{"id":249223,"date":"2021-07-19T10:45:35","date_gmt":"2021-07-19T15:45:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=249223"},"modified":"2021-07-18T22:19:28","modified_gmt":"2021-07-19T03:19:28","slug":"special-needs-wisconsin-hockey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/special-needs-wisconsin-hockey\/","title":{"rendered":"Wisconsin high school grad’s efforts help students with special needs to play hockey"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Easton Schultz, a recent high school graduate from Hudson, Wisconsin, has gone above and beyond in making sure that students with special needs can play hockey. In an interview with the Star Observer<\/a>, Schultz, who attended Hudson High School, shared how he first started a hockey team for students with disabilities and later secured a donation of $20,000 worth of equipment to ensure that those students have the gear they need to play.<\/p>\n

Schultz says he was first inspired by fellow student Isaac Witt, who has Down syndrome<\/a> and a special love of hockey.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis parents never thought he would have the opportunity to play, and I was like, why not? Just because he has Down syndrome?\u201d Schultz told the news outlet. \u201cAnd they said, you think he can play? And I said absolutely! So we went to Play it Again Sports and got him some equipment and threw him on the ice. And before you know it, he’s playing in the Hudson Hockey Association for a Mite team.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Schultz helped Witt realize his dream, he began to recognize that there were many other students in the same situation. So, he organized a team of 11 students of all ages and abilities. With the help of his varsity teammates, he coached the team and brought in equipment donations to outfit the players.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe first year it was a pretty small group, but a super, super tight group, a super fun group, who really embraced the whole movement of playing hockey and trying to learn new things,\u201d Schultz said. \u201cAnd the second year there was a ton of improvement and a ton of fun. It just spread like wildfire. Word of mouth. Everyone was saying you got to try this.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the team grew to more than 30 players, so did the realization that many of the students just didn’t have the gear they needed in order to safely play. With the help of his coach, Schultz was encouraged to apply for a grant through the\u00a0National Hockey League Players Association Goals and Dreams Foundation. Through the generosity of the foundation, Schultz was able to secure 25 full sets of brand new equipment for the\u00a0Hudson Special Hockey program.<\/p>\n

“It’s just so amazing that I have such a strong community to rely on to help me build this program for these kids. It’s gonna go a long way,” Schultz said. “Every single kid will have their own equipment \u2014 head to toe \u2014 with a stick and everything. It’ll be just tremendous.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0INSPIRING: First person with Down syndrome completes Ironman triathlon<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Schultz was also quick to praise others for the team’s success. \u201cI was so blessed to be able to play hockey for as long as I did,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I can remember back to when I first started playing, with my parents watching me, how I was so happy to finally stand up and skate. This just brings me back to feeling maybe a little bit how they felt. I\u2019m kind of seeing it from the other side, not being the one that\u2019s playing and successful but being the one that\u2019s watching and thinking, all these people \u2014 the hockey community \u2014 gave this kid the biggest smile I\u2019ve ever seen. And being able to see their happiness makes me happier in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Easton Schultz, a recent high school graduate from Hudson, Wisconsin, has gone above and beyond in making sure that students with special needs can play hockey. In an interview with the Star Observer, Schultz, who attended Hudson High School, shared how he first started a hockey team for students with disabilities and later secured a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":249257,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[9455,3473],"tags":[429,11118,11114,11116,11117,11119,11120,11122,11123,11121,11125,11124,687,11115],"yoast_head":"\nWisconsin high school grad's efforts help students with special needs to play hockey<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Recent high school grad Easton Schultz created Hudson Special Hockey to ensure students with special needs can play hockey.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/special-needs-wisconsin-hockey\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wisconsin high school grad's efforts help students with special needs to play hockey\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recent high school grad Easton Schultz created Hudson Special Hockey to ensure students with special needs can play hockey.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/special-needs-wisconsin-hockey\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-07-19T15:45:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-19T03:19:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/hudson-hockey.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"748\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"423\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bridget Sielicki\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bridget Sielicki\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/special-needs-wisconsin-hockey\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/special-needs-wisconsin-hockey\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bridget Sielicki\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f\"},\"headline\":\"Wisconsin high school grad’s efforts help students with special needs to play hockey\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-19T15:45:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-19T03:19:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/special-needs-wisconsin-hockey\/\"},\"wordCount\":579,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Down syndrome\",\"Easton Schultz\",\"hockey\",\"hockey for kids with disabilities\",\"hockey for kids with special needs\",\"Hudson\",\"Hudson Hockey Association\",\"Hudson Special Hockey\",\"Isaac Witt\",\"National Hockey League Players Association Goals and Dreams Foundation\",\"Play It Again Sports\",\"Star Observer\",\"Wisconsin\",\"youth hockey\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Human Interest\",\"Newsbreak\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/special-needs-wisconsin-hockey\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/special-needs-wisconsin-hockey\/\",\"name\":\"Wisconsin high school grad's efforts help students with special needs to play hockey\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-19T15:45:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-19T03:19:28+00:00\",\"description\":\"Recent high school grad Easton Schultz created Hudson Special Hockey to ensure students with special needs can play hockey.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/special-needs-wisconsin-hockey\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/special-needs-wisconsin-hockey\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/special-needs-wisconsin-hockey\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Wisconsin high school grad’s efforts help students with special needs to play hockey\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Live Action News\",\"description\":\"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Live Action\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"width\":701,\"height\":710,\"caption\":\"Live Action\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f\",\"name\":\"Bridget Sielicki\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Bridget Sielicki\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/bridget-sielicki\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Wisconsin high school grad's efforts help students with special needs to play hockey","description":"Recent high school grad Easton Schultz created Hudson Special Hockey to ensure students with special needs can play hockey.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/special-needs-wisconsin-hockey\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Wisconsin high school grad's efforts help students with special needs to play hockey","og_description":"Recent high school grad Easton Schultz created Hudson Special Hockey to ensure students with special needs can play hockey.","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/special-needs-wisconsin-hockey\/","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2021-07-19T15:45:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-07-19T03:19:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":748,"height":423,"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/hudson-hockey.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Bridget Sielicki","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bridget Sielicki","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/special-needs-wisconsin-hockey\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/special-needs-wisconsin-hockey\/"},"author":{"name":"Bridget Sielicki","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f"},"headline":"Wisconsin high school grad’s efforts help students with special needs to play hockey","datePublished":"2021-07-19T15:45:35+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-19T03:19:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/special-needs-wisconsin-hockey\/"},"wordCount":579,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"keywords":["Down syndrome","Easton Schultz","hockey","hockey for kids with disabilities","hockey for kids with special needs","Hudson","Hudson Hockey Association","Hudson Special Hockey","Isaac Witt","National Hockey League Players Association Goals and Dreams Foundation","Play It Again Sports","Star Observer","Wisconsin","youth hockey"],"articleSection":["Human Interest","Newsbreak"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/special-needs-wisconsin-hockey\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/special-needs-wisconsin-hockey\/","name":"Wisconsin high school grad's efforts help students with special needs to play hockey","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-07-19T15:45:35+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-19T03:19:28+00:00","description":"Recent high school grad Easton Schultz created Hudson Special Hockey to ensure students with special needs can play hockey.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/special-needs-wisconsin-hockey\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/special-needs-wisconsin-hockey\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/special-needs-wisconsin-hockey\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Wisconsin high school grad’s efforts help students with special needs to play hockey"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","name":"Live Action News","description":"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization","name":"Live Action","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","width":701,"height":710,"caption":"Live Action"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f","name":"Bridget Sielicki","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Bridget Sielicki"},"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/bridget-sielicki\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249223"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/607"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249223"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":249377,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249223\/revisions\/249377"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}