Courage Canada Helping to Provide a Direction for Blind Hockey

By providing visually impaired children and adults the opportunity to play ice hockey, Mark DeMontis is helping them to experience a rite of passage that is part of social life in Canada. As the head of Courage Canada, a charitable organization which helps to organize hockey events in which all the players are visually impaired, DeMontis is changing people’s lives. 

For DeMontis, the effort is a labor of love. Visually impaired himself, he was diagnosed with Leber’s Optic Neuropathy as a teenager. Competing with the Toronto Young Nationals AAA hockey team, the opportunity to play competitive hockey was no longer a reality. Turning his attention to volunteer work, he earned a scholarship to the University of Western Ontario and was among the recipients for the 2005 Terry Fox Humanitarian Award.

In 2009, he inline skated across Canada (starting in Toronto and ending in Vancouver) as an effort to raise funds for Courage Canada. A second sojourn was made in 2011, going from Halifax to Toronto. Currently, the cause has assistance from the CNIB and Accessible Media Inc.

Also known in sporting circles as Blind Hockey, the sport has made inroads in the last five years, primarily to the efforts of DeMontis and his organization. While the sport has existed for several decades (long-standing teams include the Toronto Ice Owls, who were founded in 1972, and the Montreal Hiboux, who began competing in 1978), there was never an organization that governed the sport nationally.

Although Courage Canada is a charitable organization, it has helped to try and standardize the sport. In 2009, there were only regions where Blind Hockey was played in Canada; Toronto, Montreal, Calgary (whose team is the Calgary Seeing Ice Dogs Team) and Vancouver (home to the Vancouver Eclipse).

After sponsoring an exhibition series between the Toronto and Montreal teams at the 2010 Defi Sportif (a sporting event in Quebec for paralyzed athletes), a Blind Hockey Summit was held. One of the causes for this stemmed from the fact that the clubs from Toronto and Montreal had different rules and even different pucks! Half the games were played with Toronto’s rules (and puck), while the other half accommodated Montreal.

The biggest challenge in helping the sport grow even quicker is the debate over the use of a suitable puck. As Blind Hockey became regionalized over the years, different pucks were used.

Toronto’s puck (also known as the Wheel) was a hollow plastic wheel with ball bearings on the interior. The low pitch noise was problematic for goaltenders that could not differentiate the sound from skates. In Montreal, their puck (known as the Can) is an empty can (48 ounces) which is covered in black paint. While it is large, slow and loud, which is convenient for all levels of vision, it cannot be shot far enough.

The Vancouver puck (also used in Calgary) was specifically created for Blind Hockey. Fabricated out of steel, the hollow puck is four inches in diameter and features three skate rivets in the interior. While said puck is very loud, it also moves too quickly, reducing its visibility.

In working with North Carolina State University, the NC State Blind Hockey Puck Project was spawned in 2011. Russell Gorga, an associate professor for textile engineering chemistry and science was involved with the project. Eight of his senior textile engineering majors developed engineering designs and justifications.

The students from the Textile Engineering Program even went to an event in Montreal in which two prototype hockey pucks were used. Both of the prototypes were aluminum cylinders encased in rubber. One prototype featured two ball bearings inside the cylinder while the other had larger steel size spheres. While none of the designs yielded a desired solution, it was an invaluable first step for DeMontis. There is no question that the sport will simply never evolve into an internationally competitive one until a universally acceptable puck for Blind Hockey is developed.

In February 2013, the first National Blind Hockey tournament was held at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, a rink inside the renovated Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. For his efforts in organizing the first national blind hockey tournament organized by Courage Canada, DeMontis was recognized with the 2013 Bobbie Resnick Philanthropy Award.

While there were dozens of players from throughout Canada, the teams were formed at the event. Graham Foxcroft and Douglas Dow, whose club team is the Vancouver Eclipse, earned the top two honors at the event. Foxcroft was honored as Tournament Most Valuable Player while Dow earned the Most Sportsmanlike Player Award.

DeMontis is also ensuring that the next generation of Blind Hockey players have an opportunity to compete. In working with school boards in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, skating field trips and beginner programs are being organized for visually impaired children. Recently, DeMontis and Courage Canada visited Calgary and worked with 43 visually impaired children (ages varying from four to 18), who had never skated before.

For many disabled and/or visually impaired individuals, the opportunity to compete in a sport is one that can be taken away from them. When that chance to participate is somehow possible, it helps to make that individual feel part of society and provides remarkable social and emotional benefits.

While Blind Hockey may not be on the same competitive stage globally as ice sledge hockey (a sport which physically disabled people compete in at the Paralympic Winter Games), it is encouraging to see the inroads that Courage Canada has undertaken. He has been recognized with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal while earning recognition for community service in Canada’s House of Commons.

Starting completely at the grassroots level, DeMontis and his cause has worked with over 250 blind players while operating over 20 skating programs for the visually impaired. In providing the chance for more visually impaired individuals to play hockey, he is not only introducing them to a much larger world, he is improving their lives.