By all accounts, the London Blizzard Sledge Hockey organization offers a highly-successful program. The Blizzard has two teams – the Intermediate squad, which consists of 12 to 15 players aged 16 and up, and the Junior Sledge Development (JSD) team, which is made up of 21 players from ages 7 to 15 (the club is looking to expand the JSD team this coming season).
Each team plays a 10-game schedule at arenas from Buffalo to Essex Kent, and also competes in a couple of major tournaments each year. One is hosted by the Blizzard program itself, and it happens to be the largest sledge hockey tournament in the world, with around 40 teams traveling to London to participate each year (the next one will be held Jan. 20-22, 2018). The other major tourney is one hosted by the Mississauga Cruisers during the first weekend in November, which serves as a great start to the season.
Fortunately, Blizzard players don’t face accessibility challenges at arenas, as all are accessible and most dressing rooms are large enough to accommodate players and equipment. But traveling to games and tournaments can be a challenge.
“Transportation can be an issue for teams with kids and/or adults with disabilities,” says Dawn Desrosiers, the president of London Blizzard Sledge Hockey. “I know families try to carpool, but that gets difficult when you have hockey bags and sledges to transport.”
Not all players, for instance, have been able to make the Buffalo games due to transportation issues, and the JSD team often talks about renting a bus or large van for trips. In fact, the Blizzard have traveled with Bennett Auto before. They’re a company that transports many sports team to and from games and tournaments – and they can help with accessible transportation issues as well – both in sport and regular day-to-day life.
The Blizzard plan to use the accessible vans again in the future, as it makes life easier – for players and coaches alike. And why not? The Bennett Auto fleet seamlessly transports players and equipment so that the team can focus on what matters – the game!
Contributions by Dawn Desrosiers and photo by SportsXpress Team
