'You want to compete'
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 5 years, 10 months AGO
Courtesy photo Sean Halstead, left, is joined by fellow sled hockey players on the ice.
By BILL BULEY
Staff writer
Sledge hockey sounds like a rough one.
Conjures images of people on ice swinging sledge hammers at a puck and wreaking all sorts of damage.
Scratch that.
This is hockey on sleds. It’s a bit more civilized — and welcome.
“I have played with guys who simply can’t stand in skates,” said Sean Halstead, a three-time Paralympian and veteran. “This is great for them.”
The Challenged Athletes Foundation-Idaho is hosting its first sledge hockey clinic in Boise on Saturday, and the Rathdrum man will be there.
The clinic at Century Link Arena will feature athletes of all ages and abilities. Attendees will receive world-class coaching and mentoring from members of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team.
They will also return to attend an Idaho Steelheads hockey game and take part in an exhibition sled hockey game during the first intermission.
In Idaho there are an estimated 200,000 individuals living with disabilities, many of whom are eligible to receive support and benefit from CAF’s programs.
“Clinics hosted by CAF-Idaho exist to strengthen the existing adaptive sports community and empower individuals with permanent physical challenges in the State of Idaho by providing access to sports and fitness through grants, mentoring and coaching,” a press release said.
CAF-Idaho provides grants for athletes with permanent physical challenges in need of adaptive sports equipment, coaching or competition travel support.
Halstead suffered a spinal injury in 1998 when he fell during an Air Force combat search-and-rescue practice operation while rappelling out of a helicopter.
In his rehabilitation, the Veterans Administration emphasized this message: “You can still do stuff.”
He listened. And he has.
In 2001, he was introduced to sled hockey and has been playing since. He’s participated in the Paralympic Winter Games, works out often and perhaps most important, is a husband and father. Because sledge hockey has been good to him, he wants to be sure others know about it, as well.
Like it or not, Halstead said, people in wheelchairs “kind of get marginalized.” It’s a matter of opening minds to what they can do.
“I’ve met many civilians, guys who didn’t have the benefit of VA,” he said.
He’s looking forward to getting to know more players at Saturday’s clinic and sharing sledge hockey, which has three 15-minute periods.
“I love playing the game,” he said. “I would love people to hear about it. One of the worst things for me to hear is somebody to say, ‘Oh, I wish I would have known about that.’ I just need people to know about it.”
Sports, he said, is a great rehab tool. And sled hockey, like any sport, calls for motivation, energy and desire.
“You don’t have to need to win. You just want to win,” he said. “You want to compete. Anybody can do it. It’s just a matter of, do you want it?”
Halstead wants it.