Para-dise on the ice over the weekend at WinSport

By Max Campbell

For all 344 participants, there was clearly no place they would rather have been. 

WinSport was proud to welcome the 19th annual Western Canadian Sledge Hockey Tournament last weekend, as players wrapped up their respective seasons in each of the Markin MacPhail Centre’s four arenas. 

The athletes ranged from 4-64 years old, with four divisions of teams each featuring a combination of male and female players. Five squads represented Calgary, while the remaining 19 travelled in from elsewhere. 

In less than two decades of existence, the number of teams registered for the tournament has increased fivefold. 

Cash (left) and Aydin have enjoyed the opportunities that para hockey has provided them.

For Aydin Ali, a 15-year-old centre, the adaptive sport has made it possible for him to continue playing the game when he otherwise would have found himself on the outside looking in.  

“I had neuroblastoma cancer when I was six months old, and it limited a lot of the feeling and motion of my lower body,” explains Hill, whose overtime winner on Friday morning earned him a hat-trick. “It was tough to keep up with the other kids if I wanted to play (stand-up) hockey, but sledge hockey has made it much easier because it’s made for people like me.” 

His teammate, goaltender Cash Leask, felt his initial trepidation diminish as soon as his father gave him the confidence he needed to join his first team.  

“My dad (Jason) talked me into being brave when playing, because I was a bit nervous,” offers Cash, who chooses to wear the same No. 32 as Calgary Flames’ netminder Dustin Wolf. “After that, I wasn’t nervous anymore.” 

The Westerns were put on by the Calgary Sledge Hockey Association, a non-profit group of volunteers dedicated to empowering everyone—disability or not—to give it their best shot.                                               

Teams taking home the gold on Sunday were the Medicine Hat Hounds Team White (Junior), Calgary Stingers (Intermediate C), Regina Avengers (Intermediate C+), and the Edmonton Sled Hockey Club Impact (Intermediate B).

“Just because we’re different doesn’t mean we’re not human,” declares Jake Fowlie, who rediscovered his passion to play after building up the necessary strength to compete at a high level.

Cash's dad, Jason, was instrumental in motivating him to play.

“I’ve made so many friends this way, and I would encourage anyone to come out, have fun, and get a good workout in.”