Students at W. Ross Macdonald School take to the ice with blind hockey program
- 7 hours ago
- 2 min read
George Le Gresley
Sports Correspondent
I have never played hockey, nor skated. I may be the only French Canadian who can’t skate. In fact, one of the dumbest ideas I’ve had was to ask my wife out on our first date, which was to go skating and maybe blow it with my awkward ice-skating.
Now imagine learning to skate without sight, where balance and navigating obstacles on the ice present unique challenges. After watching a Paris High hockey game at the Brantford Sports Complex, I noticed people on the ice shooting large metal pucks that rang like a cowbell! It was clear most of the players were blind or had low vision. The players were students of different ages and staff from the W. Ross MacDonald School for the Blind, who come to Paris once a week to learn to skate and to shoot some pucks, metal and rubber. Staff from the school offer one-on-one teaching on how to skate.
I met Jordan Hyde, a student at the school who has been playing hockey for 2 or 3 years, a pretty good skater and plays goaltender. To be a goaltender in blind hockey, you have to have no vision at all, and players with partial vision wear masks to ensure fair competition. The net is smaller than a normal hockey net. You might be thinking, how can one stop a puck, simply hearing where the oversized metal puck is coming from and verbal cues from a defenseman with partial vision? Most forwards have the most vision, while defencemen have some. The problem with pucks is that you hear them only when the stick strikes them; however, a group of engineering students is working on designing pucks that will make a sound after they are struck and in motion, so everybody can hear them as they travel down the ice.
As you might know, students come from all over Ontario to attend W. Ross McDonald, and I met a young man, Zion Kiwbe, from the Republic of Congo, located 11,000 km away from Brantford. This African country is located near the equator, and its average temperature is 26 degrees centigrade. Zion Kiwbe has never been cold, nor has he ever thought he would be skating on ice, but being guided on the ice and learning to skate is an experience many Africans might never have. He enjoys the progress he has made in skating and is ready to cheer for Team Canada’s teams in Milano.
One last note: Blind Hockey Canada organizes many tournaments. One of them is being hosted by W. Ross MacDonald on November 3. Hopefully, the Brant Sports Complex will be hosting some games.