Hockey for All - U11 LL Team #2
Hockey
For All
By the U11 LL#2 Wildcats
The Call
One day an outdoor rink appeared in the small town of Elmira. One Saturday afternoon the rink called out to 12 children from the town. Each of the children heard the following ‘I am the magic rink and I have come to visit Elmira. I call upon YOU to join the ultimate hockey game’.
The first to hear the call was Julian. She is Mennonite. Julian was born blind. She had trouble making friends and was often made fun of for being blind. When she hears the call, she asks her parents if she can go for a walk. She usually uses a cane to get around town and is very familiar with Elmira. She follows the sound of the rink and finds it easily.
The next person to hear the call is Cole. Cole is in a wheelchair because he got hurt and lost his leg. His arms are so strong and he is great at deking. He is always nice to his friends and teammates. When Cole hears the call he wheels himself to the rink.
Then Emily is called to the rink. She moved to Canada from India when she was 2 years old. She was born with paralyzed legs. She was excited when she heard the call because ever since she moved to Canada she had been really interested in hockey. She excitedly wheeled herself to the rink.
Pat was lying in bed after his latest round of Cancer treatment when he heard the rink calling. Suddenly he feels well enough to go for a walk to the rink. He asks permission from his parents to go for a walk. He heads in the direction of the rink.
Joe was playing basketball in his driveway when he received the call. He loved basketball, but hockey had been his first love. However last year he had an accident while playing hockey and he now uses a wheelchair. He hadn’t played hockey since his injury so he cautiously wheeled himself to the rink
Maksym (aka Lightening - because of his fast wrist shot) had recently immigrated to Canada from the Ukraine. When he received the call he was outside exploring his neighbourhood. He had to listen closely to the call as the town of Elmira was so new to him.
Leo was using his new sled he had just gotten, on his backyard rink when he heard the call from the rink. He was practising his turns because he needed to get faster on defence and better his poke checking. He quickly got back into his wheelchair to head to the rink.
Frank is the Toronto Maple Leafs #1 fan. When he got the call he was up in his bedroom sorting his Maple Leafs trading cards in his favourite Maple Leafs jersey and baseball cap. He couldn’t wait to get to the rink and he sped there in his Maple Leafs coloured wheelchair.
Jordan is 11 years old and is Indigenous. Jordan’s family is from Northern Ontario. He wears a blue helmet and blue pants. He likes to play with a blue stick. He plays sledge hockey. He is paralyzed from the waist down, that’s how he was born. He loves wrap arounds and scoring goals. Jordan noticed Frank speeding by and followed him to the rink.
Kyle was outside practising his slapshot with his purple hockey stick when he got the call. Kyle was short, but was the fastest kid in his school. He took a quick drink of purple Biosteel and ran as fast as he could to the rink.
The call came in a different form for Enzo and Gregory, who were both deaf. Enzo had just finished a pizza lunch (his favourite) with his large Italian family when a vision of a blurred figure, signing for him to come to the rink in the centre of Elmira. The same blurry figure visited Gregory and gave him the same signed message.
As Cole, Emily, Joe(aka Bucky), Leo, Jordan and Frank all arrive at the rink, they notice all of the equipment they need is laid out on the benches. There are sleds and shorter hockey sticks with metal teeth on one end for them to use as well.
Pat sees some goalie equipment piled up on top of the net with a jersey with his name on it and is super pumped to be one of the goalies. At the other end of the rink Enzo also notices a jersey with his name on it and a pile of goalie equipment. They both go to the nets with their jerseys and start getting dressed.
A ref skates out onto the rink and snaps his fingers, the lights flicker and when the lights come back on there are two teams all dressed and ready to play!
One team is purple and named the Elmira Maple Kings and the other is blue and named the Woolwich Kitty Kats! A fast paced game begins. The rink has fancy flashing lights that go off when the refs blow the whistle so that everyone knows when there is a call. The puck is a little bit bigger than the average puck and it beeps so that everyone knows where it is.
After the game on the magic outdoor rink Emily, Cole and Joe had so much fun playing hockey that they asked to join Leo, Jordan and Frank on the Woolwich Thrashers team, who play on the McLeod rink on Saturday afternoons.
The kids on Pat’s team always remembered to record their games so they could show Pat how well they played when he was at treatment or doctors appointments.
The players all love hockey because of teamwork and believe that no matter how rich or poor you are or where you come from hockey should be for all.
Hockey for all means it does not matter if you are a person with a disability because everyone is welcome to play hockey.
**Team members of the U11 LL#2 created the characters for this story of Hockey for All**