Solstice Film Festival 2009

They are as different as the disabilities that brought them together as a team. Each man, whether born with a disability, or come to it by accident, has learned to live through adversity. They joke amongst themselves about separating the “amps” and the “wheelies” into separate dressing rooms. But one thing is certain; they have bonded together into a unique and sometimes dysfunctional family with a single purpose – to be World Champions in their chosen sport of sledge hockey. The story of the men on Canada’s National Sledge hockey team and their quest to be the dominant force in this fast-paced game begins long before Selection Camp takes place in a bedroom community of Ottawa. It begins, for some, at birth – for others just nine years ago. Each player has a different story to tell - inspiring stories that speak to the day-to-day struggles of playing for a national team and what it’s like to be a disabled man living in a world largely designed for the able-bodied person. In the past, the National Team has soared to great heights, winning a gold medal at the Paralympics in Turino. The team became a close-knit family and that family is about to get tested by some of the best sledge hockey teams in the world. Theirs is a story in the classic sense of storytelling: a quest - the World Championships - with rivals out to dethrone them. It’s also the story about men who live their life as disabled men and all the baggage that entails - the stares, the prejudice, the struggles to do things that able-bodied people take for granted. It is a story of a remarkable team of athletes and even more remarkable men.