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.
Special hockey Tournament 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 – including the Bruins mascot Blades - was a huge crowd-pleaser.”
Lovell Arena also offered plenty of off-ice fun with a bowling alley, interactive hockey and golf, and a gaming room.
All special hockey teams from around the world are welcome to participate in the SHI Boston 2024 tournament. All participating teams must be members of their country’s governing body including Canadian National Special Hockey (CNSH) and USA Hockey.
For U.S. teams not registered with USA Hockey, simply register your team ASAP with USA Hockey by calling Laura Johnson at 224-636-3233 or by emailing disabled-registrar@comcast.net. Important USA Hockey member benefits include:
- Accidental excess medical and dental expense insurance up to $50,000 of coverage for your players, coaches and other volunteers;
- The opportunity to play dozens of special needs hockey-team members of USA Hockey and attend USA Hockey tournaments;
- Support of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic ice hockey teams;
- USA Hockey’s informative monthly magazine;
- Discounts from a variety of participating companies;
- Providing your Coaches with USA Hockey coaching certification which is a gold standard in the hockey world.
For players needing financial assistance with USA Hockey membership, click here.
About The Great Blizzards of Massachusetts Special Hockey: This inclusive program has two locations - in Kingston and S. Dennis, MA - and serves more than 60 players who cannot play on any other team due to cognitive, intellectual, developmental and/or physical disabilities. The Great Blizz was founded in 2019. For more information, go to www.thegreatblizz.org
About Special Hockey International: SHI is the Toronto-based international organization for special hockey clubs and teams. It is a non-governmental organization, which promotes ice hockey in an inclusive environment for athletes with a developmental disability and organizes an annual international tournament for its member clubs. For more information, go to www.specialhockeyinternational.org/
