Martlet Brings Home Bronze Medal

Westminster Fourth Former Oscar Ladd recently returned from competing in the inaugural World Deaf Ice Hockey Championships in Canada with a bronze medal. He was one of 18 selected for the United States team, composed of males 16 and older, after participating in a national AHIHA camp in Chicago.

The games will take place every four years in order to prepare for the Deaf Olympics. Over the course of 12 days, the team trained together and played each of the participating teams in a round-robin format. The four additional countries that sent teams to the championships were Slovakia, Russia, Finland, and Canada. After the initial games, the medal rounds commenced at the AHL rink in Manitoba and the American team earned the bronze medal by defeating the Russian team.

For Oscar, who played on Westminster’s Second Boys’ Hockey team this winter, this was an entirely new experience. At the championships, athletes were not permitted to use hearing aids, so they had to really know the game and anticipate each other’s play. The game turned out to be faster and more precise.

In addition to enjoying the time on the ice, Oscar appreciated getting to know new people and learning from the older players who served as role models for the rookies on the squad. Oscar hopes that this will be just the first of many similar experiences as he prepares for Olympic tryouts in 2010 for the 2011 Deaf Olympics in Slovakia.