09/29/2025
Exciting news from The Great Blizz!
THE WAIT IS OVER...AND THE NEW LOCATION IS...
MARTHA’S VINEYARD BECOMES THE FOURTH LOCATION OF
THE GREAT BLIZZARDS OF MASSACHUSETTS SPECIAL HOCKEY
VINEYARD HAVEN, MARTHA’S VINEYARD – SEPTEMBER 29 – The Great Blizzards of Massachusetts Special Hockey, a team for players who cannot play on any other team due to cognitive, intellectual, developmental and/or physical disabilities, announced today the opening of its fourth location here on Martha’s Vineyard.
The new location adds to the three current sites of The Great Blizz in Kingston (The Bog Arena), S Dennis (Tony Kent Arena) and Winthrop (Larsen Skating Rink at the Mike Eruzione Center). The program currently serves more than 85 players across the three
locations.
Weekly practices and games are slated for Sundays at 10am beginning November 16 and continuing through the end of April. The venue will be the Martha's Vineyard Ice Arena at the YMCA of Martha’s Vineyard in Vineyard Haven.
An Open House is scheduled for Sunday, October 19, from 10am to noon at the rink. It’s an opportunity to meet the team’s management and coaches, and to register for the 2025-2026 season.
A member of USA Hockey, The Great Blizz is comprised of players ages 4 through adulthood, all genders and all levels of experience or no experience.
“We were approached by a very enthusiastic group of organizers who wanted to bring ice hockey to the significant special needs community on the island,” said Steve Nearman, Founder and Executive Director of The Great Blizz and Board member of
Special Hockey International. “When we met with this group, our Board was so impressed with the passion and energy that we decided to bring our brand of special hockey to them and to the people of Martha’s Vineyard.”
Leading the organizing group are Brooke Avakian, Jen Woods and Jared Andrews, and many others.
“Martha’s Vineyard - where Inclusion meets the Ice,” said Avakian, chair of the board of Island Autism and mother of two, including a son with Autism Spectrum Disorder. “On the ice of Martha’s Vineyard, every ability shines and every player belongs.”
Woods has been a community staple for years, as a special education teacher at Martha’s Vineyard High School as well as coordinator of the school’s Voyager program. Voyager is a transition program for students from MVRHS who are 18-22 years old.
Andrews, a former Oak Bluffs police officer and Rhode Island state police detective and now Director of Student Affairs at the high school, is an experienced youth hockey coach. “Hockey is more than a game, it’s an experience that our special population
deserves to share joy in,” he stressed.
Opportunities for coaches and other volunteers of all ages are available. No coaching experience is required.
For inquiries, contact [email protected] or call 703-587-4321.
About The Great Blizzards of Massachusetts Special Hockey: The inclusive hockey program has four Massachusetts locations in Kingston, S. Dennis, Winthrop, and Vineyard Haven on Martha’s Vineyard, and serves more than 85 players who cannot play on any other team due to cognitive, intellectual, developmental and/or physical disabilities. The Great Blizz was founded in 2019 with the motto NO HOCKEY PLAYER LEFT BEHIND. For more information, go to www.thegreatblizz.org
About Special Hockey International: SHI is the Toronto-based international organization for special hockey clubs and teams. It is a non-governmental organization, which promotes ice hockey in an inclusive environment for athletes with a developmental disability and organizes an annual international tournament for its member clubs. For more information, go to www.specialhockeyinternational.org/
