dana hall rink wellesley sports center — This rink is outfitted for sled hockey

One unique feature of the new Boston Sports Institute in Wellesley is that one of the rinks is outfitted to support sled hockey (also known as “sledge”), an adaptive version of hockey for those with physical disabilities.

You’ll have chance to see what sled hockey is all about on Saturday, Nov. 9 from 12-1pm at 900 Worcester St., as the Boston ICE Storm sled hockey team takes on Wellesley Youth Hockey and Wellesley High players. Wellesley Youth Hockey Association paid for the ice time, and its players will compete in sleds instead of using their usual skates.

Brian DeVellis, president of Boston Sports Institute operator Edge Sports Group, is excited to get sled hockey going in Wellesley. “We hope that this will get word out that we are a fully sled hockey compatible facility and would welcome more opportunities,” he says.

Liz Fahey, whose son William has played sled hockey for 17 years, said last year he and a few other players formed a team called the Boston ICE (Include, Compete, Empower) Storm. The team comprised players with a variety of physical challenges (Spina Bifida, Cerebral Palsy, Cancer survivors who have lost limbs, gun shot victims, and more). “It is an incredible group of male and female athletes who range from age 12-58 looking to have fun playing a game we all love, hockey,” Fahey says.

She explains that sled hockey is played just like regular hockey with most of the same rules. Players sit in a bucket that is on a frame with 2 skate blades attached to the bottom. Depending on a players ability the blades can be spaced far apart for a beginner or someone with difficulty balancing or close together for a more advanced player. All the same hockey gear is worn (except the shorts) and players move themselves with sticks that are a regular hockey blade on one end, but have sharp pics on the other.

“What we love about scrimmages with youth hockey players is the ability to give able bodied athletes a chance to understand and respect the challenges that someone with a disability have, and also to put their own abilities into perspective,” she says.

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