{"id":72975,"date":"2023-11-25T10:09:22","date_gmt":"2023-11-25T17:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=72975"},"modified":"2023-11-25T10:09:22","modified_gmt":"2023-11-25T17:09:22","slug":"happy-tears-superheros-helps-disabled-children-achieve-hockey-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2023\/11\/25\/happy-tears-superheros-helps-disabled-children-achieve-hockey-dreams\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Happy Tears’: SuperHEROS helps disabled children achieve hockey dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kids getting their shot:<\/strong> A volunteer and SuperHEROS player enjoying their time at the SuperHEROS practice at the Max Bell Centre in Calgary, Alta on Sunday, Nov. 4, 2023. The practice runs every Sunday morning to help kids with cognitive and physical disabilities. (Photo by Will Fisher\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

W<\/span>hen Karen Kelm\u2019s son Noah first stepped on the ice, all she and her husband Mike could do was cry.<\/p>\n

Noah had always wanted to be a hockey player. He also has a rare disease that affects his speech and cognitive function.<\/p>\n

Now 21, Noah started playing six years ago, and is living his dream thanks to SuperHEROS, a hockey program in Western Canada for those with cognitive and physical disabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cNoah has the most complex needs of my kids,” said Karen. “This gives an opportunity for my other two (children) to really see that he\u2019s just Noah. He\u2019s not just their older brother with different needs. They\u2019re here to celebrate him and cheer him on and see him for the spark he has.”<\/p>\n

Noah\u2019s disease does not have target treatments to help with his speech and communication. Since starting with SuperHEROS, Noah\u2019s communication and function have improved.<\/p>\n

Karen says hockey helped that. “Hockey has done what research has yet to do,” she said.<\/p>\n

SuperHEROS started in 2018 after Rob Kerr and Kevin Hodgson identified a need in Western Canada. A hockey program for young kids suffering from cognitive or physical disabilities did not exist. HEROS hockey \u2013 a program providing free hockey for marginalized kids \u2013 had already been established in Canada, but Western Canada had no options for kids with disabilities.<\/p>\n

After a parent of a child with autism explained the situation to Kerr, he and Hodgson got to work.\u201cThe problem with sports in our country has always been you, as the athlete, need to adapt to the sport to be a part of it, and that\u2019s wrong,” said Kerr. “The sport needs to adapt to the needs of the athlete.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThat first year was a lot of learning, a lot of trial and error, but we really felt good about it,” said Kerr. “We also learned that it wasn\u2019t just about the kids, but the parents.\u201d Making SuperHEROS a program where everyone, including the adults, felt welcome and comfortable became priority number one for Kerr and Hodgson.<\/p>\n

Familiarity is important for the kids, says Kerr. “They see it in school and other places, where it\u2019s never the same people. If you volunteer (with SuperHEROS), we ask that you come to 75 per cent of the ice times.”<\/p>\n

“They need the continuity.”<\/p>\n

The practices are pure joy. Kids smiling ear-to-ear, laughing with each other and the volunteers, parents watching from the stands. Any support the kids need is provided so that everyone can be involved. Some kids sit and talk the whole time, while others skate for an hour straight. For those who cannot skate because of their disabilities, a volunteer takes them wherever they want to go.<\/p>\n

It is impossible not to feel a sense of belonging and community.<\/p>\n

Last March, SuperHEROS teams from four different cities flew to Ottawa for their first tournament. They got the whole tournament experience, such as staying at a hotel and team dinners.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever cried in a hockey arena, but there were a lot of happy tears that day,” said Josh Delves, an Ottawa-based fundraiser for SuperHEROS. “It was such a special experience, watching 15 deserving kids being able to experience that for the first time.”<\/p>\n

SuperHEROS is being introduced to various cities that need these kinds of programs for their youth. The number of lives the program can change is unfathomable. As Kerr puts it, \u201cThere isn\u2019t a limit on this.\u201d<\/p>\n

To find out more about the program, volunteering or donating, visit https:\/\/heroshockey.com\/programs\/super-heros\/.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Kids getting their shot:<\/strong> Riley Budd and a SuperHEROS goalie during the SuperHEROS practice at the Max Bell Centre in Calgary, Alta. on Sunday, Nov. 4, 2023. Budd comes to the practices every Sunday to interact and help coach the SuperHEROS. (Photo by Will Fisher\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Karen Kelm\u2019s son Noah first stepped on the ice at a SuperHEROS practice, all she and her husband Mike could do was cry. Noah has a rare disease that affects his speech and cognitive function, but he had always wanted to be a hockey player. Now, years later, Noah attends every SuperHEROS practice living his dream. [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":867,"featured_media":72976,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"S2 SuperHEROS WF","footnotes":""},"categories":[1585,1109,13,1106],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-72975","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-junior-amateur-sports","8":"category-mental-health","9":"category-news","10":"category-physical-health-and-wellness"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72975","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\/867"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72975"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73096,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72975\/revisions\/73096"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}