Two area teens captured a gold medal in sledge hockey at the 2014 Ontario ParaSport Games last weekend in Cobourg.
Sawyer Harding of Fergus and Jacob Ribble of the Belwood area, who helped the western Ontario regional team to victory May 30 to June 1, have been playing sledge hockey since the age of eight and five respectively.
They are now among the top players on their Kitchener-Waterloo team.
Ribble’s mother Dolores said he has been passionate about the sport from a young age.
“He knew about sledge hockey before I knew what it was; he was five years old asking about it,” she said. “He kept bugging me to try out, so we sent an email on a Friday, and by Monday we had him in a sled fully outfitted.”
Every year, players on teams like Harding and Ribble’s KW Sidewinders have the opportunity to represent their region in the Ontario ParaSport Games.
Each sledge hockey team recommends their top three or four players to attend the tryouts in Aylmer, with approximately 15 players selected for the tournament.
Ribble and Harding represented western region, playing against teams from central and northern Ontario.
While being chosen to play in Cobourg last weekend was an honour in itself, it was also a chance to advance in the league, as scouts watch the games for players to send to Team Ontario tryouts.
Harding’s mom Cindy is thrilled about her son’s success in the sport.
“We thought they deserved some recognition, because you know, sledge hockey doesn’t get the recognition we’d like it to get … it’s time that the community knows we have talented disabled kids,” she told the Advertiser.
In conversation the boys are nonchalant about their talent on the ice – but their proud mom’s don’t hold back.
“Sawyer’s probably the fastest player on (the) team,” Dolores says.
Adds Cindy, “Sawyer’s the fastest, and Jacob is the most strategic. He knows all of the plays and all of the rules, and he’s really got the brains of the game down pat.”
During a game, sledge hockey athletes are strapped into a metal frame that sits on two regular ice-skate blades, which are adjusted to a player’s preference.
The agility of Ribble and Harding is apparent after a look at their sleds. Their blades are almost touching, which requires incredible balance and agility on the ice.
“Sawyer’s got the narrowest (blade) there is,” says Dolores. “Team Canada play on the same kind of sled.”
Ribble is quick to correct her, “Team Canada’s are even wider than that. They don’t even play on that narrow.”
Though they often have to drive long distances to games in Windsor and Sudbury, Cindy and Dolores agree the excitement of the sport makes it worth it.
“It’s actually quite a rough sport, which is what Sawyer likes, because he sees his friends playing regular hockey and doing all the hard hitting,” she says.
“People don’t realize that sledge hockey is equally as physical and as hard-hitting as regular hockey … It’s really entertaining to watch. It takes a lot of physical agility and core strength to maneuver on those sleds.”
Sledge hockey was invented by three Swedish wheelchair athletes in 1961, and is now recognized as a national sport, and is one of the biggest attractions at the Paralympic winter games. In fact, Canada’s team has been an international power, winning a Paralympic gold medal in 2006, and a world championship gold medal in 2008.
For Ribble and Harding, playing for Team Canada is the ultimate goal and the tournament in Cobourg was one of the first steps in that journey.
“He’s trying to pick his university based on where there’s a sledge hockey team,” Dolores laughs.
Counters Ribble, “2018 is the goal – Team Canada.”
