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Latvia Forms Amputee Ice Hockey TeamLatvia may soon have its own national standing amputee ice
hockey team after a recent demonstration of the international team
playing against Latvia's professional Zemgale team. The event was
the first of its kind in Latvia and signals another step closer to
having standing hockey reaching International Paralympic Committee
(IPC) criteria for inclusion in the Paralympic Games.
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Members of both ice hockey teams, supporters, and national and international hockey and Paralympic officials gather for a celebration photo after Latvia’s November exhibition hockey game, sponsored in part by Ohio Willow Wood. Now, Latvian organizers will begin recruiting and assembling Latvia’s own national standing ice hockey team. |
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The exhibition hockey game held November 13, 2004,
at the Jelgavas Ledushalle arena, was organized by the
International Standing Ice Hockey Federation (ISIHF). The
demonstration served as the kickoff event for Latvian organizers to
actively recruit amputee ice hockey players and organize its own
national standing hockey team.
"We continue to be encouraged by the excitement and eagerness of
amputee hockey players and hockey fans in general," said Mark
Pitkin, PhD, president of the ISIHF. "We have been building on that
encouragement by working with ice hockey and disabled sports
organizers and holding demonstrations throughout Europe and in
Asia. Our goal is to soon have enough national teams for the sport
to meet the criteria established by the IPC for inclusion in the
Winter Games."
The 11 amputee team members for the demonstration were from
Russia (five players), Canada (one player), Finland (two players),
and the Czech Republic (three players). The event was sponsored, in
part, by Ohio Willow Wood, Mt. Sterling, Ohio, a long-time
supporter and proponent of standing hockey. Both the Latvian
Paralympic Committee and the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation
sanctioned the demonstration.
The ISIHF will hold its Open European Cup Championship in May
2005 in Innsbruck, Austria, at the Innsbrucker Olympiahalle and
anticipates having additional country demonstrations in 2005. The
ISIHF conducted its first congress in April 2004 and elected its
first set of officers. The push for international standing hockey
teams started in 1999 by the International Institute for Prosthetic
Rehabilitation of Landmine Survivors ( www.iprls.org), and
has since grown to the formation of the ISIHF and six countries
fielding teams: Canada, Finland, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia,
and the US.
For more information on the ISIHF and standing hockey,
contact Miroslav Kluc, ISIHF Secretary at kluc@cmail.cz 
Table Of Contents - January 2005
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