Hundreds of sledge hockey players from across Canada gather at WinSport to compete in Matt Cook Memorial Cup

Twenty-nine sledge hockey teams participated in this weekend's Western Canada Sledge Hockey Tournament. Tyler Barrow reports.

Sledge hockey parent Krystle Heikkinen said that the best thing about the sport is that it’s all about who can play, not who can’t.

“We have kids as young as four years old all the way up to adult,” said Heikkinen, who is a committee member for the Matt Cook Memorial Cup, a sledge hockey tournament that took place this weekend at WinSport.

“We have seniors too,” Heikkinen said. “Para hockey is one of the most incredible sports where anyone from any not only any age, but any type of accessibility, or if a child has a disability, can come and play.

“Kids that may be more severe with a disability you may see behind us,” she added. “We have parents that are (para) pushers, so (that) really allows an inclusive play for all kids and adults of all ages.”

Over 29 teams participated in the 20th edition of the Matt Cook Memorial Cup this weekend, with the Melville Sledge Dogs coming out on top.

“We have teams coming from all across Canada and so hundreds of sledge hockey players are playing this weekend,” Heikkinen said.

She said her son Henry, who has cerebral palsy, participated in the tournament, which she said includes everyone from completely neurotypical kids to severely disabled kids.

“Putting everybody on a sledge makes the playing field a little bit more equal and really great opportunity for inclusive community,” she said.

For Henry, that’s a thrilling opportunity, she said.

“This means an opportunity, not only to play for a team that he’s never been able to participate in a community or hockey team before, but also an opportunity to really learn some new skills, which has been really fun for him.,” she said.

“Kids with disabilities don’t often get those opportunities,” she said. “There’s very little sports or community teams that they can play on, because there’s just not opportunity for them. There’s not supports available.

“This is an opportunity for him to be one of just a regular kid who goes out there, makes friends, they get to fool around in the dressing room, which is not an opportunity that he often has,” she said. “So it’s really nice from a community perspective, relationship building, and really gives them a sense of belonging within a team and within a sport.”

Growing sport

Team Canada para-Olympian Auren Halbert was on hand, saying that the best thing about the tournament that he played in growing up in Calgary is that it’s growing the sport.

“I get to see all the people that I used to play with growing up, and all the future players coming up in the higher level of sledge hockey here,” Halbert said. “It’s just so cool to see the sport growing. Like there’s 29 teams here at this tournament, and keeps getting bigger every year, and teams are coming out from out east and Ontario, and it’s just super cool that we can have an environment like this where athletes can compete at this level.”

Halbert has been a national team member for seven years and said participating in the Milan Olympics was pretty cool as well.

“It was amazing,” he said. “(You) can’t complain about playing in Italy in front of your family and in front of so many people. It was awesome.

“It was probably the highest viewership Paralympics of all time,” he added. “So felt really special to us to be able to spread our sport so much in one tournament.”

Sledge Dog head coach William Coder said creating a sport that’s accessible to all sorts of people is inspiring to watch.

“You don’t really see them in other sports,” he said. “You see them in this one, and it’s pretty like -- I feel good when I see other people win.”

And who was Matt Cook, who the tournament is named after?

“Matt Cook is a sledge hockey player that played with our community in the early 2000s,” said Heikkinen. “He unfortunately passed away of cancer. His family started a community foundation, and so we’re excited to honor him each year.”

With files from CTV News’ Tyler Barrow