. We saw the Ancient Civilizations Museum. We went camping in the White Desert. The ancient mosques were beautiful. I rode a camel through the streets of Giza.”

Some of the players chose add-on experiences. “They had an extension – Mt. Sinai, Dahab, the Blue Hole,” he said. “A couple of people went skydiving over the pyramids.”

He recommends the Friendship League for those interested in travel, sports, and building cross-cultural engagement. “They’re an awesome group to go with,” Gernold said. “Highly recommend.”

“It was definitely a humbling experience to be able to go over there and interact with people and help build the sport,” he said.

He plans to go again, but not at the next opportunity. That is in April with Ecuador as the destination.

But he is excited about the one after that. “Mongolia in October… definitely going to that.”