New sledge hockey sleds on ice

Parasport P.E.I. has 10 new sleds available to borrow and learn about sport

CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – Jeel Patel’s recently got on the ice for the first time when he hopped in a sled for his gym class at Colonel Gray High School. Two days later he was showing off a new skill: stopping.

Anyone who has learned to skate knows it’s tricky, and Patel has the basics in two short lessons.

Patel got his chance on ice because ParaSport P.E.I. just got 10 new sleds and they are available to borrow.

Tracy Stevenson is glad the sleds are so popular. She’s the executive director for ParaSport P.E.I., which supports athletes with physical disabilities.

Five of the new sleds are sized for youth 100 pounds and under. ParaSport would love to see a youth sledge hockey league in the future. So on Dec. 9, the Sherwood Parkdale Skating Club is training CanSkate coaches to teach sledge-skating basics.

After his first try on ice, Patel said he’d join a team if he had the opportunity. He might be in luck. The P.E.I. IceBreakers takes players.

“We have an injured list, but we don’t have a disabled list,” said Eric Payne, one of the IceBreakers players.

Video is temporarily unavailable.

He only has one leg, but being disabled isn’t a requirement to play sledge hockey. Able-bodied players, women and men are all welcome in the Maritime league.

Cheryl Tanton said it’s easy to get the students interested in trying the sleds because it’s new to everyone – there are no experts.

“Well, Eric is the expert,” she said.

“It’s hockey,” said Payne. “For anybody who has the ability to play the stand-up game, you have the ability to take a different look at the same game.”

Tanton said other IceBreakers feel the same.

“Same team aspect, everyone helps out everyone else.”

Interest in sledge hockey is growing on P.E.I. after the World Sledge Hockey Challenge came to Charlottetown in 2008 for the first time. The number of students went from around 200 in 2008 to the thousands in 2009.

The World Sledge Hockey Challenge is coming back to the MacLauchlan Arena from Dec 3-9 and the Colonel Gray students will be there to watch.

Need to know

A look at the equipment needed to play sledge hockey:

Bucket – where the player sits.

Blade system – attaches under the bucket.

Nose – where the players’ legs rest.

Foot straps – attach the player’s feet to the nose.

Sticks –used for moving the sled and the puck around on the ice.

Picks – attach to end of stocks to grip ice.

Also: helmet and cage, gloves, shoulder pads, elbow pads, shin pads, hockey pants and neck guard.

Full set costs around $825.

Programs offered