So I've posted about the sport of sled hockey a few times, and I know several people enjoyed it. So, this weekend is the inaugural Para Ice Hockey Women's World Challenge. Teams from the US, Canada, the UK, and a World team will be competing. I believe it's the first multi-team sled hockey tournament featuring women's national teams. And you can watch the games live starting on Friday.
One of the players on the U.S. national team is from our local team here in Cincinnati. Jamie is 17, and made the team earlier this year. She was born with caudal regression syndrome and sacral agenesis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caudal_regression_syndrome Simply put, she is an extraordinary young woman, and one hell of a hockey player. She has dreamed of representing the United States since she first discovered sled hockey 7 years ago. I teared up when I heard she made the team, as I knew how hard she has worked and how much it meant to her. I know I will have trouble not crying when I see her introduced Friday night.
I texted her dad a little bit ago, and he is going to be a basket case come Friday. Imagine having your first, and only child, and finding out that child has a very profound physical disability. i know what that's like, wondering what the future might hold for your child. But now he and his wife get to see their daughter represent the United States in an international sports competition. (And these are, absolutely, world class athletes.) They have raised an amazing young woman, and I could not be happier for her or her parents.
I gotta stop. I'm having trouble seeing the keyboard.
More on Jamie: https://voyageohio.com/interview/life-work-with-jamie-benassi-of-newtown-oh/
Here's the link to the tournament: https://www.paralympic.org/green-bay-2022
Hopefully this is the first step towards women's sled hockey being part of the 2024 Paralympics.
One of the players on the U.S. national team is from our local team here in Cincinnati. Jamie is 17, and made the team earlier this year. She was born with caudal regression syndrome and sacral agenesis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caudal_regression_syndrome Simply put, she is an extraordinary young woman, and one hell of a hockey player. She has dreamed of representing the United States since she first discovered sled hockey 7 years ago. I teared up when I heard she made the team, as I knew how hard she has worked and how much it meant to her. I know I will have trouble not crying when I see her introduced Friday night.
I texted her dad a little bit ago, and he is going to be a basket case come Friday. Imagine having your first, and only child, and finding out that child has a very profound physical disability. i know what that's like, wondering what the future might hold for your child. But now he and his wife get to see their daughter represent the United States in an international sports competition. (And these are, absolutely, world class athletes.) They have raised an amazing young woman, and I could not be happier for her or her parents.
I gotta stop. I'm having trouble seeing the keyboard.
More on Jamie: https://voyageohio.com/interview/life-work-with-jamie-benassi-of-newtown-oh/
Here's the link to the tournament: https://www.paralympic.org/green-bay-2022
Hopefully this is the first step towards women's sled hockey being part of the 2024 Paralympics.
