Photo: Kyle Bray/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Boston Whiplash is the first U.S. Volt Hockey team, and it's headed to Sweden for the World Cup.
Volt Hockey is an international sport designed for athletes with disabilities, and the sport is growing.
Volt Hockey uses specially designed battery-powered chairs equipped with paddles that can reach 10 mph, faster than most wheelchairs.
The sport originated in Denmark in the 1990s.
Some describe Volt Hockey as a cross between go-karting and floor hockey.
Desi Forte has played for the Boston Whiplash for almost four years and has been to the last two World Cups. "It's played three-on-three," she explained. "And the strategy is to get the ball into the opposing net."
Players on the chairs with a joystick navigate a sturdy whiffle ball with a paddle attached to the front of the chairs.
As Forte explained, a goal is scored by maneuvering the ball into the net.
Volt Hockey is growing throughout the country and right here in Massachusetts.
Forte said, at a recent local clinic, people from all over attended. "We had players from New York and New Jersey who were very eager to take this sport back to their home cities and hopefully start teams, because that's really the goal to get it going," Forte said.
She added that what's most important is how Volt Hockey provides its players who have disabilities the opportunity to play sports. "They're not on a little league team or a soccer team, so there's a lot of life development that happens with being part of a team."
World Cup Volt Hockey takes place Sept. 6-7 in Gavle, Sweden.
Twenty-four teams from five countries (Sweden, Norway, Canada, Denmark, USA) are registered to compete.
WBZ NewsRadio's Kyle Bray (@KyleBrayWBZ) reports.