Adapted Floor Hockey: The Most Entertaining Sport You’ve Never Heard Of…
By Bill Schleper
Unless you’ve lived under a rock or buried your head in the sand your entire life, most of us in Minnesota have watched, played, or at least heard of the game of “Hockey”. Many of you may have also played “Floor Hockey” while in Phy Ed class at school. However, if you add the word “Adapted” in front of “Floor Hockey”, you now have one of the most entertaining, fulfilling, and rewarding high school sports you’ve never heard of! And if you’ve never heard of it before, you’ve obviously never watched a game of Adapted Floor Hockey before—which means you’ve been missing out on some amazing athletes, coaches, fans, and entertainment within our own Shakopee and Prior Lake High School communities!
You heard right: the “Southern Stars” Adapted Floor Hockey Team consists of a combination of players from not only Shakopee High School, but also from our arch-rival (in most other sports), the Prior Lake Lakers!
According to head coach Matt Iverson, “Adapted floor hockey is a sanctioned Minnesota State High School League sport that allows us to compete, be part of a team, and have fun for our special-needs population.” The real joy comes in watching the excitement on the faces of all these special athletes - some of whom have eventually gone on to have great athletic careers in the Special Olympics! Familiar local names like Jonathan “J.J.” Fredericks and Drew Hennen have played in the past for the Southern Stars, and gave their hearts and souls to the sport. In doing so, they have paved the way for many of today’s student athletes who, like their predecessors, are great examples of good sportsmanship! Fredericks recently graduated from SHS, and is now an assistant coach for the Southern Stars, under head coach, Matt Iverson.
Iverson, a Health Sciences instructor at Shakopee High School, also teaches a Unified Phy Ed class, bringing together a combination of special education students and the general student population to increase awareness and acceptance of all students. In addition, Iverson works with the GLOmies program - a Unified Club at Shakopee High School that is a peer group working to increase inclusion. BOTH of my own children have participated in the Unified PE/GLOmies programs at Shakopee High School, and working with the special ed students will forever be one of their fondest and most rewarding lessons from high school! In fact, my daughter, Abby, still makes a point of going to lunch with some of these special classmates and exchanging birthday presents when she returns home from college on the weekends or breaks. These special ed kids have become true friends, who simply bring joy to her heart, without all the drama and social anxiety that students deal with these days! Pure, simple, friendships that are filled with joy and laughter!
I was fortunate enough to be the PA announcer for the Southern Stars during their home opener vs. the South Washington Thunderbolts at Shakopee High School. My son, Joey, operated the scoreboard. We were fortunate enough to work these games a couple of times last season, as well. We get front row seats to see (and hear!) the excitement when a player touches a puck. “I got it! I got it!”, hollers an opposing player to his coach and parents whenever he touches the puck with his hockey stick! And the humongous smile on his face just makes this sport so much different from all the others! Joey and I look at each other often during the game, with grins from ear-to-ear! We can hear the coaches from both sides calling out instructions and encouraging these kids. Even the referees are encouraging the players while helping them learn the rules of the game. Iverson, along with Stars coaches, Julia Reese, Renee Lawrence, and assistants, Augie Deer and former Southern Stars standout, J.J. Fredericks, are all coaching these kids from the bench, with an occasional walk out to the floor to line up a player or two. But more importantly, these coaches are cheering their players on with nothing but positive words and actions. I can now see why Abby and Joey have loved their Unified PE classes so much! It’s such a positive atmosphere that makes the world seem so much better!
On this opening night, the Southern Stars lost to a much more experienced Thunderbolts team. The score didn’t really matter, though. “We played hard and had a lot of fun; the kids were excited for their first game,” stated Coach Iverson. “South Washington is a good team with a lot of depth, so we knew we were in for a challenge. I was happy to see that we could score, and we moved the puck well. We have a lot to work on, but we learned a lot and had a lot of fun during our first game of the season. Lots of smiles and high-fives after the game, which means more to us than anything on the scoreboard”.
For the record, Stars’ goaltender, Ella Miller, had 30 saves (by my count!) in an excellent outing for the Junior goalkeeper. Dylan Noaman and Ayub Hussen led the team with 2 goals each, while Collin Schultz was the assist leader with 3 assists. Caleb Schultz added an assist, as well.
Following the game, Iverson stated, “We are in what many call a ‘competitive rebuild’ this season. We had 5 graduating seniors last year, and only one senior leader with us this year. We have many freshman players and a couple of 7th graders on the team, many of which have never played hockey before. It provides some challenges with lines and balance, but I am happy that our hard-working students get an opportunity to play. Every player plays every game, that's our rule and we're sticking to it! Go Stars!”.
Upcoming home games for the Suburban Stars Adapted Floor Hockey Team:
1/14/25 (Tues.) Vs. Dakota United (4:30p.m.)
1/23/25 (Thurs.) Vs. Mankato (4:30p.m.)
1/30/25 (Thurs.) Vs. Owatonna (4:30p.m.)
Next home game will be on Tuesday, January 14th, 2025 at 4:30p.m. Vs. Dakota United. All home games in the Shakopee High School Auxiliary Gym.
Admission is FREE of charge to all, but the entertainment value is unlimited! Games are well-attended, so get there early! Adapted Floor Hockey is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face! You heard it here, first!