Sledge hockey opened to female players for 2010 Paralympics

From The Globe and Mail in Toronto, Canada:

Hockey Canada officials say they are "shocked and surprised" by a memo from the International Paralympic Committee that opens up sledge hockey rosters to female players in March at the 2010 Winter Paralympics.

The tournament designation will change from a men's to a mixed tournament, and teams may bring up to 16 athletes if at least one is female, according to a statement from the IPC. The body said it had received "numerous requests" from nations regularly practising the sport, and the IPC's governing board acted by approving an entry provision for qualified teams to add female athletes to their rosters if they wish.

"We just got the letter from the IPC and we're making determinations on it right now," said Johnny Misley, Hockey Canada's executive vice-president of hockey operations. "Only 10 months out from the Paralympic Games, needless to say, the timing isn't the greatest, and there wasn't any serious discussion of this with the national federations."

There is no women's sledge hockey tournament in the Paralympics. The website for the Canadian Paralympic Committee makes no mention of women training for the sport and refers to sledge hockey in its descriptions as a sport played by males.

"We just took over responsibility for sledge hockey in 2004 and we're still learning about the sport," Misley said. "We came from the perspective of the able-bodied game, where men and women have separate development and national teams.

"I don't know where the other countries stand on this ... given there's been no clear dialogue with the national sport federations."

This decision applies only to the Vancouver 2010 Paralympics. The IPC will explore other initiatives to further develop the sport worldwide before the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia.

Since its debut on the Paralympics program in Lillehammer in 1994, sledge hockey has quickly become one of the largest attractions for spectators at the Games.