{"id":160501,"date":"2025-11-23T17:03:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T01:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2025\/11\/23\/opening-eyes-blind-hockey-letting-b-c-kids-live-out-the-canadian-dream\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T08:30:50","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T16:30:50","slug":"opening-eyes-blind-hockey-letting-b-c-kids-live-out-the-canadian-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2025\/11\/23\/opening-eyes-blind-hockey-letting-b-c-kids-live-out-the-canadian-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"Blind hockey program letting B.C. kids live out the Canadian dream"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The first thing you notice is the sound. Not the scrape of blades, but the rattle of a heavy steel puck cutting across the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre ice.<\/p>\n<p>For the kids stepping out for their first blind hockey trial on Wednesday, that sound was an invitation, proof that hockey had a place for them too.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/blackpress.tv\/embed\/57270\/Canadian_Blind_Hockey\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Sixteen children from across Greater Victoria arrived, not quite sure what the day would hold. Many had never put on skates.<\/p>\n<p>A few clung to boards, others shuffled forward with cautious steps, all of them guided by volunteers and three Victoria Royals players &#8211; goaltender Ethan Eskit, forward Nolan Stewart, and defenceman Cohen Massey.<\/p>\n<p>For Corbin Johnson, program coordinator for the Canadian Blind Hockey Association, the moment hit close to home.<\/p>\n<p>Growing up with sight loss, Johnson spent years believing hockey simply wasn&rsquo;t an option.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;As a kid myself, I gave up on hockey a long time ago because I didn&rsquo;t know I could play it,&rdquo; Johnson told Victoria News. &ldquo;Discovering blind hockey a couple years ago was an eye opener. It was like a dream I let go of, and suddenly it was right there again.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Helping kids experience that for the first time, he said, is the part that never stops being emotional.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;For the majority of these kids, this is their first time on the ice,&rdquo; Johnson said. &ldquo;It can be scary for any kid to put on skates, but for kids with sight loss, to do something they thought they couldn&rsquo;t do, it&rsquo;s really empowering.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Blind hockey comes with a set of adaptations that make the game accessible.<\/p>\n<p>The puck is three times the size of a standard one, made of steel and filled with ball bearings that rattle as it moves.<\/p>\n<p>The nets are a foot shorter to keep shots low and trackable. And once a team enters the offensive zone, they must complete a clean pass before a shot is allowed.<\/p>\n<p>A whistle signals when that pass is made, giving goalies, who by rule must be fully blind, a chance to locate the play.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Once you hear that rattle, you know where the play&rsquo;s going,&rdquo; Johnson said. &ldquo;Those adaptations open the door for everyone.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>That door opened wide for six-year-old William Cowburn.<\/p>\n<p>His father, Trevor, stood at the bench watching his son push forward with his grin growing with every stride.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Just seeing the smile on his face melts my heart,&rdquo; Trevor said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s having so much fun. Moments like this mean everything.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>William lives with significant vision loss, relying mostly on peripheral sight.<\/p>\n<p>Trevor said the family has been open about the realities of his condition, including a tough conversation only a month ago.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We got told he&rsquo;d never be able to drive, which sucks because he loves cars,&rdquo; Trevor said. &ldquo;But he gets to play sports. That&rsquo;s amazing. You hold onto moments like that.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>William recently joined the South Island Ravens, a hockey program praised for its inclusivity.<\/p>\n<p>Trevor said that environment helped his son find confidence, and Wednesday&rsquo;s skate built on it.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Everyone&rsquo;s there to participate, everyone&rsquo;s supportive,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t get a lot of programs like that. Seeing blind kids get chances like this, it means the world.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The event also reflected a year of big growth for blind hockey in B.C.<\/p>\n<p>The Canadian Blind Hockey Association recently partnered with the Vancouver Canucks through the Canucks for Kids Fund, launching the new all-ages Victoria Canucks Blind Hockey Team.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson pushed for that connection early.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I kept telling people, we have to get the skate logo involved. It fits perfectly,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Once the Canucks saw what blind hockey was all about, it was a no-brainer for them.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Those looking to join the Victoria Canucks can join them at a weekly skate at the Panorama Recreation Centre on Sundays from 2:10 until 3:30 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>For Johnson, for Trevor, and for the kids rattling that puck up and down the ice, Wednesday wasn&rsquo;t a tryout. It was a reminder that hockey can look different, sound different, and still spark the same joy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sixteen kids with sight loss hit the ice with the Victoria Royals and Canadian Blind Hockey <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":160502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-160501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regional-news","category-sports"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Blind hockey program letting B.C. kids live out the Canadian dream - The Interior News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2025\/11\/23\/opening-eyes-blind-hockey-letting-b-c-kids-live-out-the-canadian-dream\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Blind hockey program letting B.C. kids live out the Canadian dream - The Interior News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sixteen kids with sight loss hit the ice with the Victoria Royals and Canadian Blind Hockey\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2025\/11\/23\/opening-eyes-blind-hockey-letting-b-c-kids-live-out-the-canadian-dream\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Interior News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-24T01:03:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-25T16:30:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2025\/11\/40932586_web1_251119-VNE-BlindHockey-Hockey_1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"none\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"none\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2025\/11\/23\/opening-eyes-blind-hockey-letting-b-c-kids-live-out-the-canadian-dream\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2025\/11\/23\/opening-eyes-blind-hockey-letting-b-c-kids-live-out-the-canadian-dream\/\",\"name\":\"Blind hockey program letting B.C. kids live out the Canadian dream - The Interior News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2025\/11\/23\/opening-eyes-blind-hockey-letting-b-c-kids-live-out-the-canadian-dream\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2025\/11\/23\/opening-eyes-blind-hockey-letting-b-c-kids-live-out-the-canadian-dream\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2025\/11\/40932586_web1_251119-VNE-BlindHockey-Hockey_1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-24T01:03:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-25T16:30:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/#\/schema\/person\/8be4edca74839da05bc48ba285e538cc\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2025\/11\/23\/opening-eyes-blind-hockey-letting-b-c-kids-live-out-the-canadian-dream\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2025\/11\/23\/opening-eyes-blind-hockey-letting-b-c-kids-live-out-the-canadian-dream\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2025\/11\/23\/opening-eyes-blind-hockey-letting-b-c-kids-live-out-the-canadian-dream\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2025\/11\/40932586_web1_251119-VNE-BlindHockey-Hockey_1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2025\/11\/40932586_web1_251119-VNE-BlindHockey-Hockey_1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"Sixteen youth from Greater Victoria took part in Wednesday&rsquo;s blind hockey trial. 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