For Charleston Thunder sled hockey team members, however, sleds are a conduit to fast-paced fun, fellowship and fitness on the ice in fall and winter every year.
Team members demonstrated sled hockey for an hour during the Light the Night event on Dec. 5 at GoMart Ballpark in downtown Charleston. In the midst of their 2023-24 season, the players showed off their mobility, dexterity and skills -- and encouraged visitors to try their adaptive, modified sleds on the ice rink installed for Light the Night. Additional sensory nights were scheduled for Dec. 12 and 19 during the holiday event on and around the Charleston Dirty Birds' Morris Street field.
Greg Savilla, of Nitro, manned the adaptive equipment for the squad and the other rink-takers on Dec. 5. He has volunteered with the Thunder since its outset. "Linda recruited me right off, and I guess I'm the off-ice guy behind the scenes," he said. "I have spina bifida, and I'm involved in a lot of things that benefit special needs."
When he was a child, Savilla said, recreational options such as sled hockey were basically nil for him. "To give an example, I played baseball with the quote-'normal'-unquote children growing up, I played basketball in regular leagues, things of that nature. There wasn't anything around to fit the adaptive scenario we have here.
"You were either in or out. I sort of hate to say it, but when you're in those scenarios, you always try harder, and, because you have challenges, you're not going to quite reach that level. With this, we're putting everybody in a situation where it's adaptive. Your efforts matter. It's more designed to you. You can be a star, unlike the years when I was growing up when, basically, you were just trying to keep up.
"We are essentially just a scrimmage team," Savilla said. "We'll get out here, learn the skills, have fun, and give people an option who might not have an option otherwise.
"There's not quite like being part of the 'in' crowd," he said. "If there's anything in this life that we face when we have challenges, it's that we face exclusion. You come here, you get accepted, you get to be in the 'in' crowd. You have people who have similar stories as you. That's incredible.
"I had a great life growing up, but I didn't have anyone to talk to who knew where I was coming from. You bring them out here to the ice and that's not the case. Even the moms and dads can tell you about what their child is going through right now. 'I'm having this problem -- do you have any advice for me?' It's a beautiful thing.
"That camaraderie is every reason why I try to be as involved as I can with all of these activities," Savilla said. Breaking the ice barriers The Charleston Thunder is affiliated with Charleston Sled Hockey, a division of USA Hockey, that began playing at the South Charleston Memorial Ice Arena eight years ago.
Linda Streets founded the local sled hockey team after reading about others on Facebook in 2014. The Charleston resident had a personal interest in the post; her grandson, Bryson Dowdy, has spina bifida and was limited in his ability to take part in group sports.
When Bryson was 7, his grandparents took him to Wheeling for a Learn Sled Hockey Day event. "Despite his disability, he's always been very athletic and he loved it," Streets said.
During the event, officials approached Streets and her husband and pitched the idea of forming a sled hockey team in the metro Charleston area. A weekend seminar in Washington, D.C., gave them particulars, and a Learn Sled Hockey Day took place in June 2015 in South Charleston. The first Charleston team took to the ice four months later.
In October 2019, Bryson skated as the Dick's Sporting Goods Junior Starter at an NHL game (his first in person) between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Anaheim Ducks in Pittsburgh. He and family members were invited by the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation, a stalwart financial donor to the Thunder. Bryson stood with the Penguin players during the playing of the national anthem. His designated seat in the PPG Arena gave him a player's-level, Penguin's-eye-view of the game.
The Charleston Thunder is open to hockey players of all ages. "We've had players with cerebral palsy, brittle bone disease, traumatic brain injury, and lower limb discrepancy," Streets said. "We had one gentleman try it; he was a 75-year-old veteran who'd had his leg amputated. We've had players as young as 4 years old."
Louisa Arbaugh, 6, of Charleston, is one of them. Her mother, Katie Arbaugh, said Louisa has skated with the Thunder for the past two years and adores the sport.
"She uses a wheelchair full time, so we started sled hockey just to give her some exercise and do an adaptive sport that would cater to her needs," Katie explained. "It's been wonderful. She's gotten a lot stronger. She loves meeting kids with a variety of disabilities. It's almost therapeutic, as well, playing this. We've seen her upper body strength get a lot stronger.
"The best part of sled hockey is that you can adapt it to each child's ability," she added. "We have some that need pushers, so we always have a push bar for them. Other children can propel themselves independently. Our volunteers can meet them where they're at, work on skills and help them improve in hockey and physically as well." Katie praised the group's inclusivity. "Our players don't just have to have physical disabilities. If a cognitive disability keeps them from playing hockey, they're also allowed to join us. So, if a child has autism or something like that that might prevent them from playing ice hockey, they're welcome to join us."
A nonprofit entity, the team is supported expressly through donations and grants. Players pay a $55 fee to USA Hockey in their second year of membership; the first year is free. Each player is loaned a sled, hockey sticks, a wheeled bag, helmets and other protective equipment. Some players may opt to procure grants or other outside means of purchasing their own equipment, but Charleston Sled Hockey provides everything required for play at no charge. Savilla said $600 is the average cost of a modified sled.
Players skate recreationally (non-competitively) from 5:45 until 6:45 p.m. Mondays October through March at the South Charleston arena, punctuated with a pizza party to celebrate their season.
USA Hockey registered, certified and screened teenage and adult coaches and volunteers assist during preparation and play. Streets noted that the need for volunteers is ongoing, and Katie Arbaugh seconded her statement. "We need off-ice volunteers to help us with equipment and getting organized and ready for practice," she said. "And to help us load players onto the ice, because that can be a difficult transition, especially for our full-time wheelchair users. We need on-ice volunteers, too. The beauty is you don't need to know anything about hockey."
For more information about the Charleston Sled Hockey team or volunteering or donating to support it, contact Linda Streets at charlestonwvsledhockey@gmail.com or 304-744-4423 or go to the website, www.charlestonwvsledhockey.com.
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