Local goes global

He was captain of the Northumberland High School hockey team - male athlete of the year.
No obstacle was too big for Ryan Sloan to overcome.
Some would have said that Sloan was disadvantaged when it came to sports.
He was born without an elbow joint and is missing bones in his hand.
But he doesn't see it that way.
"I think it made it better for me," he said.
It forced him to learn to adapt and use all the resources available to him.
Sloan was fortunate to be born into a hockey family and to parents who believed that nothing was impossible for their son.
He would grow up to believe the same.
From the time Ryan was five, his father Jim Sloan laced up his skates, put a stick in his hand and started to teach him the basics of hockey.
Jim Sloan said he never really thought about what Ryan could or couldn't do. The family's attitude was always just, "Let's go play."
"I never really had expectations," he said. "I just knew I wanted to put him in hockey."
Whatever he tried, whether it was on the ice or soccer field or even on the golf green, Ryan seemed to excel.
Playing for the Nighthawks he wasn't just on the hockey team roster; he scored the goals that won games.
It wasn't easy for him. As a child he struggled to hold the stick at first and slap shots weren't easy or natural. But he didn't quit and his perseverance paid off.
Not only was he able to compete at the high school and now intramural college level, but now he's prepared to represent Canada as part of the national amputee team as they battle for a fifth gold medal this May in Montreal.
Sloan had never known there was such a team until he was browsing the Internet and saw their website.
He made contact with them through the website and got a response right away.
In June he went to Toronto for a tryout and last week went to Montreal where he found out that he had made the team.
It's encouraging to play with other amputees, Sloan said.
"It's amazing to see people with no hands or missing a leg and they're just as fast keeping up and can drive the puck just as hard as anybody else," he said. "No pun intended. There are people with no hands who have some serious hands on the ice."
Some of the people he plays are like him - born with a disability. Others are recent amputees. All love the game of hockey, though, and aren't going to let anything stand in their way.
"As soon as the puck drops on the ice abilities and disabilities don't come into play at all," he said. "It's just a regular game of hockey."
Right now Sloan is studying business at St. Francis Xavier University. He doesn't know what he'll do afterward, but it's probable that hockey will remain a part of his life.
"I think it helps define my family and myself as a person," he said.
"It's just a fun sport that allows everybody to play."
Everybody with determination and dreams, that is.