The Guelph Buns Master Rollers are going to the World Special Olympics Floor Hockey Championships in Austria next month, and they have a good chance of being crowned world champs, says Doug Pflug, the squad’s fitness trainer, and one of three coaches.
Ontario and Canadian champs, the Rollers leave Sunday, March 12 for Graz, Austria. The championship takes place during the Special Olympics World Winter Games, which run from March 14-25.
The team departs from Arc Industries, 8 Royal Road, at 11:30 a.m. on March 12, bound for its international flight. A large send-off is being planned, with a police escort leading the team out of the city.
Pflug said the Rollers has been training for months and are ready to take on all comers.
“They’re a phenomenal team,” he said, adding the Rollers won a recent game 18-3. “They’re amazing athletes.”
The team won the provincial championships in Ottawa back in 2015, and then grabbed the Canadian title in Newfoundland last year. There are three divisions of Special Olympics floor hockey in Canada, and the Rollers are in the highest division.
“Last May we started training three times a week at the University of Guelph football stadium,” said Pflug, who has been training the team for several years. He is a Guelph Police officer. “We ran up and down those stairs more times than we could count.”
As winter approached, the team moved into Arc Industries to prepare for the worlds.
The trip to Austria is paid for by Special Olympics Canada and Special Olympics Ontario, organizations that are supported by the Law Enforcement Torch Run.
“The guys get an all expenses paid trip,” said Pflug, adding that Adidas gave the team a great deal on good court shoes.
The Rollers made it to the finals of the world championships eight years ago, but finished second. In the heat of competition, head coach Paul Turner suffered a heart attack on the bench. Pflug said the team was shaken up and lost focus. Turner continues to coach the team, along with Mark Cullen.
“Now they want to win the whole thing,” he said. “A lot of them are getting a bit older, so they want to make this one big kick at the cat.”
Follow the team and the world championships at www.austria2017.org/en/, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/austria2017.
