Unified Hockey: Bringing out the best

PALMER — Students from around the Valley came and played unified floor hockey at Palmer High School on Tuesday, with more than 50 players on five teams. Special needs students at MSBSD schools were afforded the opportunity to play against their peers and general education students during the annual tournament hosted by Palmer High.

“It’s pretty fun, there’s a lot of them that are completely capable of it and they just enjoy it. A lot of them are outgoing and have a lot of fun and it’s pretty fun to connect with them and get to know them more,” Tiernan O’Rourke said.

O’Rourke just finished his season in net for the Division II state champion Palmer Moose ice hockey team, but spent his Tuesday helping out with floor hockey teams of special needs students not just from Palmer, but from schools scattered throughout the Valley.

Special education teacher Theresa Savel started the program in 2009. The program existed as a state tournament, but in an effort to save money, Savel opted to host the tournament locally. It has taken off in popularity, only surpassed by Special Olympics Bowling. The Rockin’ Hockey event at the MTA Events center is one the most popular event of the year.

“When we go out and we play ice hockey it doesn’t matter which athlete it is, they’ll go out there and help any school,” Savel said. “It kind of brings out the best of anybody.”

Savel enjoys the ice hockey event and seeing the interactions of the players. MTA has helped sponsor the event and every player will get a T-shirt.

Special needs students competed in the tournament on Palmer High School’s gym floor with Wasilla’s team being crowned champions at the end of the event. This is the only event of the floor hockey season, but teams have been practicing for nearly a month.

“There’s just a couple kids I do enjoy working with. They do want to learn and they enjoy it a lot,” O’Rourke said.

The stands were full of other students and staff cheering on the athletes during the floor hockey tournament.

“Running , playing with my friends,” CJ Pyrah said when asked what he likes about floor hockey.

Pyrah competed with the Palmer floor hockey team, but excels at bowling. Savel has fostered a connection between the school’s ice hockey team and the special needs students who play floor hockey. Each year for the past 11 years, the Palmer High hockey team has supported the floor hockey tournament.

“It’s the one time they get to be normal out competing and people are cheering for them and they feel pretty special. They don’t feel different at that point, so that’s pretty cool for them. Believe it or not, they are competitive. They don’t like to lose, and what I really like about it is leading up to this they’ve learned how to pass, they’ve learned how to call each others teammates names, and they’ve learned really the art of the game. They all cheer each other, it doesn’t matter what team,” Savel said.

Basketball, track and field, floor hockey and bowling are offered as unified sports for special needs students. Savel says it’s important to get students active so that they can continue to recreate when they complete high school.

"We choose the sports we do because we want to find things that kids can do when they become adults to stay active. We don’t just use these sports, we go hiking. We do everything that we can to keep them out in the community and find what they can access themselves,” Savel said. “We pushed that wheelchair up the Butte in the fall.”

Contact Frontiersman reporter Tim Rockey at tim.rockey@frontiersman.com.