World's largest gathering of disabled hockey players coming to West Dundee
A 20-year-old woman with Down syndrome who practically grew up in the ice hockey rink.
Another woman who is legally blind and fell in love with hockey after putting on her first pair of skates last year at age 21.
A 61-year-old military veteran with a disability who hadn't played hockey since childhood and now happily practices once a week with his team.
They are among the 1,800 or so hockey players who are competing at the 14th annual Toyota-USA Hockey Disabled Hockey Festival at Leafs Ice Centre in West Dundee, which organizers say is the world's largest gathering of hockey players with disabilities.
“This is the first sport where I could say I was visually impaired and I was accepted,” said Danielle Maurer, 22, who plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins Blind Ice Hockey club. “I know I'm never going to leave it.”
“We were so thankful there was a program like this,” said Bonnie Taylor of Naperville, whose daughter Mallory, 20, has Down syndrome and has played since age 3 for the Chicago Blackhawks Special Hockey team.
The festival is part of USA Hockey, the national governing body based in Colorado, and was organized with support from the Amateur Hockey Assocation of Illinois and the Chicago Blackhawks, which offer programs for special, blind and warrior hockey, festival chairman Michael Svac said.
The event started Thursday, with players ages 5 to 60 or older competing in six categories: blind; deaf and hard of hearing; special, for people with special needs; warrior, for veterans with disabilities; standing amputees; and sled, for players who can't stand.
There are lots of nifty modifications, like larger pucks with ball bearings so blind players can follow their sound, and sleds with hockey blades and sticks with angled metal picks that help players propel forward.
Some teams are fiercely competitive - especially the warriors - while others are in it more for the enjoyment of the game, Svac said. “It's about bringing people together to play the game of hockey, and have fun,” he said.
It takes hundreds of volunteers to make the event possible, said Jim Smith, president of USA Hockey, who on Thursday afternoon climbed on a ladder to hang banners.
“You need partners for sled players, you need scorekeepers, you need locker room attendants,” he said. “These are the kinds of things you needs volunteers for.”
This is the festival's largest edition and the second time in 14 years that it's being staged in the Chicago area. Leafs Ice Centre is the main host, with some games at Fox Valley Ice Arena in Geneva and Triphahn Center Ice Arena in Hoffman Estates. The Elgin Area Convention and Visitors Bureau provided some assistance with marketing and hotel rooms, Svac said.
Tom O'Connell of Des Plaines, who's been playing on a Blackhawks warrior team for about a year, said he looked forward to meeting players from across the country.
The 61-year-old said he served more than 20 years in active duty with the U.S. Marines and suffered a 30 percent disability, as rated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The minimum to participate in warrior hockey is 10 percent, he said.
“I love being around these vets that have given so much for our country,” he said. As for the festival, “I thought it was so great that somebody, or more than one person, came up with something like this, so that so many can participate.”
Hockey: Festival in Chicago area for the second time