Joan Manderscheid says she and her husband were inspired to start the Bruno T-Birds sledge hockey team twenty-five years ago because of their son's interest in the sport.

"Our son had spina bifida and he wanted to play hockey like his big brother", she says.

The Bruno arena was host to teams from Regina, Saskatoon, Cut Knife, and two teams from Bruno for the tournament on Saturday.

"This is our 25th year that we've had sledge hockey in Bruno, so we thought we needed to have a tournament to celebrate it."

Manderscheid, manager for the Bruno team, says the sport is still relatively new in Saskatchewan, despite the Bruno T-Birds team being around for a quarter-century.

More and more people are taking up the version of hockey where players sit in a sled with skate blades underneath, with 85 centimetre sticks with picks on the end to help maneuver, explains Manderscheid. 

"Throughout the years we've always had kids and their parents play, so it's always been a wide range (of ages) for us," says Manderscheid.

"It is for everybody. We have all ages, all physical abilities so there are really no limitations" she says of the inclusive sport.

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