sportsleader

SLED HOCKEY
STORY AND PHOTOS BY JACOB HALL
LARGER GOALS
A H E A D
Sled hockey added to options for athletes in Siouxland Adaptive Sports programs of Sioux Center
Everyone deserves the opportunity to participate
in sports. That’s the reason Siouxland
Adaptive Sports started. Juli Duden’s family
was one of four families who founded
the group.
“We knew that sports are important to kids for
being physically active, but sports also teach kids
about teamwork,” Duden said. “Sports are more
than just about competing. It’s about helping to
build confidence, teamwork and getting exercise.
The kids with physical disabilities need that just as
much as anyone else.”
Duden, who lives in Sioux Center, said her family
goes to Minneapolis so her daughter can participate
in track and field. They’ve done that for three years.
Her daughter has cerebral palsy and was typically
recovering from surgeries up until a few years ago
when she could start competing.
“We felt like there was a need here in Sioux County
for kids with physical disabilities to participate in
sports and not have to travel,” Duden said. “These
kids a lot of times are told of all the things they can’t
do, now they have all these things they can do.”
Last fall the group hosted an adaptive sports clinic
that include track and field, swimming, dance and
sled hockey.
“Sled hockey was the big hit,” Duden said.
Its popularity was greater than originally expected.
“Our goal was for kids to give sled hockey a try
and if they liked that experience, we’d be part of a
team and travel to Minneapolis,” Duden said. “So
many kids liked it, we quickly realized we could
have a team of our own. The first step was how do
we get sleds.”
The group borrowed eight sleds from the Davenport
hockey program. Those sleds, though, were
outdated.
“The kids were happy just to be able to stay on the
ice, though,” Duden said.
Cheryl Horstman, also from Sioux Center, found
sleds from the Ames adaptive sports program. The
Ames group couldn’t get ice time so Sioux Center
borrowed 13 sleds.
Eventually the Sioux Center group raised enough
16 THE SPORTS LEADER | JANUARY 2019