Dunedin Ice Hockey Association president and Dunedin Hospital health and safety adviser Simon Heptonstall said he went to an accessibility services course at the hospital and came out of it wanting to give people in wheelchairs access to playing ice hockey.
"It’s about accessibility to services and being the president of the sports club, I was like, why couldn’t someone in a wheelchair have a go at ice hockey?
"So I went, ‘right let’s do it then’, and I made my links. Now it’s just down to money."
Mr Heptonstall said para ice hockey players used special sleds to play the game, but organising $30,000 to buy 20 of them from Canada was his only hurdle.
"I’m trying to work out where I get that money from.
"I’m actually going to a funding meeting for Otago Community Trust on April 20 and basically having a chat there and giving them my story to see what they advise."
He said Dunedin was also the perfect place to base the New Zealand para ice hockey team because the city had an olympic-sized ice rink, and he already had a list of potential athletes for the team.
"Speaking to the hospital, already certain departments are telling me they’ve got lots of people that would be keen to come and give this a go."
Para ice hockey provided a great opportunity for paraplegics, Mr Heptonstall said.
"For those people who may be frustrated from being stuck in a wheelchair all their life, you stick them in a sled and see the freedom that gives them.
"That’s an awesome form of release for some of them."
