WASHINGTON 鈥� When 50-year-old Robert Widmer of Odenton, Maryland, runs the Marine Corps Marathon this weekend, he plans to 鈥渟tart slow, and then taper off.鈥� Truth be told, Widmer isn鈥檛 much of a runner. His hobby is ice hockey, though even that鈥檚 something he got a late start on.
But most of the Washington Ice Dogs sign on to the sentiment 鈥渂etter late than never.鈥�
Widmer didn鈥檛 even learn how to ice skate until he turned 40, when he decided to start playing after he was several drinks into a Christmas party with friends. He learned how to play goalie because that鈥檚 the position that always looked fun on TV.
And after a 鈥渟kate-a-thon鈥� fundraising event at the Piney Orchard Ice Rink last year, he was approached and agreed to start spending his Saturdays from September through March as a volunteer assistant goalie coach 鈥� 鈥渃oach-ish鈥� is the term he used 鈥� with the Ice Dogs, a hockey team composed of players with special needs.
Those disabilities, be it mental or physical, will vary from player to player.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e all different,鈥� Widmer said. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e all got different issues of some sort, but in the end it鈥檚 hockey. And they all seem to enjoy it; they all get on the ice; they have fun.鈥�
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter鈥� is the phrase he seemed to repeat the most before an early-morning September practice.
What鈥檚 an Ice Dog?
The Washington Ice Dogs draw players from around the D.C. region. They aren鈥檛 the only squad that caters to players with special needs, but the Ice Dogs are one of the few that fields an 鈥淎鈥� team for players with advanced skills. That鈥檚 what brought Elias Tsakiris to the Ice Dogs from the Montgomery Cheetahs.
鈥淚 really loved them and stuff,鈥� said Tsakiris, who played with them for more than a decade growing up. 鈥淭hey have an 鈥楢鈥� team here, they have an adult team, and I really like doing it.鈥�
He鈥檚 22 now, and he plans to at least start running the marathon with Widmer.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be wonderful as I work my butt off,鈥� before adding 鈥渇or as many miles as I can run.鈥�
Widmer, on the other hand, plans to finish, even if it means using up most or all of the seven hours allotted to the slowest runners. He鈥檚 rather nonchalant about it all, admitting last month he probably wasn鈥檛 training as seriously as he should have been. But while he downplays the effort he鈥檚 putting into the race, or the difficulties the players he works with face, he lights up when he gets to tell stories about the achievements of the guys on the ice.
鈥業 just see the smiles on their faces鈥�
As a rec league hockey player who couldn鈥檛 even skate 10 years ago, Widmer loves to tell stories about the guys who play on the Ice Dogs鈥� 鈥淏鈥� team, and seeing their progress in the sport he loves. One of them was Phillip, who started off last year just pushing a goalie net around the ice at the Gardens Ice Rink in Laurel.
鈥淚 would just take the puck and I鈥檇 pass it to him,鈥� said Widmer. 鈥淗e looked at it, and he passed it back. And I passed to him and he passed it back. And then I鈥檇 pass the puck but leave it short and he would skate to it a little bit, shuffle a little bit, and then pass it back. We would go all around the rink and it was really cool to do that and see him progress like that.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 the people鈥� who make the Ice Dogs so special, said Widmer. 鈥淭here鈥檚 one kid, Will, he鈥檒l plant himself in front of the net and he just sits there and shoots, shoots, shoots.鈥�
Then Widmer started making Will skate to some pucks further away from the net.
鈥淗e was around center ice, and he had the puck and I was in the net and the kids were just shooting at me and having fun,鈥� said Widmer. 鈥淗e鈥檚 skating in and it must have been five minutes later, he finally gets up to the net so I slide over and square up to him.鈥� He makes the sound of him sliding and stopping, his skates making ice go flying. 鈥淎nd he looks up and got all excited. 鈥楢nd he shoots and he scores!鈥� and he was all excited. So stuff like that is really, really cool and really rewarding.鈥�
Those moments come with a cost. Ice time is expensive, so everyone who coaches with the team is a volunteer. The Ice Dogs are a nonprofit, and any money they raise is used to get players on the ice and in the handful of tournaments they play in every year. The team makes clear it doesn鈥檛 want cost, which is substantial in hockey, to be a deterrent.
鈥淚t means a lot,鈥� said Tsakiris. 鈥淚t means more ice skating and stuff, and also it means putting pucks into the net and trying to shoot them.鈥�
But while he gets excited about the special moments, the special needs generated by whatever disability an Ice Dogs player might have is quickly overlooked.
Widmer said he doesn鈥檛 always know what鈥檚 been hampering the players he鈥檚 worked with. On the ice, he doesn鈥檛 care. 鈥淚 just see the smiles on their faces.鈥�
On the ice, 鈥渢hey don鈥檛 know they have a disability or anything,鈥� he said. 鈥淓verybody has physical and mental 鈥� they say people are like on a spectrum or something, and I think everybody is on the spectrum at some point. It鈥檚 not that they鈥檙e any different 鈥� they may be a bit farther than others, but they want to go out and play hockey and have fun.鈥�
He adds, 鈥淲hatever the issue is, it doesn鈥檛 really matter. You deal with what you have and you go.鈥�
