Power hockey – a triumph for all

I’ve always loved power hockey and played it since I was eight. 

Power hockey is the powered-wheelchair version of field hockey, which started at Liverpool's Greenbank Sports Academy in 2000.

This is the only contact sport for electric wheelchair users and in March 2021 a governing body - GB Power Hockey Association (CIO) - was born.

A disabled sport by disabled people 

It’s the best sport ever as it makes me feel like I have no disability and I can focus on just enjoying it, so imagine my delight when in 2001 I was offered to become a trustee by Gerry Kinsella, chairman of the charity and creator of the sport.

This opportunity meant I could help develop the sport nationwide, something which is key to my current role as media secretary at the charity.

I also helped organise and run power hockey’s inaugural tournament, held in May this year, at the sport’s home of Greenbank Sports Academy.

It was an action-packed day with teams from around the country competing in front of hundreds of spectators.

I think it is safe to say that without the role of disabled people within power hockey, the sport wouldn’t exist and I’m proud of having helped laid the foundations for this exciting and up-and-coming sport to prosper and immensely improve disabled people’s lives.

How does Sport England support our work?

Funding from Sport England has enabled the Greenbank Project, working in partnership with the GB Power Hockey Association, to promote and develop this great new sport.

The funding has aided the creation of four new hubs in England - in Chester-Le-Street, Gloucester, Middlesbrough and Burton Upon Trent - and the further development of the Liverpool hub.

The hubs - which will train teams to compete in different leagues and championships - each have eight power hockey chairs stored, ready for players to use in power hockey and power football weekly sessions.

The funding has also paid for the role of the Greenbank Power Hockey business development manager to support the development of the hubs.

The officer has introduced the games of power hockey, and sometimes power football, to the hubs by organising test sessions in each venue before the hubs start.

This figure has also developed the local partnership, which is crucial to the hubs' success and is supporting the volunteer force to run these centres.

The funding has also enabled the development of the chair themselves.

They count with a shooting mechanism that can propel the hockey ball out of the chair using two electromagnets and the players can tackle each other safely due to front bumpers, more commonly used to protect walls from forklift trucks.

The chairs are made by Powersport Engineering, a community interest company, which took over making the chairs from Greenbank in 2020.

The project has enabled the social enterprise to flourish and develop through the turbulent Covid period and has also enabled disabled people to return to playing sports after the pandemic.

Power hockey and power football players were isolated for a prolonged period during the pandemic due to their vulnerability, but the hubs enabled the players to come out and start playing sports again in a safe environment.

Sport England has also supported the sport by providing a case officer who helped shape and link the project with other key organisations.

Together, we’ve made power hockey a sport with the necessary infrastructure and workforce to thrive and one, more importantly, with a truly exciting future to look forward to.

This is something for all lovers of sport, not just the disabled community, to celebrate.