Team USA Sled Hockey Athlete Visits Des Moines School

DES MOINES, IA — One of the hardest moments of Kevin McKee's athletic career was watching from the sidelines as his buddies on the Team USA Paralympic sled hockey team pulled off a gold medal win against Russia on their home turf in the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. With a limit to how many players on the roster could enter the game, McKee was one of two who had to sit out.

Students at Brubaker Elementary School have been learning about inspiration and a mindset quote that they formed during their studies fit well with what McKee experienced: "Winners are not people who never fail, but people who never quit."

McKee was in Des Moines this week to talk to the students about what it's like to be an international-caliber athlete and how he worked and trained even harder after Sochi to earn a spot on the first line for the national team and have his career best year in goals and assists. The U.S. National team went on to win the 2015 World Championships.

McKee, 27, spends about six months a year in competitive sled hockey and he trains daily to improve his game. He began the sport as a child in Davenport when his mother learned of a team forming in the area. McKee, who was born without the lower part of his spine, which slowed his development and left him unable to walk, told the fourth- and fifth-graders he never let his disability stop him from doing anything.

"Once I learned about the Paralympics national team, I told myself that would be a goal of mine," he told the students. He was rejected in two consecutive tryouts before earning a spot on the team in 2010 and he's made the roster every year since.

"Every day I was on the ice or in the gym," he said. "I had that mindset of not quitting. It was the best feeling ever knowing that I had accomplished my goal."

His 17 years as a sled hockey athlete included three years in the U.S. Olympic Development League. He also plays for the Chicago Blackhawks sled hockey team and has recently joined a lacrosse team for para-athletes.

McKee said what he learned from his experience at Sochi, and having to sit out three of the five games his team played in to ultimately win gold, was that he had to persevere.

"I told myself I wasn't going to let that happen again," he said. "But I also told myself that I was still one of the 17 best players in the country who made the Paralympics team."

Enoch Van Egdom, 11, said his class has been learning what inspiration means. "He is an inspiration because he told us you should believe you can do anything," said Enoch, a fifth-grader.

Seeing the Sochi gold medal and McKee's other medals also was exciting, he added. "They're cool. It would be an honor to keep these for your whole life."

McKee told the kids to give everything they have to everything they do and to try everything. "If I hadn't tried sled hockey, I wouldn't have... been able to travel the world," he said.

While McKee lives in Chicago to train and compete, he said in the off season he works in real estate with his father in Davenport. Anderson Erickson Dairy, a business partner to Brubaker School, is one of McKee's sponsors and provides regular milk care packages during his training, spoksewoman Kim Peter said.

Fans can follow Kevin McKee and Team USA's bid for repeat gold at PyeongChang on the teamusa.usahockey.com page.

Team USA schedule

The U.S. National sled hockey team begins international play for the season next month.

• Dec. 1-10 — 2017 World Sled Hockey Challenge in Canada. It is the reigning champion with three straight titles.
• Jan. 22-27 — 2018 Para Ice Hockey International Tournament, Turin, Italy.
• Feb. 7-11 — "Border series" with Canadian teams in Buffalo, N.Y., and Port Colborne, Ontario.
• March 8-18 — 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in PyeongChange, South Korea.

Did you know?

The sport is known by different names depending on where in the world it is played and which organization governs the competition.

• Sled Hockey — Preferred name for the sport in U.S. competition and by the U.S. Olympic Committee.
• Sledge Hockey — Preferred name in Canadian competitions.
• Para Ice Hockey — Recently adopted preferred name by the International Olympic Committee.

Action photo courtesy of Kevin McKee, Team USA; additional photos by Melissa Myers/Patch