STARskaters's Austin Blades Sled Hockey chapter will be christening the new POND HOCKEY club in Austin by hosting their first ever 3 on 3 hockey tournament, Saturday September 14th.

The tournament is open to players of all ages and skill levels, and is just $85 with all proceeds to help the Austin Blades players travel to next years National Sled Hockey Championships in Boston Mass.

Click here for more information and to register for the tournament.

The tournament is sponsored by the Austin Pain Associates, Chaparral Ice,  Discount Electronics, Deluxe Auto Service, Quantum Digital, and the Texas Stars Foundation.

For more information about the Austin Blades Sled Hockey Club, contact Frank@STARskaters.org

When Houston temperatures hit 100 degrees there is no COOLER place to be than on the ice at Ice Skate USA at Memorial City Mall.

For the second year in a row, the folks at Ice Skate USA donated ice time to allow kids and young adults from the Pasadena Wheelchair Youth Camp to take the ice and give Sled Hockey a try.  They even played a 3 on 3 Sled Hockey scrimmage and had a penalty shot contest where everyone got the opportunity to take a shot at the goalie.

Some of the kids opted to stay in their wheelchairs and whiz around the ice and enjoy the COOL ice skating experience.  Whether in a sled, or chair, all of them had one thing in common, a big smile and THANK YOU cheer for Carl Sasyn and the rest of the ice skating professionals at Ice Skate USA who made this event possible.

The Wheelchair Kids Camp is another in a long series of STARskates which was the original purpose of STARskaters.org when founded by Jim O'Neill in 2008.  The original purpose of the non-profit was "to provide an on-ice experience for individuals with disabilities".
Since that time STARskaters programs have expanded to also include Sled Hockey and SkateTherapy and in 2012 held over 130 events including program events, exhibits, camps, STARskates and outreach events.

Even more amazing, ALL of these events were made possible by VOLUNTEERS, as STARskaters.org is a 100% volunteer organization. 

As you can imagine, it takes an army of volunteers to make it happen.  If you'd like to join this group of amazing folks, visit www.STARskaters.org and click on the VOLUNTEER tab.

For the first time in the history of Sled Hockey in Texas, players had the opportunity to skate at three different venues on both blades and wheels in a 2 day period during Sled Hockey weekend and the Abilities Expo.

The Sled Hockey Weekend series continued as players from Austin, Dallas and Houston honed their skills under the direction of sled guru Alfredo Corona (shown above in the Dallas jersey).  The scrimmages are intended to prepare all the the players for the 2014 National Sled Hockey Championships to be held in Boston, Massachusetts.

Andy Noland discovered Sled Hockey at Abilities Expo 2012

The ice times at Ice Skate USA at Memorial City and Sugar Land Ice & Sports Center featured spirited competition and hard hitting action as all players knew that only 10 players can be selected to travel to Boston for next years national tournament.

The weekend ended with a Sled Hockey on Wheels demonstration at the Abilities Expo where experience players showed off their sled skills and invited new interested prospective players to give the sport a try.  Each year new players are recruited from the event to join the program..
 

You can also read more about how you can get involved in the STARskaters program as a volunteer, donor or organizing a STAR Skate for groups with special needs.

If you would like a supply of brochures shipped to you, contact jim@STARskaters.org