What would inspire someone to jump into a boxing ring for a charity fight with no prior experience? Would you call it crazy? Stupid? Ill-advised?

I'd argue the athletes of the Northern Virginia Cool Cats Special Hockey fight a more difficult battle every day. These kids, with developmental disabilities, fight through adversity on a daily basis just to play the sport they love. They've set an example for me as a hockey player and as a human being. I'm fighting because I'm confident that you'll want to fight for them too.

About Me

I was born and raised in Northern Virginia. My earliest memories were of playing sports but I can't remember one that I loved more than Ice Hockey. From early morning ice times (thanks Mom & Dad) to late night skates with my brother. Ice Hockey was in my blood.

In high school, I spent a summer volunteering with the Cool Cats at our local ice rink. The kids were a spitting image of myself. They wanted the same things I did. To play the game, score goals, celebrate wins with the team. There was one minor difference, they all had a disability. All of the sudden, the challenge of skating that extra lap seemed small.

Fast Forward to college and I'm playing on the Georgia Tech Ice Hockey team. The team gave me an outlet at a school where I knew no one. It gave me a purpose. It gave me confidence in myself and abilities.

Ice Hockey taught my so much about myself. I'd be remiss if I didn't fight to give that chance to someone else.

My Cause

The Northern Virginia Cool Cats exist for the enrichment of the athlete with a developmental disability. In addition to physical hockey skills, the program emphasizes the development of desirable individual characteristics such as dependability, self-reliance, concentration, willingness to share and personal accountability. The game of hockey is used by the Cool Cats to develop within each player the characteristics that will help the player to be more successful both inside and outside a hockey environment.

Please join me in helping to support this amazing cause by donating or sharing this page on social media. Together we can fight to give every athlete the chance to play the sport they love.

Brawling For Cool Cats Special Hockey: Mike Sandt

By Michael Sandt

Brawling For Cool Cats Special Hockey: Mike Sandt