PLYMOUTH, Mich. – It’s a fight on, and off, the ice as women’s sled hockey battles to become an official Paralympic sport.
It’s a timely conversation since the 2024 Paralympics just started in Paris.
The US women’s sled hockey team has been around since 2008 and they’ve been trying to get to the Paralympics since then. However, a lack of global interest, and funding .stands in the way.
The team just had tryouts in Plymouth, where we learned what it will take to make to the Winter Games.
The International Paralympic Committee requires 8 countries for a sport to be included in the games.
“So right now we have us – USA, Canada and Great Britain. Japan and China, they won’t come until we’re sanctioned but we won’t be sanctioned until they start coming,” says sled hockey player Erica McKee.
Coach Rose Misiewicz says there’s another inherit challenge: support for para-athletes in general.
“Being a women in this sport is challenging. Being a disabled athlete, in the United States I think we’re fortunate in the US,” says coach Misiewicz. “There’s other countries that don’t recognize individuals with disabilities so it’s a challenge in other parts of the world.”
How we can help is by donating. Team USA has started a foundation to help support teams outside the U.S.
While the next Winter Games are in Milan in 2026, they’re hoping to make this happen for the 2030 games in the French Alps.