((TITLE)) BLIND HOCKEY
((TRT: 05:30))

((Reporter/Camera: Aaron Fedor))
((Editor: Kyle Dubiel))
((Producer: Kathleen McLaughlin))

((Map: Syosset, New York))
((Main characters: 4 female; 4 male))
((Sub characters: 0 female; 0 male))
((Blurb: A visit with visually impaired hockey players who are members of the NY Metro Blind Hockey Team.))
((NATS))
((Ed Kerrigan
Coach))
This is a normal sized regulation puck. This is a puck for blind hockey. This puck has no sound. This has eight ball bearings in it, so they're not only hear it slide on the ice, but they hear it rattling around, which a lot of times the goalie, I'll ask them, how does he pick the puck out of the air? And he just points to his ears. He goes, “I hear the puck in the air. I hear the sound.”
((NATS))

((Yaakov
Hockey Player))
I found out about the league when my mom was looking into sports for me, when she found out that in school I was doing very bad in gym class. The gym teacher always would say, “No, you have a visual impairment. You're not allowed to play in the gym class. You are going to get hurt.”
((NATS))
((Yaakov
Hockey Player))
When I first put on skates, I was so scared, like I was crying. I was extremely scared. My mom literally had to drag me onto the ice and then I realized, oh, it's not that bad.
((NATS))
((Ed Kerrigan
Coach))
Basically the same game as hockey, except once they cross the blue line, the ref [referee] has an electronic whistle. They have to make one pass before they can shoot. That whistle lets them know they have to make the pass. Also lets the goalie know that there's a potential shot coming on net. Once the puck goes into the crease and it falls to the ice, it's dead, where in regular hockey, you could still play the puck. It's automatically dead and there's a face off in the other circle. Other than that, it's basically regular hockey. We've got from beginners right now to Josh, who's on the national team.
((NATS))
((John O’Connell
Hockey Player))
My low vision specialist doctor…actually, I don't know how we got talking about hockey actually. He used to certify the USA blind hockey team, and I guess we got talking about hockey. And I told him I played hockey when I was younger. And we were trying to pinpoint when I started to lose my vision. And my particular disease moves very, very, very slowly. And at the time I just thought I was approaching 40 [years of age]. And I just, you have trouble seeing the puck. I mean, you don't think that you're going blind. I told them I didn't want to do it at first because, to be honest with you, I thought it was going to be very depressing. I thought it was going to be a bunch of kids, adults who are blind, who really aren't playing hockey. They're kind of shuffling their feet and everybody's telling them, good job. And that's, that's not hockey. That's really depressing. And he told me, no, no, it's not that. It's really fast. And he told me about this puck and making noise, and I said, well, I'll go check it out. And then I did. And it really is hockey.
((NATS))
((Monique Koehler
Player’s Parent))
Blind Hockey came to the United States from Canada in 2014. It's been about nine years now, and New York was the first state to have Blind Hockey. Now we're probably in about 12 states. And the way we do it, all the programs are at different levels of sophistication and size. So, they'll have tournaments a couple of times annually, and players register individually, and then they make teams that are well-balanced. I got involved with the team really at the beginning. It was 2017. A dad of a boy, who's the same age as my son, asked me if I would help get this program off the ground. And I said, “Sure, why not? My son loves hockey.” And here we are, seven years later.
((NATS))

((Ed Kerrigan
Coach))
I'm hoping that it becomes a Paralympics sport. Right now, it's not. Their goal is for 2028 right now in Los Angeles. Hopefully, they'll get it to there.
((Saej Chung
Hockey Player))
I actually did judo for a long time, from 2013 onward, and I had the opportunity to compete in the Paralympic games. And so, I decided to switch over to a team sport and see what that's like. I definitely want to get to a point where I can be a part of Team USA. That'd be awesome.
((NATS))
((Jennie Gausman
Player Parent))
They have a great time where they…they get to just hang out and just have people with other vision impairments. And it's a community that's very tight knit. So you get to cheer each other on and have a ball while you're doing it. And I have to say that Liam has made some really good friends.
((Liam
Hockey Player))
Just like give it a try. And like it's really fun. You just got to like take a risk.
((NATS))
((Yaakov
Hockey Player))
Just that you can do anything you put your mind to even if you're blind.
((NATS))