MONCTON, N.B. – Sledge hockey coaches from Quebec were in New Brunswick Monday hoping to help build some future competition.
Easter Seals N.B., Ability N.B. and Hockey New Brunswick invited members of Team Quebec to hold coaching clinics across the province. The hope is that if enough people get involved in the sport, New Brunswick will be able to start a provincial sledge hockey team.
Team Quebec coach Martin Lacombe got involved with sledge hockey because his son, who has different abilities, was unable to skate.
“So with this sport it’s like a normal person he is included in the group he like’s that and I like that too,” Lacombe said.
Jacques Fournier has been playing for Team Quebec for four years.
“We’ve played in London, Ontario, there are a lot of tournaments over there. In Brantford, Ontario too and Quebec City and Montreal too, I have been around,” he said.
But he’s never played in New Brunswick.
Easter Seals’s Julia Latham is hoping to help change that.
“We are hoping to develop some coaches for sledge hockey and then we can go from there,” she said.
Latham says the ultimate goal is to launch a formal sledge hockey league in New Brunswick.
But that may be years away because many people still aren’t familiar with the sport and don’t realize that it’s for people of all abilities.
Of the more than 20 kids who came out for the clinic Monday, only a handful, like Jacob LeBlanc, have different abilities.
“It’s cool that they want to be able to play this game too,” LeBlanc said.
But Latham says getting a formal league up and running won’t be easy.
“You need ice time in order to try the sledges and develop the sport,” she said.
Easter Seals N.B. wants to hold at least 15 more clinics from now until next spring. If enough kids get involved, the hope is that New Brunswick will have a team of its own in a few years.
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