Clack. The hockey puck whizzes across the ice, past the players atop aluminum sleds with “Sitting Bulls” emblazoned on their jerseys. From Cambria, Somerset, Indiana, Bedford, Blair, Franklin and Monroe counties, youth and adults alike can compete in tournaments on the ice in the Sitting Bulls Sled Hockey organization.

“Sitting Bulls Sled Hockey allows people from ages of six all the way through to adults with physical disabilities the ability to play the game of hockey in a competitive and supportive environment,” Sitting Bulls co-president and junior team coach Joe Breton said.

The Sitting Bulls Sled Hockey organization was founded in 2008 as a constituent of the Cambria County Student Hockey League with six players from the Johnstown-Somerset Area. In 2012, Sitting Bulls Sled Hockey, Inc. was formed as an independent 501(c)(3) organization. The all-volunteer organization has grown to 25 members between six and 63 with a junior team and adult team.

“In sled hockey, the rules are the same as stand up hockey, but the players sit in a sled, usually made of aluminum, with the bucket on top,” Breton said. “They have hockey sticks in each hand. [The sticks] are shorter at the bottom end; there are metal picks at the end opposite where the blade is, and players will use those picks to dig into the ice and push themselves forward and turn. The bottom of the stick is like a normal hockey stick. There’s a blade, a hockey blade, that they use to handle the puck, pass and shoot. They also use their upper body to lean and get up on the blade. There’s actually two blades underneath the bucket where they sit. The better you get, the closer those blades get together. It’s harder to balance, but you can turn quicker. You’re a little more agile.”

The junior team practices on Saturday evenings, alternating venues between Galactic Ice in Altoona and North Central Recreation Center in Ebensburg each week. The team recently competed in a face-off tournament in Pittsburgh and the Wild Cat Winter Slam in Wooster, Ohio. The weekend of Jan. 17 and 18, the team—consisting of five skaters and a goalie—will attend an invitational tournament in Columbus, Ohio.

“[The novice team’s] record is zero and four,” Breton said. “We had a lot of fun. The [players] were happy to score one goal in the tournament in Pittsburgh. Our team, other than my son, Ryan, is young. We have one player who’s a novice at eight years old. Skylar is playing goal for us. The reason he’s playing goal is the person who used to be our goalie moved up, and Skylar said one practice, because we were going to rotate and have everybody take turns playing goalie for a game, ‘I think I can do it, and I would like to try.’ Pittsburgh was the first tournament he played goalie for us.”

After playing half ice or cross ice on the novice team, players that reach adulthood can continue to play sled hockey in the adult team. In October, the adult team won all four of their games. Player Wesley Clowson qualified for the U.S. National Sled hockey team and competed in the 2025 International Para Hockey Cup in Czechia on Oct. 20-26. The U.S. team won gold.

“To get involved to be a player, you have to come to our practice,” Breton said. “You do need a USA Hockey number registration, but we help everybody get those. To be a coach, there are certain background checks you have to go through to be on the ice at the same time as the kids. We’re always happy to have new players. Watching my son grow up, it gives him a lot of self-confidence to not only help with sled hockey, but to even help [in other situations]. I own a pharmacy, and he has gotten enough self-confidence to come and work with me on Saturdays and interact with the public, gaining confidence in life in general.”

Breton’s personal experience with his son Ryan influenced his “thankful” relationship with sled hockey.

“Five years ago, right before COVID-19, we spent almost three months in a hospital in New York City,” Breton said. “[Ryan’s] whole goal was he wanted to get out, and he couldn’t wait to go play sled hockey again. That’s what kept him going. That was one of his big motivations: ‘I want to get out, and I want to go play sled hockey.’ [Sled hockey] has been a big motivation for him to try to get better at. He also sees a trainer to try to help his low muscle tone. He goes twice a week to a trainer to help him out. After his surgeries, he went to core physical therapy, and then they also have a sports training or a physical training place that they’ve been working with him to tailor things to what specifically help him, because he wouldn’t be able to go to a normal gym like an able bodied person would.”

Breton’s coaching experience has become an integral part of his life.

“I have so much fun with the kids growing up, coaching them, and seeing how they deal with playing a sport in a competitive environment,” Breton said. “Once we get on the ice, it’s all just hockey. It’s not disabled hockey. It’s not disabled athletes. It’s just kids playing a game and us trying to help them get better and be successful at it.”

This story was originally published on Mountain Echo on November 17, 2025.