Ice hockey has the reputation as a rapid, exhilarating sport. Sledge hockey is no different. Well, “we can’t skate backwards”, Karl explains. “They have one stick; we have two”.

Karl Nicolson is the vice captain of the GB Sledge Hockey team and assistant coach of Manchester Phoenix. I spoke to him about the accessibility, benefits and hopes of the sport. Karl has competed in the 1998 and 2006 winter Paralympic Games, as well as the 1992 Summer Paralympic games, experiences which for him “never tire. Never gets old”. He struggles for words to explore what it means to be “one of the privileged few”.

Karl “used to do athletics at a high level with Great Britain”, and competed at the 1992 Paralympic Games. Eventually he became “a little despondent with athletics” before a friend of his persuaded him to switch his allegiance to the ice, despite him not knowing any hockey.  “My balance has improved” he continues, “My balance was shocking as a kid”. It has also “kept me active”.

Sledge Hockey is fully inclusive, including non-disabled competitors. “To play with your mates who you have grown up with – it is a fantastic experience”. He enthuses about the physical competition on an even playing field with his friends. This reminds me of the recent Guinness advert, where a number of friends play wheelchair basketball, only for all but one to get out of the chair as they finish and head to the pub. Karl notes that Sledge Hockey has always had that advantage.

The GB Sledge Hockey team failed to qualify for the Sochi Paralympic Games. I asked if he was confident the team could reach South Korea 2018: “that’s the plan!” “We are a lot further forward than we thought we would be”, he explained that they hadn’t expected to qualify for Sochi 2014; they had set 2018 as the long term goal.

He compared the size of the Winter Paralympics of 2006 to his Summer Games experience in 1992, despite the prevailing difference of interest in summer and winter games, claiming that the perception of para-sports is changing for the better “without a doubt”. Since the London Games “more and more people want to get involved”. As Paralympics and Winter Paralympic games are held in ever more countries, perceptions around the world change.

21 years after representing Great Britain for the first time, Karl is “more responsible for helping others out”, and has taken on “more of a leaders role”. I asked him, as tactfully as I could, whether he would still be competing when the 2018 games come around. He laughs, “I have no idea!” He recalls a conversation he had following Team GB’s failure to qualify in Torino, when discussing his future he claimed he would review his future in two years. “I can see younger athletes coming through”. However, he remains hopeful. This is just another in a series of challenges he has met, and is willing to confront.

There are currently four club sides nationwide, with plans to expand to a national league soon.

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