Indy Sled Hockey Has Found Rapid Success
Writer / Renee Larr
Photography Provided
In 2019 Duane Weber was pulling up to his last hockey match as a coach when he noticed kids in wheelchairs and with prosthetic limbs entering the building. He quickly realized he was witnessing a sled hockey match for children with disabilities.
“I started talking with some of the parents about their child’s involvement,” Weber says. “They started tearing up as they talked about its impact on their son. Then I started tearing up and thinking about ways to bring sled hockey to Indianapolis.”
In April of 2019, Weber created the Indy Steel Sled Hockey program with donated equipment, utilizing his contacts in youth hockey. Sled Hockey is open to children aged 5 to 18 and adults. Weber says they had about five participants the first year, and now four years later, they have grown to about 25 participants.
The game itself is similar to ice hockey in terms of rules, but differs in the equipment used. Players sit on a metal frame called a sled. Players have two smaller hockey sticks they hold while moving around the ice.
“One thing that makes sled hockey unique is the players use two sticks instead of one,” Weber says. “One end of the stick has metal pricks on it, and they use that to propel themselves around the ice. Then they can flip the stick over to the other end for moving the puck.”
Weber says he is tremendously excited that the competitive team won the Division 1 youth national championship in just four short years. He says what makes it even more remarkable is that they beat out close to 100 other teams.
“The cool thing about sled hockey is these kids want to compete at a high level like their able-bodied counterparts,” Weber says. “The only adaptation is the equipment and how they utilize it.”
Weber says anyone can come out and try sled hockey for free. There are two levels for both adults and kids – recreational and competitive. He has some participants who enjoy the recreational aspect, and some who eventually want to go on and play for Team USA Paralympic ice hockey. Carmine Brown has played for four seasons and is someone Weber describes as highly driven.
“My mom received their newsletter detailing a hockey event, and she basically made me go,” Brown says. “It was a good thing she did because I loved it and am good at it. I love the physicality of the game and working with my team. I like traveling to the different tournaments and trying to better myself, especially when I see others I can learn from.”
For more information, visit indysledhockey.org.
