MSOE men’s hockey team partnered with Wisconsin Adaptive Sports Association (WASA) and Wounded Warriors Project to host a group of athletes on campus for a two-day adaptive sports clinic at the Kern Center. 

More than a dozen warriors from Wounded Warrior Project came to Milwaukee to participate in a variety of sports including wheelchair rugby, wheelchair lacrosse and sled hockey. Members of MSOE’s hockey team and WASA took to the ice and joined the athletes in helping them get equipped with their sleds and went through hockey drills. 

MSOE sophomore forward Ethan Mann introduced the team to the WASA organization the previous year when they volunteered at a basketball event. Mann had already been involved with the organization since his freshman year of high school.

“We wanted to bring more volunteering opportunities (to our team) and decided to set up an event here at MSOE to try a bunch of different sports,” said Mann. “Being able to create new experiences for people who are trying new sports, being active, trying something they’ve never done before, it’s really awesome to be involved in those first-time experiences.”

The Wisconsin Adaptive Sports Association (WASA) is dedicated to creating inclusive adaptive sports experiences for people across the state of Wisconsin. WASA believes in the transformative power of sports that fosters unity.

The Wounded Warriors Project is a veteran services organization that focuses on the total well-being of post-9/11 wounded, ill, or injured veterans. Adaptive sports are just one of the many programs that the organization offers to empower veterans across the country.