Canton, NY – SUNY Canton's Alma Ameigeiras became the first Argentine ice hockey player from her home country to play ice hockey at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) level. The freshman from Buenos Aires, Argentina accomplished the feat when she suited up for the Roos NCAA Division III women's ice hockey team in a 1-1 tie against No. 3/2 nationally-ranked Nazareth University on October 30, 2026.
 
Ameigeiras grew up in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, where the most popular sport is soccer.
 
"In Argentina, in every home there's a soccer ball," Ameigeiras said. "We would always play soccer during school breaks."
 
When she was 10 years old Ameigeiras first discovered the sport of inline hockey. Inline hockey, also known as roller hockey, is a fast-paced team sport played on a hard, smooth surface – such as concrete or asphalt – where players use inline skates instead of ice skates to shoot a puck or ball into an opponent's net.
 
"I had moved to a new neighborhood with my dad and while searching for sports to do around the area we found roller hockey," Ameigeiras said. "I already knew how to roller blade, so I tried it, and immediately fell in love with it."
 
As she continued to grow up, she participated in more tournaments, hockey trips and started to play with higher divisions which led her to the sport of ice hockey.
 
"Once a year I would go to a hockey camp in the southeast part of Argentina, in Ushuaia, where we have our only big size ice rink in the country, and it's outdoors. I loved those two weeks of training on the ice."
 
Eventually she was called up to play for her national U16 team where they traveled to play in the Amerigol Latam Cup in Florida. The team would need to quickly adjust from inline to the ice.
 
"We would practice on roller blades and get to the tournament four days before to get used to the ice and then come back to Argentina and keep practicing inline," Ameigeiras said.
 
Through her experiences with her national team her love for the sport of ice hockey continued to grow.
 
"I started to get more passionate about hockey and wanted to see how far I could go if I always practiced on ice as much as I did inline hockey," she said. "I looked up opportunities and decided to go by myself to a college hockey showcase camp in Fort Myers, Florida in 2024."
 
In Fort Myers Ameigeiras met Harry Rosenholtz, the camp organizer, and he mentioned a new hockey academy he was building in British Columbia, Canada called Purcell Hockey Academy.
 
 
"After a lot of thinking with my family, I decided to go in January 2025 to Purcell Hockey Academy," she said. "That was my first ever ice hockey season, and I loved it so much and knew there were still things I needed to learn and get better at. I decided to take a gap year and went back for the 2025-2026 season."
 
Moving on her own from the Southern Hemisphere in Buenos Aires to the Northern Hemisphere in British Columbia away from her family and friends to a new culture and climate was a big adjustment. She arrived in the middle of the season when much of the team was already acclimated.
 
"Being away from home was hard at the beginning, especially because I got there in the middle of the season where everyone already knew each other and the culture shock. Speaking in another language that is not my mother tongue, cultural differences and even the weather there is much different than in Buenos Aires where it doesn't get very cold, were all factors that really challenged me. I was very fortunate to be staying with a billet family that always made me feel comfortable since I first got there and I love them. I am still in touch with them today."
 
While at Purcell, coaches and staff members helped her and other players get involved with the recruiting process and learn how it works. For Ameigeiras, everything was new to her as they didn't have anything like this back home in Argentina.
 
"My coaches really helped me," she said. "Playing tournaments and games also allowed me to have film to show, which I didn't have much before, other than the tournament I would play once a year on ice or all inline hockey film."
 
SUNY Canton Women's Ice Hockey Head Coach Kalie Hart reached out to Ameigeiras and after a call the two really began to connect. Ameigeiras would later play in a tournament with Purcell Hockey Academy in Morrisville, NY and during that trip she was able to connect with Coach Hart and visit SUNY Canton's campus.
 
"Her (Coach Hart's) energy and positive attitude, the way she talked about the program and how she cared about it, made me think this is the kind of place and environment I want to be in," Ameigeiras said. "After that (the tour and campus visit), I knew SUNY Canton was the place for me."
 
"Throughout the recruiting process, Alma stood out for who she is as a person and a student, along with her ability on the ice," Hart said. "Getting to know her made us excited about what she could bring to our team and campus community. We look for players who will represent our program well in every area, and Alma is a great example of that."


 
Ameigeiras and the Roos just got their season underway the end of October and while she is in the thick of hockey practices, adjusting to the American culture and taking classes and pursuing a degree in Business Administration she is also taking time to reflect. Ameigeiras is extremely proud to be a trailblazer in the sport of ice hockey and hopes to make a difference for young Argentinian kids back home.
 
"For me, it means that dream came true. It's something that was only something I could dream about when I was younger and now, I get the chance to live it," she said. "I hope for this to open the doors to other kids from Argentina that also want to get to play at this level. Sometimes I don't realize what this actually means for the hockey development back home, until I go back during holidays and my coaches from home tell me that this (playing college hockey) was their dream growing up. How proud they are of me and how far I've got."
 
Ameigeiras said she has kids contact her from home through social media asking what she did to get here and how they wish to accomplish the same someday.
 
"I never planned for me to serve as an inspiration to others, but if I can help create new opportunities for the future generations, I would love to do so."
   

Discover SUNY Canton, where innovation meets opportunity. The college's career-focused educational programs emphasize hands-on and applied learning opportunities in digital design, engineering technology, health, information technology, management, public service, and veterinary technology. Faculty members bring real-world experience and exceptional academic expertise to the classroom. As a leader in online education, SUNY Canton offers unmatched flexibility with hundreds of courses and 23 comprehensive degree programs offered completely online. The SUNY Canton Kangaroos compete at the NCAA Division III level and are members of the SUNYAC. In addition to its 15 traditional teams, SUNY Canton offers coed varsity esports and cheerleading.