Ten years ago, Rachel Grusse decided to try something new - sled hockey.
“I never watched hockey before,” Grusse said. “I knew of hockey as a sport in a faraway concept and that was it.”
Grusse, who is a double amputee, had always been involved in sports but it wasn’t until she was 20 years old that a friend finally convinced her to get on the ice.
“I ended up getting in a sled and I loved it instantly,” said Grusse.
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Now she's a member of the Gaylord Wolf Pack Sled Hockey Team and the United States developmental team.
On this particular day, she would also be a coach to NBC Connecticut’s Gabrielle Lucivero.
Grusse and the team helped demonstrate the challenges of learning to play, from balance to pushing and passing with sticks at the same time.
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“When I first came out I was falling over left and right,” said the team’s coach Corey Podbielski, who grew up as a stand-up hockey player. “I was flipping over backwards.”
The thing about sled hockey is it will level the playing field – and sometimes the players – really fast.
“From playing stand-up hockey my whole life I felt pretty confident on the ice and when I got in a sled I was not nearly as confident,” said Podbielski.
“You don't have an advantage just because you can use your legs,” said Grusse. “I think giving people the opportunity to see how challenging some of these adaptive sports are gives them a better appreciation for the level of talent and skill that some of these players have.”
But they’re always looking for players of any level of talent. In fact, teams are even allowed to have two able-bodied players on the roster.
For more information on how to get involved, you can visit the Gaylord Sports Association website here.
“A lot of people get intimidated by having to be a certain level of athleticism in order to play sports and a lot of it is just starting and getting in and doing it and becoming an athlete whether you realize it or not,” said Grusse.
You can watch Team USA play in the semifinals of the 2022 Paralympics in Beijing on Friday at 7:05 a.m.
