The Forester Athletic Department, in conjunction with the Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association (GLASA) is excited to host the fourth annual “The Sleds Are Coming” event on Sunday, February 9, 2014, at the Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse on the campus of Lake Forest College. The event will take place at 2:00 p.m, admission is free and open to the public, but donations are encouraged in order to support GLASA.

The purpose of “The Sleds Are Coming” is to bring campus and community exposure to GLASA and showcase its sled hockey program while raising funds for the GLASA Falcons sled hockey team and other GLASA Athletic Programs. The Falcons, coached by retired Lake Forest men’s hockey coach Tony Fritz, were the 2013 Adult B National Champions.

This year’s event will honor Lake Forest College graduate JJ O’Connor ’01 for his personal and professional accomplishments. O’Connor sustained a catastrophic (quadriplegic) injury several years ago in a hockey game while attending Loyola Academy. Today he is a franchise business owner and chair of the USA Disabled Hockey. He spends most of his time promoting adaptive sports in the United States and sled hockey worldwide. O’Connor is the captain of GLASA’s Power Soccer Team. It is with great pleasure that we honor O’Connor for his personal and professional accomplishments.

The Chicago Blackhawks mascot Tommy Hawk will lead the “red” team in cheers and the Chicago Wolves mascot “Skates” will lead the “white” team. Volunteers from the Lake Forest College community and Lake Forest High School will fill the stands with many others from our surrounding community and cheer on the GLASA athletes. This year, the game will feature the GLASA Falcons competing against each other. The competition on the ice will consist of three 12-minute periods of 8-on-8 sled hockey played by members of the GLASA Falcons. In addition to the game, there will be raffle prizes, including four Alumni Box Seats for a Chicago Blackhawks game & a Blackhawks jersey autographed by the 2013 Stanley Cup Championship Team, and a Chuck-A-Puck competition.

For more information, please contact Kerry Van Malderghem in the Lake Forest College Athletics Department at (847) 735-5285 or vanmalderghem@lakeforest.edu.

*Story courtesy of goforesters.com