Posted on April 21, 2022
Mary Free Bed’s Sled Hockey Teams Headed to National Tournament
The Grand Rapids Sled Wings are bound for Nationals! The Junior and Adult teams are packing up their gear and competing in the USA Sled Hockey National Championship this weekend.
The Junior Sled Wings, young athletes ages 13-18, have had recent success in tournaments, winning their home tournament, the Griff’s Sled Hockey Classic, in March.
The Sled Hockey National Championship will be held from April 21-24, 2022, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This is the second weekend of competition in the USA Hockey Disabled Hockey Festival. The first action-packed weekend, April 7-10, featured blind, deaf/hard of hearing, special and standing amputee hockey teams as well as Warrior Hockey.
The Grand Rapids Sled Wings teams are sponsored by the Mary Free Bed Wheelchair and Adaptive Sports and the Grand Rapids Griffins Youth Foundation.
A highly competitive Paralympic sport, sled hockey is similar to traditional hockey, except participants sit on bladed sleds. It’s ideal for competitive and recreational athletes with lower-limb-affected disabilities. Players use shortened hockey sticks with a blade on one end and a pick on the other, which enables them to propel across the ice. Just like in traditional hockey, checking, penalties and hard slap shots are abundant.
The adult and junior teams play several games over the next few days. View the full schedule at USAHockey.com. Many of the games will be livestreamed at HockeyTV.com, so viewers can follow and cheer along at home.
