This weekend sees something new for the Manchester Mayhem Para Ice Hockey team as the North West side will make their way over the North Sea to the Netherlands, as the Widnes based outfit will face European opposition for the first ever time - when they face Dutch side ‘Para Nijmegen Devils’ in a friendly game on Sunday evening.
‘The Devils’ are a brand new team to the sport having started up six-months ago with the help of Oscar de Kunder, who has been a major figure in helping to get the Nijmegen side up and running. For 25 years, Oscar has been a reporter reporting on Nijmegen Devils games in the BeNe League (top tier of the Dutch hockey league), but it was in 2021 that saw his hockey life changing, when attending a Para Ice Hockey clinic in Dordrecht.
De Kunder, who was born with a spasm and central paralysis, has done amazing things to help bring the sport to Nijmegen, as he has been one person to help grow the game in the country. In a recent interview with Dutch site ‘Broadcast Gelderland’ he spoke about how he switched from reporting on Ice hockey, to now taking up the sport in the form of Para Hockey.
When speaking about his first time getting in a sledge, he said in the article: “It was really a unique experience. I didn't know I would ever be able to get on the ice.” Over the course of putting these taster sessions on, it is said 28 people attended those events. Now he finds himself hitting the ice as opposed to writing about what happens on it fir the Para Devils.
The arrival of the Devils to the sport helps bring the number of sides in the Netherlands to three - following the Amsterdam Tigers and The Dordrecht Lime Kings - of which Dordrecht will be hosting the forthcoming Northwest Europe Para Ice Hockey League (NEPIHL) tournament at the start of April.
For Manchester, it is a chance to enjoy themselves and gain more ice time with some players missing out through injury or commitments, though the Mayhem line up will have some GB Women's Para squad members players that participated in the recent London Blizzard Invitational Tournament in Canada.
The challenge match will be Manchester's first outing since their mixed Playoffs weekend last September, when the Mayhem saw them finishing 3rd after losing big in the semi finals & then winning big the next night. Whatever the result, it will be a welcome exercise for both clubs, for different reasons.