The Ontario Deaf Hockey Association is for players that are hard of hearing, deaf or wear cochlear implants who want to be a part of a team that showcases their disability and to show that game can be played and enjoyed the same with or without a disability.
The program initially started off with 12 players and today has a growing capacity of 95 players in Ontario that are deaf or hard of hearing. These players are playing through mainstream sports and when the opportunity arises to compete with the Ontario Deaf Hockey Team, will be selected for a tryout for the Canada Deaf Games which are held every two years.
The games are joined by athletes who have a hearing decibel loss of 55 or greater which is the qualifications to play, and the age limit is 16+. They are not allowed to wear their listening devices while on the ice. So the players communicate through sign language, lip reading and also rely on sight and strobe lights which are placed around the arena.
When players compete for the games, it also doubles as a tryout for the Canadian National Deaf Hockey Team which competed in Vantaa, Finland for the 2nd World Deaf Hockey Championships. The five countries that competed in the Championships this year were Finland, Sweden, Russia, Canada and the USA.
There were 14 players from the Ontario Team that have made it to the Canadian team and Kobe Sportswear would like to congratulate them for being apart of bringing home SILVER!!!
The program initially started off with 12 players and today has a growing capacity of 95 players in Ontario that are deaf or hard of hearing. These players are playing through mainstream sports and when the opportunity arises to compete with the Ontario Deaf Hockey Team, will be selected for a tryout for the Canada Deaf Games which are held every two years.
The games are joined by athletes who have a hearing decibel loss of 55 or greater which is the qualifications to play, and the age limit is 16+. They are not allowed to wear their listening devices while on the ice. So the players communicate through sign language, lip reading and also rely on sight and strobe lights which are placed around the arena.
When players compete for the games, it also doubles as a tryout for the Canadian National Deaf Hockey Team which competed in Vantaa, Finland for the 2nd World Deaf Hockey Championships. The five countries that competed in the Championships this year were Finland, Sweden, Russia, Canada and the USA.
There were 14 players from the Ontario Team that have made it to the Canadian team and Kobe Sportswear would like to congratulate them for being apart of bringing home SILVER!!!
Pictured above are a few of the players from Team Ontario that made it to Team Canada.
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