An Okotoks tournament is making sure adaptive athletes can reach for their sporting dreams.
The 2023 Cederstrand Foundation Sledge Hockey Tournament takes to the Centennial Arenas on Nov. 25 with three hours of action going to support a charity with a mandate of raising funds to offset the considerable costs of equipment for adaptive athletes.
“It’s not like going out and playing rec hockey, where you buy a pair of hundred-dollar skates, grab a stick and go on a pond and play some shinny,” said Chris Cederstrand, Cederstrand Foundation president and a former Team Canada sledge hockey athlete. “Para ice-hockey, a sled is one thousand bucks, it’s a pretty big investment to go out and do that.
“It’s a big investment just to go and out and be active again and that’s for almost every adaptive sport. It’s not buying a pair of running shoes and a basketball, it’s a five thousand-dollar wheelchair and a basketball.”
Cederstrand lost his leg in a workplace accident before making his way onto the Canadian sledge hockey team for eight years where he competed at the world championships and was an alternate for the Paralympics.
“It was something that stuck really quick once I got out there and got into a sled,” he said. “I know the impact sport had on me and being able to active and get out there again.
“That monetary piece becomes a really big hurdle for a lot of people. Our goal with the foundation is to help mitigate that.”
To date, the foundation has been able to support a number of young athletes pursuing their dreams, including a Canadian Sport Institute athlete who has already set national records in shotput and javelin.
“Being retired, I sort of get to live vicariously through them,” he said with a laugh. “Our first recipient we got the sled for (Hailey King), she made the Canadian women’s national team that year.
“It’s so cool to see that piece of equipment allows people to go out there and just thrive.”
The tournament has been in the works for a number of years.
“Sadly, we got the foundation started and COVID hit, we had events planned and when COVID hit it really shut everything down,” Cederstrand said. “We were able to do a little bit of small fundraising here and there and we’ve been fortunate enough since everything has gone back to normal to give a sled out and some training.
“And this is our first major event for the Cederstrand Foundation.”
The six-team tournament will feature Okotoks Mayor Tanya Thorn’s team dubbed the ‘Governerds’, the Okotoks Fire’s ‘Red Shirt Rebels’, High River Fire’s ‘Donut Dominators’, Rocky View Fire’s ‘Dragon Slayers’, a Source for Sports team and a squad of sports celebrities featuring Paralympic athletes and NHL alumni, among others.
For Cederstrand, getting to introduce individuals to sledge hockey is always a thrill.
“It’s such a cool thing to see,” he said. “This is coming from a lot of pro hockey players that we’ve had out, they get out and think it’s going to be an easy thing.
“When they get out on the ice, they find out it’s one of the most difficult things they’ve ever done. It gives people a lot of respect for what para-athletes go through and what they do.”
Sledge hockey requires considerable core and upper body strength, balance and being ambidextrous with two sticks for shooting and stick handling.
“It’s a level of complexity that most people don’t see,” he said. “It’s also interesting, you have some people that just pick it up and it works for them. We did an event years ago with the chuckwagon racers and these guys riding horses just had an amazing sense of balance.”
The tournament runs from 2:30-5:30 p.m. at the Centennial Arena Green.
The second hour of the event will feature a try-it sledge component for those wanting to take on the sport, by donation to the foundation.
Drinks will be available for purchase at the arena.
A silent auction will be on site as well as opportunities to donate to the charity.
In addition, there will be a come try it rollersled, by donation to play, for those wanting to get a feel for sledge without getting on the ice.
“It will be a really cool event to come out and watch,” he said. “The town has been amazing in supporting me and my career so we would love to get that kind of support and help out some more local athletes to get back into sport or excel in them.”
For more information, visit cederstrandfoundation.com.
