Sophomore Ben Spengel always wanted a chance to play with his peers.
His chance finally came when his sled hockey team, the Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association, known as GLASA, Falcons, took on the Glenbrook North boys hockey teams on April 5 in a sled hockey scrimmage.
“For the first 15 years of my life,…I never had the feeling of what it was like to play in front of my peers,” said Spengel. “It was a special moment for me.”
Born with cerebral palsy, a condition which affects movement, balance and posture, Spengel said he was mad that he could not participate in typical sports. However, in fourth grade, he created an event now called “Run and Roll,” a wheelchair race run in the Spengels’ previous hometown of McHenry, Ill.
“[Ben] didn’t have a lot of outlets for sports…so [our family] was looking for something for him to do,” said Ben’s mother Trish Spengel. “He asked me if he could start a wheelchair race in town, and he approached the mayor about his idea and she loved it.”
Ben said without this event, which was an “instant hit,” he never would have found sled hockey.
Two years later, Ben attended a summer camp with GLASA that exposed him to many types of adaptive sports. Trish Spengel said the camp introduced him to sled hockey by letting him ride on a sled with wheels and he took an immediate interest in the sport.
That summer, his mother said he learned more about sled hockey, and joined the GLASA sled hockey team in Lake Forest, Ill. that same fall.
According to the United States Olympic Committee, sled hockey follows almost all of the same rules as ice hockey, except players skate using sleds. Each player has two sticks with metal picks on the end, allowing players to propel and push themselves while skating.
Ben said he loves the rush of being out on the ice, as well as just having fun.
“I see how much he loves it and how hard he tries…and it’s just amazing watching him be the best that he can be on the ice,” Trish Spengel said.
This past season, Ben said he has grown in his game. Currently in the offseason, Ben is lifting weights, working on stick handling and trying different stretches to improve his skating. He is working towards making the GLASA adult tournament team which went to nationals this season.
“Recently the Paralympics [took place], and I want to get there,” said Ben. “I really want to get there someday.”
Trish Spengel said when he played the boys hockey team, he finally found something in common with his peers.
“[The game] helped expose what the sport [is] all about,” said Trish Spengel. “[Everyone] got to see that people who play adaptive sports are just like them, they just do it a little differently.”