ANGUS Lang came to Sofia from Toronto in the summer of 2003 for a short business trip. He has been here ever since.

Lang originally came to Bulgaria with fellow Canadian Kevin Gaston to work with Gaston's textile business. Although Gaston left Sofia in the autumn of 2003 to pursue a career in commercial real estate back in Canada, Lang remained in Sofia.

Lang began playing hockey at the age of five, and he has brought his passion for the game to Bulgaria. In the autumn of 2003, Lang was invited to play with CSKA Elite, an independent team no longer in operation. It was his experience with this team that sparked his interest in encouraging the further development of hockey in Bulgaria. While he had fun playing with CSKA Elite, the poor management of the team, broken promises to the players, and mismanagement of funds inspired Lang to try to improve the conditions for the players. It became his mission to both promote the sport and make a business out of it.

At one time, Lang asserted, ice hockey was the number two athletic programme in the country. Bulgaria even fielded an Olympic ice hockey team. The sport was so closely tied with the former regime, however, that when communism collapsed, so did the Bulgarian ice hockey program. Today, Bulgaria has strong club brand names, facilities, and well-trained players. However, Lang believes that the expectation to duplicate the past gets in the way of the development and economics of the sport.

In 2004, Lang partnered with the CSKA football club to begin the process of developing ice hockey. He would like to see Bulgaria develop a senior professional league. Eventually Lang hopes to develop a stronger national team and an entire youth programme. There are many obstacles to the realisation of these goals, but in time Lang is confident that ice hockey can reclaim a place in Bulgarian athletics.

According to Lang, one major problem in developing athletics in Bulgaria is the lack of "recreational sports," in the Western conception of the term. No matter what age, everyone who plays a sport here is technically a professional athlete because he or she is financially compensated. This poses a problem because it creates a demand by the athlete that cannot be matched by the current economic and political structure of sports in Bulgaria.

Another problem lies in the misconception of sponsorship. In Bulgaria, Lang believes, sponsorship is frequently viewed as philanthropy. He hopes that in time sponsorship will be seen as an effective means of advertisement. Today there are only about 200 businesses who sponsor everything in the country. If the number of businesses involved in sponsorship increases, both athletics and businesses will benefit.

The most crucial aspect of developing an ice hockey programme in Bulgaria is organisation. "Success comes from organisation, not just money," Lang said. "I can't say enough about how this country has all the opportunities in the world if they make efforts to improve organisation."

After a long initial process, Lang has built a relationship with the head of the Bulgarian ice hockey federation and with the presidents of clubs like Slavia and Levski. He also has contacts at the International Ice Hockey Federation, the NHL, and with some of the best publicists in the world who specialise in athletics. He believes it is a matter of organising and tightening these contacts in order to make more significant progress in the development of a professional Bulgarian ice hockey league.

Lang's interests are not confined to ice hockey, however. He believes that by developing a professional hockey league, other sports will be encouraged to develop leagues of their own. "I would love to set an example for sports here," Lang said, "since football is so dominant and well-financed. I would love to see winter sports develop and aid Bulgaria in its bid for the 2014 winter Olympics."

Although he is busy with hockey development, Lang has also taken time to enjoy life in Bulgaria. "I love it here," Lang said. "I have made tons of great friends and have an incredible girlfriend." Despite still owning a condo back in Toronto, Sofia now feels like home to Lang.

Most weekends, Lang can be found spending time in a village near Borovets. He believes those are vital experiences in his understanding of Bulgaria and its culture. "I get to see a completely different life than the one I'm used to back home in Toronto," Lang said. The more integrated into Bulgarian life Lang becomes, the more effective he hopes to be in promoting Bulgarian ice hockey.

Anyone interested in becoming involved with ice hockey, recreational skating, or winter sports in general, can contact Angus Lang at hockey@cska.bg or check out his website at www.cska.bg/hockey.