Dudley Brown / Greenville Health System
Martha Childress enjoyed a session of sled hockey before heading back to Columbia to begin her spring semester.
Dudley Brown / Greenville Health System
John Robinson gets his helmet buckled.
Dudley Brown / Greenville Health System
There are no holds barred in this sled hockey game at Greenville's Ice on Main.
Dudley Brown / Greenville Health System
Kim Wooten expresses the joy of competing and gliding on the ice.
For GreerToday.com
It was like a dream gliding across the ice in midst of a game of hockey.
A sled hockey clinic at Greenville’s Ice on Main gave many with physical disabilities the opportunity to be competitive while enjoying an activity that worked muscles rarely used.
A staff member helped me across the ice since I was unable to propel myself using hockey sticks. Gliding smoothly with the cold winter’s wind hitting my face felt incredible. With a little creativity from the staff, I was able to hit the puck to play hockey with the other participants. I felt that workout the next morning.
Martha Childress, the University of South Carolina student who became paralyzed by a stray bullet severing her spinal cord in 2013 was also at the clinic. Childress talked about how, before the incident, she never thought about the importance of these types of opportunities for people with disabilities.
Childress is in Greenville enjoying her last few days of winter break before she heads back to USC for spring semester.
“This was an awesome way to get outside, to exercise, and meet other people — just to do something really fun and different. I really loved it.” Childress said.
Childress hopes to try skydiving in May with her brother.
John Robinson, who has spinal bifida, said this was his second time playing sled hockey.
He said he was nervous at first and wanted to learn hockey and try something new. “I’ll be back any time they have something wonderful like this for people with disabilities,” Robinson said.
Staff at the ice rink assisted in correctly fitting participants in the sled, making sure the equipment was used properly and assisted throughout the activity.
Roger C, Peace Hospital offers a variety of recreational activities for individuals with physical disabilities through its adaptive sports program.
“Engaging the community and involving persons with disabilities in adaptive sports is part of our mission,” Stan Healy, RCP administrator, said. “RCP believes that recreation therapy is just as important as any other therapeutic intervention.”
Sled hockey was added when a grant, awarded from the SC Developmental Disabilities Council, provided RCP funding for some of the equipment to get started.
“People with disability should have access to all the sports that able-bodied people do” said Kristen Caldwell, a recreation therapist for RCP.
Benefits of adaptive sports are:
• Physical: increase strength, balance, coordination, and stamina.
• Social: meet new people, increase social networks.
• Emotional, decrease depression and isolation, increase confidence and self-esteem.
The events are funded through the UCAN Community grant, RCP Rehabilitation Hospital, equipment donations from Atlanta Sparks and Mecklenburg (N.C.) County Recreation and ice time from Ice on Main.
• About the author. Kim Wooten, 25, was born with cerebral palsy, which is a condition that affects her muscles and muscle control. She graduated cum laude in 2010 from North Greenville University with a B.A. in Business Administration. Wooten is married and has a 2-year old daughter.