NCCP Coach Stacey Rouse-Charlton of the Sussex Skating Club in New Brunswick has made Noah Robichaud’s Sydney Crosby-inspired dream of skating come true. She and Kirsten Graham, a fellow skating coach, have pioneered the integration of sledge skaters – athletes with a disability using sledges and modified hockey stick to propel themselves around the ice – into Skate Canada’s flagship CanSkate program. We sat down with Stacey to discuss how they came to develop this program that now serves four athletes with a disability along with able-bodied athletes.

coach.ca: What was your reaction when Noah and his mom Tammy first asked to take part in CanSkate?

SR-C: I was nervous. I didn’t know how, or if this was possible at all. My first concern was whether he would be covered under our insurance. After contacting Skate Canada and getting confirmation that he was covered, the research began and asked myself: “How can I put a sledge out there with little kids?”. I contacted another club coach, Kirsten Graham, to see if she would go to a Para NB seminar and learn about sledges.

coach.ca: What was the most beneficial part of the training provided by Para NB?

SR-C: At the sledge hockey seminar, Kirsten got to try the sport and live a day in the life of a sledge participant. She got to work with sledge coaches that have been teaching these skills and developing athletes in other provinces. Kirsten learned how demanding it was and now knows that it isn’t easy.

coach.ca: How did your board of directors react to your proposal of an integrated program?

SR-C: My club is very supportive of me and they made sure I had all my ducks in a row. The best thing I did in the process was keep open communication with them. They bounced back ideas and provided a different perspective.

coach.ca: How have you modified the CanSkate curriculum to suit someone learning to skate in a sledge?

SR-C: We started with the knowledge gained at the para NB workshop and then adapted our curriculum to the technical needs for sledge. We have actually modified the CanSkate circuits very little except for moving a pylon or two, but now we don’t have to because they’ve progressed. They are truly in the same space as able-bodied skaters. The circuits remain the same, but the skills have been modified. A drop-down drill, for example, requires them to drop themselves on their side instead of on their hands, knees, or belly. At the end we let them have their play time because they really want to play sledge hockey, so we give them a ball and they play. They get their CanSkate badges just like everyone else and every time they get a badge we move their blades in until they almost become a single blade. It’s a form of reward for them – it’s actually more about moving the blades than the badge.

coach.ca: What impact has integrating para participation in CanSkate had on some of the able-bodied athletes?

SR-C: Because many of the able-bodied skaters are younger than Noah, 15, and his fellow sledge skaters, he is actually the same height as the majority of the children out there even though he’s sitting. He doesn’t stick out, none of them are out of place. This is the amazing part of this program, the children do not perceive them in any other way except as skaters – they put their blades on just like them. It’s great to see the young ones come up, ask them questions, get a hug, and look up to them. That is truly an amazing part of this program. We are exposing the next generation to athletes with a disability. One of the little boys just adores Noah and thinks it’s so cool that he uses hockey sticks to get around. Kids are learning that someone with a disability is no different than you or I. I’m teaching them that, and I’m not even really trying.

coach.ca: What’s the most important lesson you learned on the ice while coaching this group?

SR-C: The most important lesson that I have learned as I developed this sledge CanSkate program is that a child with a disability has dreams just like an able-bodied child. In terms of the process of making it a reality, it’s very simple – try. As a team, we tried and we succeeded. We jumped – we jumped in, faced the unknown, and developed a program to fulfill the dream of skating for 4 young boys.

coach.ca: What’s been the biggest impact of having integrated programming for both athletes with a disability and able-bodied athletes?

SR-C: I believe that developing this program in parallel has resulted in children, parents, and the community seeing disabilities as “abilities modified”. This program has impacted me – I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone, out of my knowledge-bubble, and into the unknown. All this so that a boy that had a dream of skating, but couldn’t and had to watch from the stands because he has cerebral palsy, could fulfilling that dream and say: “I have cerebral palsy and I can skate.” That’s what it is all about.

coach.ca: How do you see this program evolving in the future?

SR-C: Skate Canada is using this as a pilot. We’ll debrief with them at end of year. We’re having lots of conversations with many people, they’re talking about it in Alberta, for example. It’s nice to know that I’ve played a small part in making someone else’s dream come true. We want to be a resource for people; we want to talk about this and help develop this. I’m excited to have played a small, and maybe someday a large part in making this an official program that’s delivered in every club.