Inline Sledge Hockey, World Launch Exceeds all Expectations

It’s rare for a new sport to be created. It’s even rarer for it to immediately generate support and a fan base. But after the launch of Inline Sledge Hockey at Bisley on the weekend of the 19th December 2009 its clear that a Inline Sledge Hockey is going to be the future of inclusive sport.

Based on Ice Sledge Hockey (the Paralympic version of Ice Hockey), Inline Sledge Hockey is played on a sports hall using custom made sledges with wheels, using rules adapted from inline puck hockey. The game is as fast and as furious as Ice Sledge Hockey but with the advantage that it can be played anywhere and by anyone.

Three games were played over two days, the first two being between the Hull Stingrays and the Grimsby Redwings and the third being between a combined Stingrays/Redwings team and a number of Ice and Inline Hockey players, including current GB Inline Hockey players. This final game saw the Stingrays/ Redwings team comfortably win by a 7 – 0 margin and demonstrated to any sceptics that Inline Sledge Hockey is a genuine physical, contact sport and not just a token nod to allowing the disabled and able bodied to play together.

Already Inline Sledge Hockey has changed lives. Vicki Bell (17) from Poole described the weekend as the “most brilliant she had ever had” and was able to continue her family tradition of playing hockey, as her elder brother had played Ice Hockey for the Guildford Flames. Although Vicki has a disability which means that she needs to use a wheelchair, she was able to compete equally with players with no disabilities.

Inline Sledge Hockey was originally the brainchild of Paralympian Matt Lloyd, however it has been developed though the dedication and commitment of several key organisations including the Hull Stingrays Elite League Ice Hockey Team, sports wheelchair manufacturers RGK, the British Sledge Hockey Association, Wheelpower and the British Inline Puck Hockey Association. Such has been the response to Inline Sledge Hockey that it looks likely that there will be enough teams launched for an Inline Sledge Hockey League to be established within the next year. 

For more information please contact

Matt Lloyd, BSHA, 07737 226 761, matt@sledgehockey.co.uk 

Russ Simms, RGK, 01543 670 077, RusselS@rgk-wheelchairs.co.uk 

Mike Pack, Hull Stingrays, 07789 002 950, office@hullstingrays.net 

RGK - sledge data sheet here
Inline Hockey Photography (Clare Stanton) here
Inline Sledge Hockey, Gallery One here
Inline Sledge Hockey, Gallery Two here
RGK - website here
BSHA - website here
BIPHA - website here