What's Happening in Special Hockey
17-08-2024
The Great Blizzards of Massachusetts have officially opened registration for the most important special hockey tournament in the world - SHI Boston 2025 - the showcase annual event for Special Hockey International! April 24-26, 2025 at the prestigious Lovell Arena in Rockland, MA. For more information and to register, see www.shiboston2025.org or contact info@shiboston2025.org. Our friends from the Baltimore Saints were the first to register their two teams this morning and the entire Great Blizz team is excited to spend another weekend with our buds from Charm City! Last year, The Great Blizz hosted 500 special hockey players and 125 of their coaches. Plus all their families and friends. And we could not have done it without support from our organizing committee, parents/guardians from all the teams, generous sponsors, Lovell Arena and its Lovell Academy staff and students, and more. See you in EIGHT months!
16-07-2024
SHI are delighted to announce that The Great Blizzards of Massachusetts Special Hockey Inc will be hosting the Special Hockey tournament at the fabulous Lovelll Arena April 24-26 2025. Special Hockey International (SHI) and The Great Blizzards of Massachusetts Special Hockey are excited to announce today that the SHI annual tournament will return to Lovell Arena for SHI Boston 2025 on April 24-26, 2025. Registration will open by August 1st when the tournament website www.shiboston2025.org goes live. This highly-acclaimed three-day, four-game international tournament for players with special needs will take place in Rockland, MA, some 20 miles south of the hockey-rich city of Boston. This year’s event attracted nearly 500 athletes and 125 coaches from around the world, from the United Kingdom to Canada to across the United States, bringing SHI to life for the first time since 2019 due to COVID. The first SHI tournament took place in 1994. "Tournament Director Steve Nearman and his committee revived the SHI Tournament in 2024 with great success and all the trimmings - exciting Opening Ceremonies, music and games in the arena, and more!” said Lorraine Whaley, President of the HADC Gladiators Hockey Club from Toronto. “Impressively well organized, informed and fun volunteers, and more! Steve went above and beyond for our Gladiators and families to be there, and everyone had the best time! Kudos to you all for 2024 - and for doing it again in 2025! The HADC Gladiators will be there!” Like this year, the tournament will kick off with the awe-inspiring Olympic-style Opening Ceremonies and will include a world-class tournament dinner planned by the rink chef exclusively for SHI Boston 2025. “The fact that most of the teams who came to SHI Boston 2024 already verbally committed to returning next year before the tournament even ended speaks for itself,” stated Nearman, The Great Blizz founder and executive director. “On and off the ice, our participants completely enjoyed their time in the Boston area, be it taking in a Boston Red Sox game, visiting historic area attractions as well as checking out our beautiful beaches of Cape Cod.” “Without the financial commitments of Keurig Dr Pepper, Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism, Monogram Food Solutions, Riverview School, Jersey Mike’s, Irving, Compass USA, Recycleworks, Green Rabbit and others, SHI Boston 2024 would not have been such a success,” Nearman continued. “And the support of the Boston Bruins Alumni and the Boston Bruins Foundation
12-09-2023
We are delighted to announce that registration for the next SHI Tournament is now OPEN! Get ready for a fun-packed International Special Ice Hockey event! From April 25 – April 27 , this exciting tournament will be held in the historic city of Boston, bringing together sixty teams from around the globe. This year the tournament will showcase the new Lovell Arena, a state-of-the-art facility located just 20 miles south of Boston in Rockland MA. Additionally, games will be played at the Mark Bavis Arena adding even more excitement to the tournament! Mark Bavis Arena is also located in Rockland, 1 1/2 miles from Lovell. Convenience! Hosted by The Great Blizzards of Massachusetts, an inclusive ice hockey club based on the South Shore and Cape Cod, each team will play four games between 25th – 27th April. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to info@shiboston2024.org To register for the 2024 tournament, please click here.
23-04-2023
We are delighted to announce that The Great Blizzards of Massachusetts Special Hockey will host the next SHI Tournament from April 25th -27th 2024. SHI Boston 2024 will be played on three sheets of ice at the brand-new state-of-the-art Lovell Arena, located in Rockland, just 20 miles south of Boston. Details of the rink can be found at The Lovell Arena If your club is interested in attending this fun-packed three-day international tournament, please email coachnearms@thegreatblizz.org for more information. Early indications of interest would be greatly appreciated for planning reasons, so please don’t hesitate to register your interest!
07-05-2021
Ice Hockey returned to Streatham Ice rink as the Werewolves of London Special Ice Hockey club were able to take to the ice under the latest government guidance. It was our first opportunity to use the rink dividers bought as part of our ‘Sticking it to COVID’ initiative funded in partnership with the National Lottery Community fund. It allows us to split the ice and work in COVID safe groups as well as help in focusing areas of the ice for different drills. Our sessions are now back to the more familiar fortnightly Saturday 16:30 to 18:30 time slots (first hour U18, second hour Over 18 as per current guidance). Although traditionally we would be coming to the end of our season in May, our season has been extended to the end of June to allow our players the opportunity to make up for the lost ice time and to come back to the rink and training when they feel comfortable to do so as restrictions ease. To find out more about Streatham Ice Rink, please click here.