With the Winter Olympics in full swing in Milan and the Paralympics starting shortly after, interest in winter sports is at a high. Here in Milwaukee, there’s a strong community of adaptive athletics that has made the fun of ice sports available to everyone.
Two organizations in particular embody the camaraderie and joy of adaptive winter sports: The Wauwatosa Curling Club’s adaptive curling program and the Wisconsin Adaptive Sports Association’s sled-hockey team.
“If anybody is in a wheelchair like I am or has special needs like I do, they come and have fun. This sport is all about having fun. And even the seriousness of thinking about the shots, you have fun,” said John, a wheelchair curler who traveled all the way from Dallas to Wauwatosa to play in the curling club’s first adaptive curling bonspiel — the term for tournament in Scotland, where the sport was born.
John has been curling for nine years and says it’s the aspects of friendship and community that make adaptive curling so important to him. At the bonspiel, there were many who agreed with him that while the sport itself is fun, it's the opportunity to be in a supportive environment and foster new friendships that drew them to the sport.
One of those new connections was between Amanda, a competitive wheelchair curler from Chicago, and Emma, a curler with Down syndrome. Although they had never played together before, they formed a fast partnership based on their mutual feelings about the sport.
“It felt wonderful,” Emma beamed. “It’s good to be on the ice, and we just love it so much,”
Amanda was a little more analytical about their performance but said, “It's good to be back on the ice. There were definitely some challenges along the way, I had some technical difficulties … but it was good. It was a good game. It came down to a close [one] at the end.”
Inviting everyone to the ice
While this was Wauwatosa Curling Club’s first adaptive tournament, its adaptive curling programming began in 2007 to make it possible for anyone to curl, regardless of skill. Club member Allen Miller and adaptive program chair Emily Kraus shared more about what draws people to the sport, on and off the ice.
“Curling really is two parts: the sport out on the ice and then the time together in what we call our warm room of socializing with friends,” Miller said.
“There's a lot of downtime in between games, and so that's where a lot of the fun is,” Kraus added. “After your games, you’re expected to broomstack … with the team that you curled against. And so this is where we share drinks and food. Sometimes we play games together and really get to know the other team.
“Then in this time, you're usually watching the other games, but that's really the biggest part of curling is the community of hanging out, getting to know other people and just sharing a good time.”
It may be intimidating to try a new sport for the first time, but Miller was quick to encourage everyone to try it. “Don't let the nerves get in your way. Plow down those walls, plow down any hesitations you might have. It is the most welcoming community. It is the most adaptable sport no matter what your ability level is, no matter anything.
“If there's a will, there's a way, and just get out here and try it. Everyone always is willing to help no matter what. If you can't slide out from the half, they'll teach you how to stick curl. If you can't stick curl, they'll teach you how to chair curl. There's always a way, and we'll help you find it.”
From stones to sticks
Another impactful group in the adaptive athletics community is the Wisconsin Adaptive Sports Association (WASA), an organization whose sled-hockey team has been taking to the ice at Uihlein Ice Area since 2015.
While they follow most of the rules of traditional ice hockey, players move around the surface in sleds, allowing those with different mobility levels to take part. Caroline Bilsborough, the team’s coach, shared more about what separates sled hockey from other adaptive sports.
“I think people are used to seeing the NHL, and that's their picture of what hockey is,” she said. “They're used to that standup style. So when you talk about sled hockey, it's different. It is a learning curve. Even within the adaptive community, it seems like a lot of people are maybe a little confused at first because so many of the other sports you're in a wheelchair.”
I talked with two team members, Jeremy and Cindy, who shared that after being in serious accidents, trying a sport like sled hockey was a way for them to be part of a team and stay active.
Jeremy served in the Marine Corps and got involved with the sport to find connection and community. “I love the intensity of it,” he said. “I mean, being in the Marine Corps, intensity was all we lived and breathed. So like just the sheer intensity of the sport and the camaraderie we get with teammates and just the other teams we play, it's just such a welcoming community regardless of what team you're on.”
As for Cindy, she took a chance and stepped up to be the team’s goalie even though her skating experience was very limited. “I owned a pair of ice skates, but I probably hadn't ice skated since like middle school or high school,” she said, “and most of my skating experience was pond skating with my cousins up in central Minnesota. Never played hockey, never was on the main rink ice when we started.”
Before joining the team, Cindy considered herself the “team mom,” as she was at every practice cheering on her husband and the rest of the players. When an opportunity presented itself to give the sport a try, Cindy took it. She says that being part of a team reconnected her to that passion for supporting others.
“I was very concerned about keeping myself, my coworkers and my patients safe,” she said. “And this is a way for me to stay active and support other people in their journeys.”
Like other adaptive sports, the team has built their success on community, pushing boundaries and promoting inclusivity within athletics.
“I think from that community perspective it's really unique because this isn't a 10-year-old kid whose parent is driving them to practice,” Bilsborough shared. “These are adults — and some kids too — who are choosing to show up every week and really want to be here and want to commit to having this active lifestyle within the adaptive community.”
