CanPlay Hockey Classic continues to change lives

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This article was published 18/01/2024 (991 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was the best call Michael Gerl ever made.

Sitting in a broadcasting school class in 2012, Gerl was brainstorming a way to give back to the Children’s Rehabilitation Foundation — the organization that gave him his independence.

The 31-year-old, born in Brandon and adopted by a Winnipeg family, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at four, underwent surgery at five and did extensive physiotherapy at the Rehabilitation Centre for Children until he was 10.

Doctors feared Gerl would never walk, something he does comfortably today. Doctors also feared Gerl’s hearing impairment would prohibit his dream of being a sports broadcaster, but he’s been the play-by-play voice of the Manitoba Women’s Junior Hockey League since 2013.

“In that moment, it was like, ‘What can I do to give back to a foundation that helped me get on my feet?’ because I basically had to relearn how to walk after the surgery, after they lengthened my heel cords,” Gerl said. “They gave me my independence, basically.”

Gerl settled on the CanPlay Hockey Classic, which will run for a seventh year at the Hockey For All Centre on Saturday.

The event welcomes eight teams from the Manitoba Women’s Junior Hockey League and Manitoba Female Hockey League (U18AAA and AAU15) to play in support of youth living with physical and developmental disabilities.

The feature contest pits the Winnipeg Ice against the Winnipeg Avros — two of the top squads in the MFHL U18AAA division. Game time is 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $5.

The CanPlay Hockey Classic has raised about $30,000 for the foundation since it first ran in 2013, including $7,000 last year — enough to buy a young girl an adaptive bike.

“It’s a beautiful thing,” said Jane Kidd-Hantscher, executive director of the foundation. “When we met with Michael last year to resurrect the event (after the pandemic), we wanted to talk about where the funds could go and we suggested that they go specifically to support recreational adaptive equipment because this is clearly a recreational event.”

The Rehabilitation Centre for Children works with upward of six thousand children each year, many of whom are repeat visitors. Funding for recreational adaptive equipment — things like adaptive bikes, sledge hockey equipment and sports wheelchairs — is not granted by any level of government, only through donors and community support.

“That’s why I try to stress that this is so important. The funds raised help us change lives,” Kidd-Hantscher said.

Though the games at hand will be at the forefront of players’ minds while they’re on the ice, Kidd-Hantscher said the cause isn’t lost on the young women who will compete this weekend.

Seven-year-old Braelynn Bodman, this year’s event ambassador, visited the Ice and Avros in December to talk about living with Spinal Muscular Atrophy — a condition that weakens her muscles and is likened to ALS. If anything, it was an eye-opening experience for the teenagers in the room.

“Things like that and the exposure for it really, really helps. If we can help young women who are my daughter’s age — you’ve got 13-year-olds as young as — sort of an eye-opener about, ‘Well, this is your life but this is somebody else’s life, and it’s a great life, but they need our help.’ So we’re working really hard on that,” Kidd-Hantscher said.

At last check, the CanPlay Hockey Classic has raised over $4,000 this year, with much more expected to roll in by the end of Saturday. The Children’s Rehabilitation Foundation has a goal of $10,000, Gerl has even loftier goals of hitting the $20,000 mark.

“If you would’ve told me in Year 1 that 10 or 11 years later (I’d) still be doing it, I would’ve said, ‘You’re crazy,’ right?”

The growth of the event really hit Gerl last year, when minutes before puck drop of the marquee game he looked inside the arena to see every seat taken on one side of the rink.

“It was in that moment where I realized the potential for this event, what it can be going forward, and that no matter the circumstance, dream as big as you want to go with this thing and make it work,” Gerl said. “I give a lot of credit to Jane and the people at the foundation.

“I feel like this is an extension of their tentpole events particularly in the last couple of years. I’ve really felt that support, and with that support, it’s been able to grow to where it is today.”

jfreysam@freepress.mb.ca

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