At a special skating session today, there were lots of tumbles. There were even more smiles, however.
As the kids took to the ice at the Barrie Molson Centre, some held the boards and some were held by someone else.
Shayla is one of those skaters, and is one of more than 23,000 visually-impaired young Canadians. She says she can't see the ice, but she can feel it.
“I love gliding on the ice,” she says, “and sometimes I feel like I'm flying instead of skating.”
Courage Canada organized today's skate and blind hockey session with one simple goal.
“We're using hockey as a mechanism to provide youth with the motivation that they can accomplish anything despite their disability,” says Mark Demontis, president of Courage Canada.
Barrie Colts defenseman Liam Maaskant offered some of the kids a hand on the ice. As for courage, he says they already have plenty of that.
“It's pretty gutsy,” he says. “They go all out, they fall down but hop right back up like they're having fun.”
It can take a blind person up to eight times longer to perform a physical skill than a sighted person. Makalya writes and reads braille, and now she's learning how to use a portable braille machine. But in order to do so, she must learn to write backwards in braille – no problem.
“It can be anything from skating to braille,” the 11-year-old says. “Because you’re going to have a new experience which can help you in life.”
Logan has sight in only one eye, but his father says he has no problem seeing opportunities in life.
“It doesn't slow him down at all,” says his father Bill McConnachie.
And Oliver has this advice for all visually impaired skaters: “Basically don't look down at your feet, and keep trying.”
That’s something teaching assistant Christine Hazelton has learned from Shayla.
“She teaches me something every single day, it's absolutely amazing,” she says.
To learn more about Courage Canada and when they're coming to your community, click here.
