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Sitting body check: Para-hockey national team trains in Geretsried

2021-08-23T12:07:52.604Z


Geretsried - When a puck flits across the ice, all ice hockey fans are immediately cast under their spell. It doesn’t matter whether the actors in question are curving across the field on runners or sitting on sleds. Markus Janka also wanted to try so-called sledge hockey immediately at the three-day training camp that the German national para hockey team recently completed in the Heinz Schneider ice rink.


Geretsried - When a puck flits across the ice, all ice hockey fans are immediately cast under their spell. It doesn’t matter whether the actors in question are curving across the field on runners or sitting on sleds. Markus Janka also wanted to try so-called sledge hockey immediately at the three-day training camp that the German national para hockey team recently completed in the Heinz Schneider ice rink.

After the chairman of the ESC Geretsried had climbed into the plastic seat shell and his feet were buckled, he received the first instructions from Michael Gursinsky.

The assistant coach of the national team explained to the former professional ice hockey player not only how to get ahead on the sled as quickly as possible, but also how to use the two short wooden sticks to push as well as to guide and shoot the puck.

After a quarter of an hour, Janka had had enough: “Phew, that's pretty difficult.” Just keeping your balance with the only runner under the seat, driving a tight curve or braking required a lot of skill, said the 41-year-old.

We would like to be part of the German Ice Hockey Federation

Michael Gursinsky (assistant coach of the national para hockey team)

Sledge hockey is not very different from the well-known ice hockey. The rules and procedures are exactly the same, with five players and a goalkeeper in the usual clothing and equipment on a normal ice hockey rink. The only difference is that the active participants - and especially people with physical disabilities - sit in sleds. The sport was invented in Scandinavia in the 1970s, and Germany has had a Bundesliga with five clubs and a national team that came fourth at the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin for 20 years.

One of the sledge hockey players (including two so-called “pedestrians” at the press conference) participating in the training camp is Veit Mühlhans. The 24-year-old Benediktbeurer is part of the national team and plays in the Bundesliga for the only Bavarian club, SG Dachau / Dresden. In July 2015, he lost his right lower leg in an accident. A car took the right of way and caught him on his motorcycle. “In the past, I wasn't really that athletic,” says Mühlhans. He was already interested in ice hockey and especially the Tölzer Löwen. Two and a half years ago, he got involved in para-hockey and is practicing the sport with growing enthusiasm. "It's getting down to business, but you shouldn't be afraid - like in ice hockey," explains the 24-year-old.who has retrained from carpenter to draftsman because of his accident.

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Every beginning is difficult: ex-professional Markus Janka tried sledge hockey with the help of Michael Gursinsky, assistant coach of the national team.

© Sabine Hermsdorf-Hiss

"Veit is a great talent," emphasizes Michael Gursinsky.

The assistant to national coach Andreas Pokorny (former national player and multiple DEL champion with Cologne and Düsseldorf) organized the camp in Geretsried.

“We still have a number of blank spots in Bavaria.

We really want to attract youngsters to para-hockey, ”says the committed coach.

Germany currently ranks between eight and twelve in the world rankings.

"We have about 30 players who are international," said Gursinsky.

Base for para hockey in Geretsried?

In order to advance para-hockey, he could imagine setting up a base in Geretsried. Funding from the federal government can be obtained at any time for such a project. Especially since the ESC with its inclusion division already offers an offer for athletes with handicaps. But actually the instructor wants to get out of the disabled sports association with sledge hockey: “We are only administered there.” It is much more important to be able to create sporting perspectives for para-hockey. Gursinsky: "We would like to be part of the German Ice Hockey Federation."

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-08-23

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