The University of Ostrava as a part of the World Para Ice Hockey Championship

The world's best para ice hockey will be seen in Ostrava in April and May. Eight elite teams of the world group will compete for the world champion title. The University of Ostrava is taking care of the educational activities that will precede the tournament.

“In the recent years, Ostrava has become the city where the most prestigious sports tournaments take place. We are glad that we can support the elite world championship for para hockey players. The world championship can be an inspiration for the disabled people and also a guide on how to spend their free time actively and meaningfully. We have a long-term and systematic support of the disabled citizens through the donations to organizations which help these citizens,” said Mayor of the City of Ostrava Tomáš Macura.

“The support of disabled sportspeople is very important not only for the events and their participants themselves. The World Para Ice Hockey Championship can be a big encouragement for people who face handicaps and maybe are still learning how to live with them. The disability is a major change in a life and it's admirable when people can deal with it and stay active. The Moravian-Silesian Region contributes significantly to the handicapped sportspeople and except for the world championship it supports also other activities and tournaments,” said Governor of the Moravian-Silesian Region Ivo Vondrák, mentioning also the fact that the region contributed to the championship with almost 6 million Czech crowns.

The World Para Ice Hockey Championship Ostrava 2019 has broader educational meaning as well. Dozens of primary and high schools from Ostrava will be involved in Paralympic School Days. “It's a unique educational project thanks to which we are able to present closely the life of handicapped sportspeople even to the healthy children. Furthermore, they will form teams and create fan base to our championship,” added Jiří Šindler, chairman of the Ostrava Para Ice Hockey Championship. This program has brought the Palacky University Olomouc and the University of Ostrava together as they are preparing and carrying out the Paralympic School Days.

Not only ice hockey fans may be excited that the legendary hockey goaltender Dominik Hašek has become the ambassador of the whole championship. The fans will be able to meet him personally during the championship.

The Para Ice Hockey Championship will take place from 27 April to 4 May. More information can be found here.

Updated: 06. 02. 2019