There are various levels of being visually impaired. For the most part I believe you are legally blind if you have less than 10% of your vision.
We have a steel puck with ball bearings in it to make sound, and as it travels over the ice, or is stickhandled with, or passed it rattles. Many of the players have a heightened sense of hearing as you can imagine, and they can orient themselves as the sound from skating is different when you're near the boards. As a sighed volunteer we assist with the play and talk to the players and support them on the ice.
We haven't had visually impaired goalies for a few years, but if we have a sighed goalie, they will often play blindfolded, and they listen for the sound of the puck. I've played net a few times (I'm not a goalie), and it is amazingly difficult to judge distance by sound.
I've seen players with a very wide range of skill, but we've had a few players who have lost their vision over time who played junior hockey years ago. They typically don't need to see the puck once it's on their stick.
There are actually teams in most major Canadian cities, and there's a few guys that try to generate interest in blind youth. They have a yearly tournament in Ontario, and are trying to do more to show blind youth that they can get involved and be active in a game any kid their age would play.
I've volunteered with them for 16 years, and it's been an amazing experience. We have goggles that limit vision, and it's amazing how hard it is to play without being able to see the puck, or players coming to check you.
|