{"id":68695,"date":"2023-01-11T11:46:42","date_gmt":"2023-01-11T18:46:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=68695"},"modified":"2023-01-11T11:46:42","modified_gmt":"2023-01-11T18:46:42","slug":"the-teddy-bear-toss-game-comes-to-the-calgary-superheros","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2023\/01\/11\/the-teddy-bear-toss-game-comes-to-the-calgary-superheros\/","title":{"rendered":"The teddy bear toss game comes to the Calgary SuperHEROS"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SuperHEROS volunteers: <\/strong>Karen Kelm (left) and Joshua Weaver (middle) pose alongside HEROS Hockey Director of Operations Kevin Hodgson (right) after the SuperHEROS teddy bear toss game in Calgary, Alberta on Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022. The idea to bring the game to the SuperHEROS came from Kelm’s son Noah after he saw the Calgary Hitmen’s rendition in 2021. (Photo by Phil Wachowich\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

H<\/span>EROS Hockey brought the teddy bear toss game to a team of Calgary hockey players with cognitive and physical challenges.<\/p>\n

T<\/span>he idea to bring the game to the Calgary SuperHEROS<\/a> team came from one of the players, Noah Kelm, after he saw the Calgary Hitmen\u2019s annual teddy bear toss game last winter.<\/p>\n

Since 2000, the HEROS Hockey program has brought the game of hockey to Canadians living with barriers that prevent them from playing.<\/p>\n

\u201cNoah saw the Hitmen do their teddy bear toss, and said he wanted to jump in a bunch of teddy bears. I said, \u2018Let’s do it!\u201d said HEROS parent and volunteer Karen Kelm. \u201cI thought it might be a fun idea because a lot of the time, kids with different abilities can\u2019t necessarily take in the chaos that ensues at a Hitmen game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The idea came to life on Sunday, Dec. 4 when 300 teddy bears were thrown onto the ice at Max Bell Arena after the opening goal was scored by 12-year-old Teo Finley.<\/p>\n

HEROS Hockey\u2019s Executive Director, Kevin Hodgson, said he first learned about the lack of opportunity for people with diagnoses that prevent them from playing hockey in the traditional structure from a parent in 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe came to me and said, \u2018my son has autism, there\u2019s nowhere for him to play. Can you help me, I want to start a team for him,\u201d said Hodgson. \u201cI said to him \u2018I can\u2019t imagine there\u2019s not somewhere for your kid to play. You must not have looked everywhere.\u2019 And that was my first mistake, ever doubting any of these kids’ parents haven\u2019t looked for resources for their kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using the lack of availability as motivation, Hodgson started the SuperHEROS program in Calgary that fall.<\/p>\n

\u201c(We) started one group and thought well, we\u2019ll see how it goes, and now we\u2019ve got seven teams across Western Canada,” said Hodgson. “We\u2019re getting lots of parents with stories to tell about how, \u2018the doctor said my kid wouldn\u2019t do this, this and this\u2019 and they\u2019re doing all of it now.<\/p>\n

The impact that the SuperHEROS program has had for players and their parents is indescribable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a dream to see my kids\u2019 dreams come true,\u201d said Kelm. \u201cTo see someone like Kevin and all the volunteers associated with HEROS Hockey to just accept our kids for who they are and really embrace them, and help their light shine a bit brighter (means a lot).\u201d<\/p>\n

In June of 2021, Hodgson was awarded the Willie O\u2019Ree Community Hero Award<\/a>. The award is given out by the NHL each year to the individual that has positively impacted their community, culture, or society through the sport of hockey.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re getting lots of parents with stories to tell about how, \u2018the doctor said my kid wouldn\u2019t do this, this and this\u2019 and they\u2019re doing all of it now. -Kevin Hodgson<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cFor a long time, where the game has let these kids down is that they\u2019ve said, \u2018when you can meet how we like to do the game, then there\u2019s a place for you.\u2019 And what we\u2019re doing is we\u2019re adapting the game to meet them where they are at,\u201d said Hodgson. \u201cThere\u2019s lots of barriers, and we just have to find a different way for them to play and we\u2019ve been able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hodgson\u2019s devotion towards the SuperHEROS program is readily apparent. He makes his way around the arena greeting every player and parent from all three SuperHEROS groups.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HEROS Hockey brought the teddy bear toss game to a team of Calgary hockey players with cognitive and physical challenges. [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":804,"featured_media":68696,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"S5 HEROS Hockey PW","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,17],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-68695","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-city","8":"category-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/804"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68695"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68864,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68695\/revisions\/68864"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}