Information about Karl and Anthony:
Karl is number 20 and Anthony is number 9. They both started playing sledge hockey at age 7. Karl started in 1995, and Anthony started in 2001.
Karl was born in 1988 and Anthony was born in 1993. Recently, they both brought home a bronze medal from the 2014 Sochi Paralympic Games. They both have the same disabilities. They both have spina bifida and hydrocephalus. Their disabilities do not stop them from playing the super tough sport of sledge hockey though! They train hard and play even harder! They both want to bring home a gold medal in the next paralympics which will be held in Pyeong Chang, South Korea in 2018.
About Sledge Hockey:
Players have a lot of the same equipment as in hockey. However, they also have special skates which are kind of like these seats with blades underneath them. The sledges can have blades that are far apart at first, but as you get more experiences, your blades come closer together. The players get 2 smaller sticks, one for each hand. They have sharp metal picks to move around with. The picks can be very dangerous. You have to have a lot of upper body strength to move around on the ice.
The goalies have spikes on their gloves. There are also spikes on the end of their sticks and two on the heel. One more thing about the goalie is that their skates are dull so that they can glide across from post to post.
Sledge hockey seems like a pretty awesome and intense sport. We really enjoyed hearing about it, and we would like to thank Anthony and Karl for visiting us today. We also want to say how proud we are of them for bringing home a bronze medal!! Way to go guys! (By the way, did you know that the medal had bits of meteorite in it? Maybe that's why it was so heavy!)
What do you think about sledge hockey? Did you enjoy the presentation today? What was your favourite part?
Check out some more pictures from our visit, below.