When Team Czechia won their first-ever World Para Hockey Championship medal with a 3-2 victory over Team China to take bronze on June 4, one young superfan was right there at the glass sharing in the team’s joy.
Ryder Rowe is a young Moose Javian who is a wheelchair user because of spina bifida. His aunt Melissa works at Quality Inn & Suites, where the Czech para hockey team was staying, and she decided to ask if the team would sign a hat for Ryder.
“It all started when I asked them if they could sign his hat, just so that he’d have something to remember them by,” Melissa Rowe explained. “And then, they invited him out to the hotel, so after practice one day they all came and met him in the lobby and took pictures and gave him a pin, and just visited with him.”
The players made friends with Ryder and invited him to their next game, but Ryder had to explain that he had school and wouldn’t be able to make it to the 3 p.m. starting time.
So, the head coach of the Czechia team wrote a note to Ryder’s teacher: “Dear Mrs. W, please let [Ryder] watch para hockey game Czech vs. Italy on 2nd June from 3 p.m. Thank you, Coach of Czechia Team Jakub Novotny.”
The note worked, and Ryder made it to that game. And, when he arrived, Novotny and the team had another surprise.
“When he got to that game, actually, he got to his spot and the head coach came and handed him a fully autographed jersey from the team,” said Melissa Rowe. “And since then, every game he was at, they were all high fiving him on their way in and out.
“And it was actually so cool yesterday, when they won their bronze medal, he was right up there, and in the middle of celebrating [Novotny] came running up to him and was pounding on the glass and giving him a high five through the glass.”
Novotny made mention of Ryder multiple times during post-game interviews throughout the tournament, pointing to him as an inspiration for the team, as well as a potential future player.
"It means a lot to see someone like Ryder, someone who looks up to you and will maybe play para hockey some day," Novotny said shortly after Ryder's first visit with the team, before adding with a grin, "maybe he'll like us so much he'll come over and play for us!"
Melissa said Ryder has been over the moon with excitement for days. The team is going to stay in touch with him, and it’s helped him realize that being in a wheelchair doesn’t mean he can’t do sport.
“There’s a sledge hockey club in Regina that has contacted him, so he’ll be starting that in October,” Rowe said. “They’re just amazing role models, those boys, just an amazing group of guys, and this has been wonderful for Ryder.”
