For the Beijing Snow Leopards hockey team, a trip to Colorado Springs is about as good as it gets.

The club team made up of boys age 10-12 has been in town this weekend to compete in the annual Presidents Day Tournament. The 11-member squad is the first team from China and just the third team from outside North America to participate in the event.

For many of the players, this is their first visit to the United States, and they are relishing the chance to compete against high-level opposition.

“Everybody feels really good, and it’s really fun to come to Colorado Springs,” Snow Leopards captain Qizhang Zhu said through teammate Roy Shaver. “The weather is really good and is much better than Beijing.

Everyone from the other teams have been really friendly, and it’s just been really good.”

The tournament features more than 1,500 players on 88 teams, but none have traveled farther than the Snow Leopards, who arrived in town late Thursday after a nearly 6,500-mile journey. The trip took a toll on the team, which dropped its first game of the tournament 6-1 to the Junior Tigers on Friday at Sertich Ice Center.

“The Tigers are a really good team, and they had really good strategy and teamwork,” Snow Leopards coach Nai Feng Yao said through team manager Emily Wu. “Our team flew 20 hours from Beijing and arrived at 12 o’clock last night, so most of the kids slept only a couple of hours. Most of our kids haven’t had the chance to play overseas much and this was their first time playing against a North American team, so they got really nervous.”

The Snow Leopards, who were founded in 2008, have also traveled to Ottawa and Seoul, South Korea, to compete in tournaments and are thrilled to be in Colorado Springs. Their trip included a visit to USA Hockey headquarters on Friday afternoon and an excursion to Denver to see the Colorado Avalanche’s game against the Dallas Stars on Saturday night.

The team had a 4-4 tie and 1-0 defeat Saturday.

The trip is as much about the overall journey and bonding through competition as it is about wins and losses.

“It’s mostly about the experience and learning how other teams play, but we are trying our best and we are trying to win,” said the Snow Leopards’ Shaver, 11.

Fans and players exchanged team pins after Friday’s game, and the play and sportsmanship demonstrated by the Snow Leopards impressed members of the Junior Tigers.

“It was just a great experience to play someone from out of the country and halfway around the world,” said the Tigers’ Luke Doyle, 12, who had an assist. “They were a very classy and polite team, and it was fun.”

Hockey is exploding in popularity in Beijing, and with the city among the finalists to host the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, the sport’s appeal is expected to continue to grow.

“Our past overseas experiences have been tremendous team-building and bonding exercises and have been the springboard for our Beijing hockey season,” Wu said. “The boys are tremendously excited for the trip, as well as to be able to compete with the best teams from North America.”

Coach Nai Feng Yao and some of the Bejing Snow Leopards players watch from the bench as the under-12 team plays Colorado Springs’ Jr. Tigers in a Pee Wee AA game at Sertich Ice Arena Friday, Feb. 13, 2015, during the Presidents Day Youth Hockey Tournament in Colorado Springs. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock)

CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE