Three players from Sheffield’s para ice hockey team have been selected to represent Great Britain at this years C-Pool World Championships.
Sheffield Steelkings Bryan Hackworth, Gary Farmer and AJ Mead have travelled to Thailand to compete for the gold medal and promotion to the B-Pool division.
The Steelkings sent a message of support to their players travelling with the rest of their international team mates.
They said: “We are very proud of Bryan, Gary and AJ for their Great Britain selection for the upcoming World Para Ice Hockey Pool-C World Championships.
“We work really hard to get the very best out of our players and I am confident in their ability to do well at this tournament.”
The team are hopeful they can eventually become a A-Pool team and compete in the 2026 Winter Paralympics.
Net minder, Bryan Hackworth, 34, who has played the sport for 17 years, spoke of the camaraderie amongst the GB camp and how this will benefit them when gunning for gold.
He said: “We have trained more as a team so that we can just concentrate on this particular tournament.
“It’s a good bunch of lads that we’ve managed to get out there.”
Para ice hockey is not funded at government level meaning all for travel and tournament fees has to be paid for by the players.
Hackworth’s aunt, Linda Rowland, explained how her nephew created a GoFundMe page, to finance the expenses he will incur through the tournament, and has currently raised £1335.
She said: “He’s a little bit short of the actual amount needed at the moment. The gym he goes to are having a fundraising day and we are actually selling one of our cars to fill the gap.”
The Steelkings said: “It certainly adds extra pressure when you go to a tournament like this, having had to self-fund the trip, but hopefully they can finish first, gain promotion and shine a spotlight on this amazing sport.
The Sheffield Steelkings are one of two para ice-hockey teams in Sheffield. Along with the Steel Stings, they compete in the British Para Ice Hockey League against teams including the Cardiff Huskies and the Peterborough Phantoms.
Bangkok is hosting the tournament, which runs from from the 6 to 11 December.
