One of my absolute favorite things in the world, and something I will talk about frequently on this blog, is blind hockey. Every Tuesday, I go to the rink and get to practice ice skating and playing blind hockey with my local sports club! You’re probably wondering how I became a blind hockey player. Well, keep reading and you’ll find out.

As a child, I’ve always been a huge sports fan! Growing up in Texas, there were not many opportunities for blind people to play sports. I was able to participate in a sport called goal ball, but that was only once or twice during an annual sports event for blind students. I largely remained a spectator and dreamed that someday I would have the opportunity to play a sport. I never imagined that I would learn to ice skate or become a blind hockey player.

A few months after moving to Finland, I was introduced to the guys who run the Aisti Sport club. Aisti Sport is a sports club serving blind and visually impaired children and adults in the Helsinki metropolitan area. Blind people can play goal ball, blind hockey and blind football (soccer) through Aisti Sport’s activities. I will never forget the pure joy I felt when I discovered that I could participate in a sport! Since I was already a huge hockey fan, it made sense that I would begin my sports activities with blind hockey. Because of the coronavirus situation in Finland, I was not able to begin learning to ice skate until the fall skating season, which was about 6 months ago.

I will never forget my first few blind hockey practices. It was funny, here I was, a 30-year-old American, just learning to skate. Most of my teammates have been skating since they were small children! We quickly gave me the nickname Hockey Bambi! With the help of my coach Carmen, I began learning all of the skills involved in ice skating and playing hockey. Carmen is amazing, originally from Canada, she has lived in Finland for over 20 years. Learning from her is amazing and it really encourages me to know someone else who successfully moved to Finland and built a life here, just like I am working hard to do. Coach, if you read this, you inspire me so much every day! My hockey nickname is no longer Hockey Bambi, but Jääkiekko Poro (Hockey Reindeer)!

Over the last 6 months, I’ve learned to skate, gone to my first blind hockey camp at the para-olympic training center in Finland and I am now working on my puck handling skills so I can start playing in active games. One of the most common questions I’m asked is, what does it feel like to skate as a blind person? In short, it feels amazing! When I skate, I’m simply free to glide around the ice, effortlessly and without fear of the unknown! I can hear where the boards and other players are, and many times I literally close my eyes, relax and simply enjoy skating! Life as a blind person can often be quite stressful and when I skate, I can feel the stress of life literally melt away! I often feel like an ice princess. I can honestly say that the only other time in life I feel such freedom is working with my guide dog, Routa, about whom I will write often. When I travel all over Helsinki with Routa, I experience that same feeling of effortlessly gliding through the city without fear or worry.

I would literally ice skate every day if I could, but for now I simply have 1 hour of precious ice time every Tuesday. In the future, I will be sharing lots more stories from my blind hockey activities. If you have any questions about blind hockey, leave a comment here or contact me through social media, and I’ll be happy to answer your questions in a future blog post! 

Lastly, I want to share Aisti Sport’s Instagram and Facebook with you all. Go check them out, posts on Facebook can be translated from Finnish into English, and learn more about blind sports in Finland! I hope soon to highlight blind hockey clubs around the world and share with you more about all of the people and organizations who are working to build this awesome sport. And you can checkout a video of me learning how to carry the puck here.

Aisti Sport website: aistisport.com

Read more about my love of hockey here.