Blind Ice Hockey with Gary Steeves - Episode 36 of The Blind Sport Podcast

Blind people play Ice Hockey? Yes, we are talking about that fast and furious sport. In episode 36 we talk with Gary Steeves from Courage Canada about Blind Ice Hockey. The sport of Blind Ice Hockey has existed in various forms across Canada for over 40 years. This mixed-gender sport has provided countless Canadians who are blind or visually impaired with the opportunity to play Canada’s favorite game, along with all the social, mental, emotional, and physical health benefits of belonging to a hockey team. Established in 2008,  Courage Canada leads the development of the sport of Blind Ice Hockey by working collaboratively with Blind Hockey teams to grow the sport in Canada and is attempting to spread awareness to other countries. Courage Canada provides children, youth and adults with the opportunity to learn to skate and try Blind Hockey and supports nationwide training programs. They have also been successful in establishing the annual "Courage Canada National Blind Hockey Tournament". The game of Blind Ice Hockey is essentially the same exhilarating, fast-paced game that the Sighted play, but with a few minimal rule and puck adaptations. This sport features an adapted puck that makes noise, and is both bigger and slower than a traditional puck. Players levels of vision range from legally blind – approximately 10% vision or less – to totally blind, with the lowest vision athletes playing defence or goal. For more information about Blind Ice Hockey, check out these websites: Courage Canada http://www.couragecanada.ca/Courage USA http://courageusa.org I also include some motivational quotations.  You can subscribe, download and listen to The Blind Sport Podcast for free via iTunes or the website http://theblindsportpodcast.com. It is also on AGOGO, Tune in, Stitcher and IBlink Radio.  Please share this podcast link with your social networks as the more that people get to listen, the greater the ability to create a community of blind sport supporters.  Be a friend of the show by following @blindsportmike on Twitter or liking our page on Facebook http://facebook.com/theblindsportpodcast