The growth in provision of sporting opportunities for those with disabilities in recent years has been phenomenal. From the first official Paralympic Games in 1960, where 400 athletes from 40 countries took part, to the 2008 Beijing Olympics where 4,200 participants from 148 countries were in action. Four years later, at London 2012, this had increased again with athletes representing 164 countries taking part in 503 medal matches.
While the Paralympics has grown exponentially in the past 50 years, and other sporting opportunities for disabled athletes – such as the forthcoming Para Pan Am Games in Toronto and the 2014 Invictus Games in London – have attracted wide participation and interest, hockey has not proven to be a sport that has been simple to adapt so that people with disabilities can play. While ice-hockey has an established and popular adapted version with sled hockey, the majority of field hockey-playing nations has yet to grasp the mettle and make hockey for people with disabilities truly accessible.
The positive benefits that can emerge from offering people with disabilities a competitive event are numerous. Donna B Bernhardt, writing in Recreation for the Disabled Child, says: “The constant development of more competitive events for an enlarging pool of disabled athletes is a very positive symbol for the world of disabled athletics. The disabled are discovering the same physical, emotional and mental benefits from sport as able-bodied competitors. They not only serve as a positive factor for competitors but perhaps more importantly, increase public awareness. Outstanding athletic performance is understood by everyone.”
At this year’s Para Pan Am Games there will be 16 sports, including wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, goal ball and football. With most of the major team sports represented, it seems hockey might be missing an opportunity to appeal to a wider audience and increase participation at all levels and abilities.
But, across the globe there are stirrings and it seems that in pockets, the world of hockey is waking up to disability sport and the enormous good it can do. Here are a few examples of ground-breaking projects that could act as a catalyst for hockey clubs and federations elsewhere to implement hockey into disability sport.
One such project in the Netherlands offers people with disabilities the chance to train for and compete in two national tournaments a year. ‘G’ and ‘LG’ hockey is a project that aims to provide hockey playing opportunities for people who are disabled but not wheelchair dependent. “G’ category players have learning disabilities, while LG is a physical disability. The project began back in the 1990s, when Zoetermeer club began a G-hockey activity and Breda started a LG-hockey group. The KNHB, which governs Dutch hockey, supported the activities and made it part of its national strategy to integrate hockey players with disabilities into the Dutch club structure.
In the Netherlands, with approximately 100 clubs now offering G-hockey and more than 12 clubs hosting LG-hockey, there is now a structure in place that gives people with disabilities the chance to participate in a range of competitions, from friendly club-based activities to one of the national competitions that are arranged by the KNHB. The target age group for the activities is 6-18 y, but increasingly adults are also participating. The KNHB is also working on activities for people in wheelchairs.
The G and LG activities take place on a regular pitch or an indoor hall. If it is on an outdoor pitch, then a quarter of the pitch is used as the playing area. Teams of six compete and, while the players follow the regular rules of outdoor hockey, there are some adaptations within the game. For example, players with severe physical disabilities get ‘special status’ which means they are allowed to take 10 steps without being tackled in their own half and five steps in the opposition’s half. If one team is winning by more than three goals then they must pass three times before taking a shot at goal. Other adaptations can be introduced depending on the severity of the disabilities and the disparities in ability within the group.
The KNHB advises national associations who are considering promoting hockey for people with disabilities to: “Only adapt what needs to be adapted, try to keep your adapted activity as close to the original game as possible.”
Meanwhile, an initiative that started in England as part of the 2012 legacy is quickly gaining momentum. Flyerz Hockey is England’s project that introduces hockey to people with disabilities. The word Flyerz was invented by a group of clubs because the players prefer it to the term ‘disability’ hockey. Beverley Blackburn is the Adult Participation Manager for England Hockey and she explains further. “The word ‘Flyerz’ felt like something the clubs and players bought into so we have adopted it as a term and have continued to grow it as a brand. Flyerz has subsequently started to become recognized as a way to refer to disability hockey by the FIH and European Hockey Federation.”
The Flyerz Hockey program is in its earliest stages, with about 12-15 clubs involved, and currently focuses on people with learning disabilities. Blackburn stresses that this is not the sole focus, but where most interest lies at the moment. There will be a Flyerz Festival of Hockey this summer in the UK, running in conjunction with the EuroHockey Championships - Europe’s continental qualifier.
Wendy Russell is a coach at Brighton and Hove Hockey Club in England. Three years ago she set up a club for hearing impaired players. It is now a thriving activity under the Flyerz banner, with 17 regular players. Here are her tips for other clubs or associations looking to do something similar.
- Talk to your target group and get to know them and their needs on an individual basis.
- Know what is already out there with regards to the sports available and communication needs and methods.
- Know what your goal is and keep this in sight.
- Be realistic; working with target groups is hard work but very rewarding. It may take time and effort to establish your sessions.
- Make sure you have a clear exit routes and support for players attending your sessions if they wish to continue playing regularly.
- Provide your coaches with support so that they feel confident to deliver to players with disabilities.
- Utilize coaches or volunteers that are experienced in this field, or know where advice and support can be gained to help the target group access the sport.
Finally, adapted hockey is making its mark in the motorized form. While ice hockey has become renowned for sled hockey, the recent Electric Wheelchair Hockey World Cup that took place in Germany in 2014 indicates that field hockey has finally found a game that matches the speed and daring of its colder cousin.
While Europe leads the way in this sport – where the players can use electric wheelchairs to cover the basketball-court sized area – both Canada and USA have thriving wheelchair hockey clubs and the USA has a national federation for Electric Wheelchair Hockey.
However, adaptive hockey in its many forms lies largely unexplored in the remainder of the Pan American countries and it is in Europe that adaptive hockey is beginning to really take off. In just a few months the Para Pan Am Games will be underway and thousands of athletes with disabilities will have the chance to participate and excel in a range of 16 sports. Is it time that the hockey community started to consider how our sport can get on board in the future?
