The UK’s oldest para-ice hockey team is celebrating 30 years

As the sport developed in the UK in the 1990s, the Huskies saw several players called up to the Great Britain team.

Current Huskies coach Andy Brown said: “We have a number of talented male athletes who have played for GB such as Andy McNulty, Lee Guinduff, Tim James, Matt Broadbent, Stephen Thomas and Nathan Stephens.”

Stephens and Thomas became the first Paralympians to represent GB at the 2006 Turin Winter Paralympics. They both hold the distinction of being Summer Paralympians.

Stephens represented GB in track and field in the men’s F57 javelin at the 2008 and 2012 Paralympic Games.

For a while Stephens was the best in her event, winning gold at the 2011 Paralympic World Championships and breaking the world record later that year.

Thomas was a three-time world champion in para-sailing and raced for GB in three consecutive Paralympic Games.

The Huskies have been a mixed outfit since day one and have seen many ladies pull on the GB vest for the mixed team

They are also a leading club in providing women for GB, with five players – Shannon Couch, Leanne Emerson, Jodie Hill, Helen McGivern and Dani Czernuszka-Watts – selected for the inaugural Women’s World Championship in August 2025.

In the three decades since that post-match pint, Cardiff Huskies have undoubtedly changed some people’s lives.

Huskies head coach Andy Brown said: “I started out as a player and with my disability (muscular dystrophy) I was very weak and could barely skate, but by being resilient and coming in every week I grew and grew and then I was able to gain enough strength to play in a game.

“Some people who are newly disabled, we can be among the first people they meet with something similar; for them it’s, ‘Oh, there are people like me’.”

Current Huskies forward Josh Davis explained how he came to take up para-ice hockey, saying: “I had my 20th birthday in the hospital. On February 7, 2011 I was cutting a tree on our family trout farm, and the tree fell on me and broke my back, so I had no feeling from the waist down. It was hard to get through, but you keep going.

“My dad is Canadian, so I’ve always been passionate about hockey. He coached his own street hockey team, and I’ve played for them since I was eight, so I’ve always followed the Cardiff Devils and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“It was a good 10 years before I started to feel like I wanted to play sports, it took me a long time to gain confidence.

“I found Cardiff Huskies on Facebook one day and jumped at the chance to check it out, and after the first session I fell in love with it straight away.

“I didn’t know it was hard to start using the muscles. It took me a while to get my balance, but I’m getting somewhere now.

“Once you get the right set-up on your sled you’re away, it just clicks.

“It’s just as brutal as stand-up hockey, fast-paced, with a lot of tricks. You have to keep your head up all the time because big hits are coming from everywhere. I love big hits, I thrive on them.

“It’s given me a lot of confidence, improved my fitness and mental health and I’ve met a lot of good friends.

“I played in a world championship; I hope to reach the Paralympics one day.”

Brown added: “It’s about people growing. When they come in sometimes, they can be insecure, but they just develop in confidence and strength. It’s just brilliant.

“I’m very proud of the team, just good people, amazing people.”