Outside the weather was cold and blustery.
Inside things were warm and welcoming.
And, of course, competitive . . . for both teams.
The Yarmouth Special Olympics floor hockey team is preparing for their upcoming provincial winter games being played in Aldershot and Kentville Feb. 20-22.
The team has been practicing for the event since last fall and the athletes, says Brian Lewis, one of the coaches, “are pumped.”
Not only will the upcoming games give the athletes a chance to compete against other teams, but the event is also a qualifier for teams to advance to nationals being held next year in Newfoundland.
A chance exchange near the boards at the Mariners Centre during a junior A Mariners game led to some extra community involvement when it comes to seeing the Special Olympics team prepare for the games. Adam MacIsaac, another of the team’s coaches, was talking with Ronnie Jacquard, head coach of the YCMHS Vikings hockey team. MacIsaac was telling Jacquard about the team’s preparations and Jacquard offered to have his hockey team practice with the Special Olympics team.
Jacquard has been encouraging his players to be more involved in the community. During the season, for instance, they’ve been helping out minor hockey coaches and players during practices as part of a mentoring program.
“Bring it on!” was Special Olympian Randy Muise’s reaction when he heard the Vikings would be coming out to play floor hockey with them. “This is going to be fun!”
Tweeted the YCMHS Vikings: "Should be a fun night full of smiles. Vikings playing a ringette game against the special Olympics team. Will be great time for all."
Although on paper it is called a floor hockey team, the team actually plays ringette. For the Vikings hockey players it took a little adjustment to play with sticks that don’t have blades at the end of them.
“Quite often I noticed they were going for one timers, which is kind of hard to do with a ring,” laughed Lewis. “There were a couple of nice one-timer goals that they did, but most of the time when they went for that they were getting picked off.” That’s because the Yarmouth Special Olympics team is pretty serious when it comes to ringette.
“That’s the main thing we’ve practiced, being strong on the ring and not letting someone take it from you,” Lewis says.
Like hockey, there is no high sticking allowed in ringette. And while you can hit your opponent’s stick with your own stick, there is no slashing permitted. But there are also differences. When you’re in the faceoff you’re not allowed to hit the ring more than once.
When it comes to Special Olympics athletes, they are classified as an A, B or C athlete depending on their mobility, notes Lewis. The Yarmouth team has athletes with varying degrees of mobility.
Special Olympics is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to providing year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with an intellectual disability.
While sometimes the disability may be pronounced or visible, other times it’s not as apparent, a learning disability for instance. There can also a physical disability at play.
However the focus is never on what an athlete can’t do, but rather what he or she can do.
“It’s all about what your abilities are,” says Lewis. He notes that one of his team members plays ice hockey in addition to floor hockey.
In addition to the floor hockey/ringette team, Yarmouth Special Olympics is also sending two curling teams to the upcoming winter games. The games will also feature snowshoeing, Nordic skiing and figure skating,
Back at the Beacon Church hall, in addition to the friendly competition the evening involved a lot of laughs and good-natured ribbing between the two teams.
And while we won’t say what the score was, the Special Olympians seemed to have more success in reaching the back of the net with the ring and ringette sticks than the Vikings did – hopefully a sign of good things to come when the team is in Aldershot.
“The high school team, I think, gained a whole new respect for their abilities. And this was the most competition we’ve had in getting ready,” says Lewis, who says he told the high school players they were looking for a strong level of competition. “We really appreciated them coming out and helping out. For young guys, it’s good to see them being active in the community.”
The two teams are hoping to get together at least once more before the winter games.
Outside the weather was cold and blustery.
Inside things were warm and welcoming.
And, of course, competitive . . . for both teams.
The Yarmouth Special Olympics floor hockey team is preparing for their upcoming provincial winter games being played in Aldershot and Kentville Feb. 20-22.
The team has been practicing for the event since last fall and the athletes, says Brian Lewis, one of the coaches, “are pumped.”
Not only will the upcoming games give the athletes a chance to compete against other teams, but the event is also a qualifier for teams to advance to nationals being held next year in Newfoundland.
A chance exchange near the boards at the Mariners Centre during a junior A Mariners game led to some extra community involvement when it comes to seeing the Special Olympics team prepare for the games. Adam MacIsaac, another of the team’s coaches, was talking with Ronnie Jacquard, head coach of the YCMHS Vikings hockey team. MacIsaac was telling Jacquard about the team’s preparations and Jacquard offered to have his hockey team practice with the Special Olympics team.
Jacquard has been encouraging his players to be more involved in the community. During the season, for instance, they’ve been helping out minor hockey coaches and players during practices as part of a mentoring program.
“Bring it on!” was Special Olympian Randy Muise’s reaction when he heard the Vikings would be coming out to play floor hockey with them. “This is going to be fun!”
Tweeted the YCMHS Vikings: "Should be a fun night full of smiles. Vikings playing a ringette game against the special Olympics team. Will be great time for all."
Although on paper it is called a floor hockey team, the team actually plays ringette. For the Vikings hockey players it took a little adjustment to play with sticks that don’t have blades at the end of them.
“Quite often I noticed they were going for one timers, which is kind of hard to do with a ring,” laughed Lewis. “There were a couple of nice one-timer goals that they did, but most of the time when they went for that they were getting picked off.” That’s because the Yarmouth Special Olympics team is pretty serious when it comes to ringette.
“That’s the main thing we’ve practiced, being strong on the ring and not letting someone take it from you,” Lewis says.
Like hockey, there is no high sticking allowed in ringette. And while you can hit your opponent’s stick with your own stick, there is no slashing permitted. But there are also differences. When you’re in the faceoff you’re not allowed to hit the ring more than once.
When it comes to Special Olympics athletes, they are classified as an A, B or C athlete depending on their mobility, notes Lewis. The Yarmouth team has athletes with varying degrees of mobility.
Special Olympics is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to providing year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with an intellectual disability.
While sometimes the disability may be pronounced or visible, other times it’s not as apparent, a learning disability for instance. There can also a physical disability at play.
However the focus is never on what an athlete can’t do, but rather what he or she can do.
“It’s all about what your abilities are,” says Lewis. He notes that one of his team members plays ice hockey in addition to floor hockey.
In addition to the floor hockey/ringette team, Yarmouth Special Olympics is also sending two curling teams to the upcoming winter games. The games will also feature snowshoeing, Nordic skiing and figure skating,
Back at the Beacon Church hall, in addition to the friendly competition the evening involved a lot of laughs and good-natured ribbing between the two teams.
And while we won’t say what the score was, the Special Olympians seemed to have more success in reaching the back of the net with the ring and ringette sticks than the Vikings did – hopefully a sign of good things to come when the team is in Aldershot.
“The high school team, I think, gained a whole new respect for their abilities. And this was the most competition we’ve had in getting ready,” says Lewis, who says he told the high school players they were looking for a strong level of competition. “We really appreciated them coming out and helping out. For young guys, it’s good to see them being active in the community.”
The two teams are hoping to get together at least once more before the winter games.
