Call for countries in need of ice sledge hockey equipment

IPC Ice Sledge Hockey has called for countries wanting to develop the sport to claim their share of equipment being made available through the PyeongChang 2018 Actualising the Dream project.

The sport has been in touch with National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) and National Federations (NFs) encouraging them to apply for items such as sledges, sticks and protective equipment.

The application documents are available from ipcicesledgehockey@paralympic.org and countries have until 29 September to submit their bids.

The items are intended to grow the sport at the grass roots level following several years of successful development at the high performance end.

NPCs and NFs need to outline their development initiatives and provide a plan for how they will use the equipment, targeting young people with an impairment. They also need to commit to holding awareness-raising events for people to come and see and try ice sledge hockey for themselves.

The initiative follows on from the launch of Actualising the Dream as part of the Road to PyeongChang 2018: Agitos Foundation Sessions, where the Organising Committee of the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games have pledged to support the development of winter Paralympic sports as part of the Games legacy. The Agitos Foundation is the development arm of the International Paralympic Committee.

This has so far included workshops for athletes, coaches and sport managers in alpine skiing, wheelchair curling, biathlon and cross-country skiing, snowboard and ice sledge hockey.