Many of you know that INCIGHT’s Electric Hockey Carts traveled north in the past year and made it all the way to Brandon, Manitoba. What you may not know yet is that their newly formed team, Westman Volt Hockey, has already achieved victory, and ahead of schedule. Westman Volt Hockey is now National Champions after competing in the Variety Village VOLT Hockey Tournament in Scarborough, Ontario, the first of its kind in Canada. The league,
which was first formed in 2016, was taken by storm when Brandon’s new team beat out many more experienced teams.
The Westman team, which was assembled last fall, won 4 out of 4 games at the tournament and was named National Champions, out of the 9 teams that came to compete. INCIGHT expected great success from this group after meeting Chad Wallin back in March 2023; he was an instrumental force behind the team’s coming to Brandon. We were thrilled to hear this update from Wallin, knowing how significantly the carts have contributed to the growth of Westman’s team.
Westman’s VOLT Hockey team inherited INCIGHT’s old Electric Hockey Carts and started practicing and preparing right away. The five-member team got down to work learning the sport the day the carts were unpacked. Things with VOLT could not have gone better for their first year. They ended up adding a second night in the second half of the
season to include adults, giving them a total of 30 participants. Additionally, they ended up purchasing 3 new hockey carts to add to their existing 5 to meet the demands of all the participants.
Wallin is hopeful Westman could potentially take a couple of teams to this tournament next year, and would one day love to take a team to the VOLT world championships in Sweden. Future tournaments? Yes. A world championship? Probably. These Westman teams are not to be counted out, and certainly not trifled with. Treat them like underdogs, and they just might keep embracing the underdog role and keep taking the world by storm too.
Pia Gilgen is the Director of Education at INCIGHT. She coordinates a small team of educators and media team to develop video lessons and learning materials. Additionally, she administers INCIGHT's Scholarship Program for students with disabilities who are pursuing post-secondary education.