Karina Villegas and members of South Florida’s Space Coast Sled Hockey participated in exhibition games and try sled hockey clinics during the 2026 Amerigol LATAM Cup on Aug. 1-2. The weekend marked sled hockey’s debut at the tournament, which hosted the activities at the Florida Panthers IceDen in Coral Springs and Palm Beach Skate Zone in Wellington.
Villegas, who is from Venezuela, was a member of USA Hockey’s U.S. Women’s Development Sled Hockey Team. She said the move from promoting sled hockey at a table to bringing her teammates onto the ice made the weekend especially meaningful.
“To finally be upgraded from a table in the corner to the actual ice and bring my teammates, I’m going to cry. But I cannot cry because this is just a start,” Villegas said.
Sled hockey joins the LATAM Cup
Amerigol LATAM Cup founder Juan Carlos Otero said sled hockey was added because it supports the tournament’s mission of making hockey more inclusive. More than 1,500 players are competing in the 2026 Amerigol LATAM Cup, which began Aug. 1 and runs through Aug. 9.
Participants represent 16 countries and territories, including Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Mexico, Pakistan and Venezuela, along with Indigenous and First Nation tribes. The tournament is being held at the Florida Panthers IceDen and Palm Beach Skate Zone.
“We’ve seen the participation in the Paralympics and how exciting it was, and we just felt it was time to add this to our event, introduce it to the teams that participate in the LATAM Cup,” Otero said.
Otero said the ultimate goal is to encourage LATAM Cup countries to establish sled hockey programs that could eventually compete in the Paralympics. The exhibition games and clinics gave attendees an opportunity to see and try the sport during the international tournament.
Women’s sled hockey seeks broader participation
Space Coast Sled Hockey player Madeleine Gallagher is a Palm Bay, Florida, resident who was a member of the U.S. team that won the inaugural World Para Hockey Women’s World Championship in Dolny Kubin, Slovakia, in August 2025. Women’s sled hockey is seeking Paralympic-event status, but not enough countries currently play the sport for it to qualify.
National teams from Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Norway and the United States, along with a Team World, competed at the 2025 Women’s Para Ice Hockey Championship. Gallagher said expanding participation remains central to the sport’s Paralympic ambitions.
“Whether they’re Latin American or any other countries, we’re just looking for more players to be able to make it to the Paralympics because that’s our end goal right now,” Gallagher said.
Greg Shaw, a two-time Paralympics gold medalist who won in 2010 and 2014, also attended the LATAM Cup weekend. He said giving people the chance to experience sled hockey in person can help grow interest in the sport.
“To be able to grow the sport, it’s amazing to get eyes out there and be able to just bring focus to people who probably haven’t seen it. Maybe they’ve seen it on TV, but being able to see it in person is a whole different thing,” Shaw said.
Clinics offer hands-on experience
Dave Kodner, his wife Dawn and about a half dozen other LATAM Cup attendees tried sled hockey Sunday at the Florida Panthers IceDen. Kodner said the experience showed why adapting sports can help more people participate.
“It’s great, it takes a little getting used to. Anything related to special needs and adaptation that we’ve done to bring more people into sports is fantastic, it’s worth doing,” Kodner said.
Kodner also described the challenge of learning to play in a sled. “What’s good about it is, we full-functioning adults feel awkward doing this, and it really brings attention that these guys may feel awkward with all the things we force them into because we don’t provide adaptation for them,” he said.
The NHL and the NHL Players’ Association help support the Amerigol LATAM Cup through the NHL Industry Growth Fund and the Florida Panthers. Created through the 2013 Collective Bargaining Agreement, the fund supports League and club initiatives, long-term fan development and increased participation in hockey.
FSB Take
The 2026 Amerigol LATAM Cup gave Space Coast Sled Hockey an on-ice role in an international tournament supported by the Florida Panthers, the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association. For Villegas and Gallagher, the weekend connected local sled hockey participation with the broader effort to expand the sport among LATAM Cup countries.
That development goal is especially important for women’s sled hockey, which is seeking Paralympic-event status but needs more countries playing the sport to qualify. The exhibition games and try sled hockey clinics put that challenge and opportunity in front of tournament players and attendees.
Source: Original report