Power hockey

Power hockey is a competitive, fast-paced hockey game based on the use of an electric powered wheelchair. Its modified ice hockey rules enable disabled people who use an electric wheelchair to play hockey and to be active in a competitive team setting. The sport is also called electric wheelchair hockey and electric wheelchair floorball.

History of power hockey

The sport was discovered by accident in the 1970s, when some schools began giving sports lessons for pupils with disabilities. The children that started playing the sport were mainly severely physically handicapped. This type of sport was great for them because it does not require much muscle power to operate the stick or the wheelchair. There are also similarities with floorball. Power hockey is also called as “electric wheelchair hockey”, and the name “electric wheelchair hockey” has some history to it. Due to its great similarity with hockey, it was initially called as “wheelchair hockey”, but later in order indicate that it used electric wheelchairs, the word “electric” was added. This is how electric wheelchair hockey ended up being called as it is now. Power hockey (electric wheelchair hockey) began to receive public attention from 1980s. For example, in late 1980s, tournaments for power hockey were established in Germany and Netherlands. However, it wasn’t until 1990s that power hockey began to receive international attention. In 1998, the first ever World games for power hockey was held in Utrecht, Netherlands. In 2001, a big international power hockey tournament took place in Minneapolis. In the following years, World Championships, European Championships, and more tournaments were formed in European countries such as Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, and Italy (“History”).

Positions

The amount of players on a specific team can change, but at any given time there are five players on the court. There is usually one head coach and one assistant coach to direct the movements of the team members.

Rule changes

Equipments

World Rankings

Below is the world rankings for power hockey provided by International Wheelchair & Amputee Sports Federation. It has been updated after the EC2016 that was held in De Rijp, The Netherlands, and oublished on the IPCH website on 31st August 2016.

1 The Netherlands

2 Italy

3 Germany

4 Belgium

5 Denmark

6 Switzerland

7 Finland

8 Australia

9 Slovenia

10 Spain

11 Czech Republic

Power hockey leagues & teams

Below is the list of official power hockey leagues and teams that exist around the world. Since it’s just a portion of many leagues and teams, there might be more power hockey teams and competitions besides the names provided below. (“Leagues”).

Variations of Hockey

There are lots of variations of hockey besides power hockey. These variations of hockey differ in rules, settings, and materials (Mittal 19-20).

See also

External links

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