Hockey players with sensory needs accommodated with inclusive teddy bear toss – Calgary

A team of hockey players living with cognitive and physical challenges were given the chance to be included in a hockey tradition that many may have never experienced before.

On Sunday morning, the SuperHEROS hockey team hosted its first teddy bear toss at the Max Bell Center.

Hockey mom Karen Kelm got the idea from her son and team goalie Noah, who was diagnosed with Fragile X Syndrome.

“He just wanted to be part of the teddy bear toss,” Kelm said.

“I thought it was a great opportunity for kids to be a part of something that maybe they can’t be a part of the typical teddy bear toss,” she said.

Kelm said traditional atmospheres like the Calgary Hitmen teddy bear toss, also held Sunday, can be too overwhelming for some of the children with sensory needs because of uncontrollable cheering and loud noises. So their meeting was planned in a controlled environment and they knew exactly when the first goal would be scored.

“Then we can prepare some of the children where it might be too hard for them or they might not want to be part of the actual throwing of the teddy bears,” said Kelm.

The goal that prompted fans to throw more than 300 teddy bears onto the ice was scored by 12-year-old Teo Finley.

“It was fun,” Finley said, describing the goal that sent the Teddy Bears onto the ice.

Kevin Hodgson, executive director of SuperHEROS, says events like the teddy bear toss are just one of many ways the league is trying to be more inclusive of these kids who face daily challenges and just want to play the game.

“There wasn’t a path for them,” says Hodgeson. “The game of hockey expected them to adapt to the needs of hockey, we had to adapt the game of hockey to meet the needs of our players.”

The Calgary Northstars U17 AAA team helped with Sunday’s event, whose players also act as mentors for the SuperHERO players on the ice.

“It means just as much to them to have the same opportunity because they don’t get the same chances as us. So for them to have the same opportunities as us, it’s really nice,” said defenseman Nolan Paquette.

Assistant coach Dan Giasson says it is important that his team can give back and not take what they can do for granted.

“It’s really cool that we can step out of the elite stream as they say and just kind of be out there with kids that just want to play the game,” Giasson said.

“They are hockey players just like us, no matter what the jersey is, we are just all hockey players.”

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