Marlborough to host World Ice Sledge Hockey games
By Ken Powers Community Reporter

Marlborough - Final preparations are being made at the New England Sports Center (NESC) and at hotels and restaurants throughout the area as the city gets ready to serve as host for the International Paralympic Committee World Ice Sledge Hockey Championships.

Marlborough, the NESC and Massachusetts Hockey were chosen more than a year ago to host the games, which will serve as world championships and the qualifier for the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games, which will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia.

More than 300 competitors and officials will converge on Marlborough for the Ice Sledge Hockey Championships, and family and friends will come to watch the games as well. The teams begin to arrive for the competition Wednesday March 26 and play will run from Saturday March 29 through Saturday April 5.

Sledge hockey debuted in the Paralympics in 1998 and became an official medal event in 2002. It is played by people who have suff ered leg or spinal injuries and are unable to skate standing up. Players sit on a sledge, which has a skate running along the bottom of it, and propel themselves across the ice by pushing off with miniature hockey sticks gripped in each hand.

The sport is one of the more popular ones among those played in the Paralympic Games.

"It's very fast-paced, which I think is the attraction," Charlie Huebner, chief of Paralympics for the United States Olympic Committee, said from his office at Olympic headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo. "It's our fastest growing sport, worldwide."

At the same time it hosts the sledge hockey championships, the NESC will play host to the U.S. National Disabled Festival hockey tournament, a competition that will run from Sunday March 30 through Sunday April 6. More than 35 teams and hundreds of competitors and fans are expected in town for the festival.

The NESC's five rinks will be constantly in use during that nine-day span.

"We've hosted a lot of tournaments, including the World Juniors, but this is the first time we've been involved with anything of this magnitude," NESC General Manager Wes Tuttle said. "In addition, we're going to have not just one, but two major tournaments going on simultaneously. It'll be a busy time for us, but we're excited about it."

Tuttle said the NESC got involved in the championships and the festival after being approached by Massachusetts Hockey.

"They approached us and asked if we'd be interested in putting a bid in with them to host the events," Tuttle said.

Marlborough Mayor Nancy Stevens said she is excited for the opportunity to be involved in an event that could boost the city's profile locally, nationally and internationally and prove fruitful for area merchants.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for our city," Stevens said. "One of the things we want to do is bring business we wouldn't otherwise get into the community. To have an Olympic event in the city is great for us. This is going to be a big boost for our hospitality industry. We're thrilled for this opportunity."