Congratulations to 18 year-old defenceman Yaqub Barnwell who has been selected to play for the first ever competitive national ice hockey team of Pakistan in the 2025 Dream Nations Cup in New Jersey.
This is a proud moment for the Fire Family as Yaqub will fly out this week to join his teammates in the United States and compete in the Dream Nations Cup, presented by CCM - An invitational international ice hockey tournament that celebrates and emphasizes the emergence of the sport in non-traditional hockey markets.
The tournament will take place at the American Dream centre, just 4 miles outside of New York City, from 28th May to 1st June, with Yaqub and Team Pakistan battling it out for the first time with the other nations in Division 2 – Brazil, Mexico and the Caribbean.
You can read more about the origins of the Team Pakistan ice hockey program here.
A message from Head Coach Elis Sheppard on behalf of the club:
Congratulations and good luck to Yaqub. His hard work has paid off and wishing him every success in the upcoming tournament. It is always an honour to represent a nation.”
Everyone at the Cardiff Fire would like to wish Yaqub all the best in this historic moment in his career and good luck in his first tournament of many for Team Pakistan.
All of the games below will be live streamed and you can watch Yaqub in action for free at dreamnationscup.com/live.
Photos by James Assinder & Dream Nations Cup
