Ice Bowl rolls back into Chippewa
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By DAVID BOSSICK / The Chippewa Herald
Thursday, April 10, 2008 12:36 AM CDT
It’s a little bit of old school and a little bit of new school.
For those who face the Wisconsin Warriors, it’s a lot of fun school.
The Warriors are a sled hockey team that competes in exhibition games throughout the state and they’re bringing their style of hockey to Chippewa Area Ice Arena as part of the arena’s Sixth Annual Ice Bowl Saturday.
The Warriors play Chippewa’s Peewee team at 10 a.m. Saturday and a sled hockey team from Minnesota at 4 p.m.
Sled hockey is a form of hockey that allows for disabled people to enjoy the sport of hockey on a full sheet of ice.
It’s the equipment that blends some nostalgia and some newer tools for the players to play.
“I tell people the sled is kind of like a red Radio Flyer Sled,” said Warriors coach Brad Rothlesberger. “But they put a seat on it and they have a strap for making sure they’re in.”
The sled might bring back memories for the older generation. The rest of the equipment is something that’s definitely unique.
“You also have a left- and right-handed stick. It’s about a third of the stick,” Rothlesberger said. “The butt-end has picks.
“So you sit on the sled, and they propel themselves by picking through the ice. They then flip the stick around to hit a shot,” he said.
The rules for the game are exactly the same as what are used in a typical game of hockey. The same number of players play as well.
The Warriors got their start last spring when a group of parents in the Madison area approached Rothlesberger, who lives in the Green Bay area.
Rothlesberger started to get this form of hockey going two years ago. He’s on the board for the Wisconsin Amateur Hockey Association and a presentation was given by a gentleman from Chicago about the game for the disabled.
For the past year, the team has barnstormed the state, facing able-bodied players who also take part in the games on sleds. The team has played teams from La Crosse, Oshkosh, Madison, Wausau and Appleton.
“All the kids we play against play in sleds that we loan them,” Rothlesberger said. “The able-body kids use our old equipment.”
It’s been games against able-bodied kids so far. He hopes that eventually, the team could play a series of games against a team from Minnesota and a team from Chicago.
“What we’re trying to do is grow sled hockey in Wisconsin and througout the Midwest,” he said.
Eventually, he would like to see three teams from the state participating — one from the southern portion of the state including Madison and Milwaukee; one from north and central wisconsin including Green Bay and Wausau; and another including La Crosse, Chippewa Falls and up to Superior.
Sled hockey is proving to be a alternative for disabled athletes who may have played wheelchair basketball.
“They fly around and you can see the absolute excitement on their face,” Rothlesberger said. “They also have that same intensity on their face like in wheelchair basketball.”
The fun is also felt by those who play against the Warriors, something Chippewa’s Peewee team will do.
“The able-bodied kids talk about how much fun it is and just how difficult it is,” Rothlesberger said.
The Warriors will play two games Saturday afternoon at Chippewa Area Ice Arena. For more information on the Warriors, call Brad Rothlesberger at (920) 592-0986 or e-mail him at hockeyrefbar@sbcglobal.net.
Reach David Bossick at david.bossick@lee.net.
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