Jon Schwartz, head coach of the NJ Dare Devils hockey program for special needs athletes, is going big time in the Garden State. During “Hockey Across America” weekend, January 29-31, Coach Schwartz and some of his players, junior coaches, and fans, will tour all 54 rinks in New Jersey, raising awareness and building momentum for special needs hockey. The goal isn’t to treat special hockey as a charity but rather to fully support and provide opportunity for special needs athletes. Most of these programs become self-sustaining once they reach critical mass, so the goal of the cross-jersey trek for jerseys is to raise awareness and build demand.
Follow the effort on Twitter or on Coach Schwartz’s new blog. Better yet, if you know a special needs athlete, bring them to one of the rinks, and come say “hi” to both Bubbas at the Brick Ice Palace on Sunday, January 31st at 9:00 AM, come to the kick off at the New York NHL store on Friday January 29, or celebrate the end of the tour at the Devils home game that Sunday afternoon (the 31st) against the now-hot LA Kings.
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Thanks for the shout out Hal.
When http://www.everybodyskates.com goes is live in the next week or so, we’ll be asking people to “sign” an on-line petition supporting local NJ rinks allocating (not donating) one hour of ice time per week, in season, for Disabled Hockey. Disabled encompasses:
Sled Hockey
Standing Amputee Hockey
Deaf/Hard of Hearing Hockey
Special Hockey (develomental disablilities)
I appreciate your readers coming back to sign our petition when it’s ready. Thx again!