GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Visually impaired and blind people are coming to Grand Rapids Sunday, Jan. 26 to take part in a Try Blind Hockey event put on by the Griffins Youth Foundation, a part of the Grand Rapids Griffins.
20 people with impaired or no vision are coming as far as Indiana and throughout Michigan to skate at the Griff's IceHouse at Belknap Park from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
People ages 4 to 54 years old are registered to take part in the event. In addition to the Griffins Youth Foundation, this free skate is organized by the captain of the U.S. Blind Hockey Team, Tim Kane.
He along with Griffins hockey players, coaches and 13 ON YOUR SIDE anchor Nick LaFave will serve as guides to assist the skaters and help set up drills for them.
Kane and his teammate will facilitate drills for those who are more experienced on the ice on one side of the rink, and someone from the Griffins Youth Foundation will work with beginners on the other.
Blind hockey only has minor adaptions from ice hockey: the players are legally blind and the puck is bigger, slower and makes noise as it slides across the ice.
Kane said he is grateful to the Griffins Youth Foundation for giving people with impairments the opportunity to play a game they love.
"Imagine a kid playing a sport that he or she never thought would be possible," Kane said in a press release. "It's a lot of fun to see people get out on the ice for the first time. We want people to see that hockey really is for everyone."
Kane is from Grandville and is legally blind due to a juvenile degenerative condition. He approached the youth foundation and asked to partner with them to put on this event.
The Executive Director of the foundation Kirk Morgan said in a press release he and the Griffins "enthusiastically" agreed to partner with Kane. The event was inspired by a blind member in the Griffins Youth Foundation Program, 10-year-old Tryson Smallegan.
The foundation was founded to provide hockey opportunities to kids who face barriers to participation, according to Morgan.
"We hope it will open new doors to play this great sport for those of all ages," Morgan said in a press release.
The Try Blind Hockey event will conclude with a scrimmage at 2:45 p.m., followed by a social hour in the rink's community room where all players and their families are invited to join.
Saturday night, the Griffins hosted their Hockey Without Barriers Night, which highlights the opportunities hockey brings to those willing to play the sport, despite disabilities or impairments. The Griffins hosted the San Diego Gulls, where Kane dropped the puck.
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