Britain started playing Sledge Hockey in 1981 (before Canada or USA) and first fielded a GB Team at a demonstration event in 1982. At the 1994 Paralympic games GB lost narrowly to Canada in the Bronze medal game. Great Britain competed at both the 1998 and 2006 Paralympic games.
Although GB are currently ranked 12th in the world they were ranked 5th prior to the 2006 Paralympic games. Great Britain is currently in the World Championship Group B and is now designated as a “developing” nation despite its history.
In the period between 2002 and 2004 Sledge Hockey was a growth sport in the UK, boasting five teams and a national league. In the period immediately before and after the 2006 Paralympic games this had reduced down to two teams (Cardiff and Hull). This decline has been attributed mainly due to London being awarded the 2012 games as funding and media attention has been focused on summer sports. It is worth noting that in 2007 six of the twelve athletes who represented GB at the 2006 Winter Paralympic games were actively participating in a summer sport (3 Sitting Volleyball, 2 Athletics, 1 Sailing).
Currently there are four active Ice Sledge Hockey teams in Great Britain; Cardiff, Grimsby, Hull and Sutton. It is worth noting that funding and support has been agreed to launch ten new teams over the next 18 months, and that this will be the of the largest Paralympic sports projects to have been launched in the UK that is not directly connected to the Paralympic Games. A copy of the Paralympics GB press release is attached to this document. In addition sponsorship has been conformed to run a full national senior league commencing in 2011 and both senior and junior leagues in 2012.
Recognition
The world governing body for Ice Sledge Hockey is the International Paralympic committee who recognise the BSHA as the National Governing Body for Ice Sledge Hockey in the UK. Paralympics GB and the British Wheelchair Sports Federation (Wheelpower) also recognise the BSHA as the NGB for Sledge Hockey.
It should be noted that in North America the National Hockey League (NHL) recognises Sledge Hockey and has initiated a programme where each NHL team has an associated Sledge Hockey team. It is anticipated that there will be a national professional Sledge Hockey league in North America within the next decade.
Sledge Hockey: Truly Unique
Sledge Hockey the only fully inclusive contact sport in the world (although it is non-contact at junior levels). At Paralympic level players need to be classified disabled to participate, at club level anyone can play. Inline Sledge Hockey is being developed with the view that it will be fully inclusive and ultimately be the first fully inclusive Olympic team sport.
Unlike sports such as Wheelchair Basketball, Wheelchair Rugby and Sitting Volleyball there is no classification system dictating who can participate in play at any point[1]. All players are equal once strapped to a sledge and there are no rules governing who can be involved in play and all non-IPC competitions are open to both disabled and able-bodied participants.
In addition is should be noted that since 2009 Sledge Hockey teams are of mixed gender, from club level through to Paralympic level. This differs from virtually every other sport which segregates teams based on gender.
It is considerable cheaper to set-up a Sledge Hockey team than a Wheelchair Basketball or Wheelchair Rugby team. It is also cheaper to buy the equipment to participate in Sledge Hockey than in any other Wheelchair sport. This is because a sledge costs less than £600 to buy, with even a high performance sledge costing less than £1000, whereas the cheapest sports wheelchairs (regardless of sport) are over £1000 for a basic model rising to more than £5000 for a high performance model.
It is also note worthy that people don’t see sledges as a mobility aid and instead see it as a piece of sports equipment. This can make a crucial difference as many juniors who are disabled do not use a wheelchair and view using wheelchair, even in a positive situation such a participating in sport, as undesirable.
[1] Wheelchair Basketball and Wheelchair Rugby use a points system in games. Each player is given a points value and a there is a maximum number of points allowed in play at anytime. This means that these sports are not fully inclusive as able bodied players are given a points score so large they cannot effective participate.
