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42 | April 26, 2018 | The wilmette beacon real estate<br />
wilmettebeacon.com<br />
New Trier’s Weber has fun at hockey festival<br />
Michael Wojtychiw<br />
Sports Editor<br />
For 14 years, the USA<br />
Hockey Disabled Hockey<br />
Festival has allowed hockey<br />
players with disabilities<br />
to play the sport they love<br />
over the course of a weekend<br />
against others who are<br />
in similar situations.<br />
The mission of the Festival<br />
is to provide a fun and<br />
exciting weekend of hockey<br />
in a grand event while<br />
promoting and growing<br />
disabled hockey throughout<br />
the country, according<br />
to the festival’s website.<br />
The event is the largest<br />
disabled hockey event of its<br />
kind and became so large<br />
this year that it had to be<br />
split up into two weekends,<br />
April 5–8 for those that are<br />
blind/visually impaired,<br />
deaf/hard of hearing, special,<br />
warrior/standing amputee<br />
and April 12-15 for<br />
sled hockey.<br />
One of the players able to<br />
participate in the event was<br />
New Trier senior Adam<br />
Weber. Weber, who is autistic,<br />
has been a member<br />
of the Blackhawks Special<br />
Hockey squad for the past<br />
five years, made his debut<br />
at the festival and was<br />
thrilled to have the opportunity<br />
to play this year.<br />
“It was a fun experience<br />
and there were a lot of<br />
teams there, from the U.S.<br />
and Canada and one other<br />
team from England,” Weber<br />
said.<br />
Weber got a chance to<br />
play in four games during<br />
the festival, and was a scoring<br />
machine. He scored<br />
seven goals and dished out<br />
an assist as well, helping<br />
his team to a nice finish<br />
during the tournament.<br />
“It’s so awesome that I<br />
could score a lot of goals<br />
and I think it was great to<br />
move the puck too,” he<br />
said.<br />
Chicago Blackhawks<br />
Special Hockey is dedicated<br />
to providing children<br />
and adults with developmental<br />
disabilities the opportunity<br />
to play hockey.<br />
Team members range in<br />
age from 5 to 55, and include<br />
both male and female<br />
athletes. The team is comprised<br />
of players that have<br />
autism, Down syndrome or<br />
other intellectual disabilities.<br />
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Adam Weber poses for a picture during the USA<br />
Hockey Disabled Hockey Festival April 5-8 in West<br />
Dundee. Photo submitted<br />
Chicago Blackhawks<br />
Special Hockey strives to<br />
promote and emphasize the<br />
development of sportsmanship,<br />
team spirit, increased<br />
confidence, pride, and team<br />
unity while having a great<br />
time in the process. It is<br />
open to anyone who is interested<br />
in playing, as long<br />
as the individual can skate.<br />
Chicago Blackhawks<br />
Special Hockey had multiple<br />
teams in the festival,<br />
and Weber played on two<br />
of them, the A and B teams.<br />
“I was a forward on both<br />
teams but think I’m more<br />
of a winger on both sides,”<br />
Weber said.<br />
Weber and his Chicago<br />
Blackhawks Special Hockey<br />
teammates practice once<br />
a week, on Sundays, and<br />
play in a couple tournaments<br />
each year. The team<br />
played in two tournaments<br />
last season, one in early<br />
fall and the other around<br />
Thanksgiving. Play resumes<br />
again in the fall.<br />
A tournament like the<br />
USA Hockey Disabled<br />
Hockey Festival, however,<br />
is not like any of the tournaments<br />
that Weber normally<br />
plays in. With the tournament<br />
being split into two<br />
weekends this year, it allowed<br />
all of the participants<br />
to have their moment and<br />
shine. It’s something that<br />
makes a weekend special<br />
for all of those involved.<br />
“The Festival was great<br />
and the best part was hanging<br />
out with my teammates,<br />
having fun on the ice and<br />
also being able to pass the<br />
puck and shooting the puck<br />
hard,” the Glencoe resident<br />
said.<br />
As one would imagine,<br />
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the hockey fanatic and<br />
hockey nut is a huge sports<br />
fan who loves the Blackhawks<br />
and Cubs. Two of<br />
his favorite moments have<br />
been when the Blackhawks<br />
won the Stanley Cup and<br />
when the Cubs won the<br />
World Series in 2016.<br />
But what does Weber like<br />
to do in his free time? You<br />
guessed it, more sports-related<br />
activities.<br />
“I like to hang out with<br />
my dog and watch clips on<br />
YouTube that are sportsrelated,”<br />
he said. “I also<br />
like to watch sports on TV,<br />
watch movies and listening<br />
to music on Spotify.”<br />
Weber is set to graduate<br />
from New Trier in June and<br />
says that while he isn’t sure<br />
of his educational plans<br />
next year, he might take a<br />
year of transition seminar<br />
and then after that, go to a<br />
two-three-or-four-year college<br />
for students with special<br />
needs and disabilities.<br />
Whatever his next step<br />
may be, one thing is for<br />
sure, we aren’t done seeing<br />
Weber on the ice scoring<br />
goals and representing his<br />
town.<br />
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