Avalanche Kidz development program fills a growing need for inclusive hockey in Quebec

Since 8-year-old Yaakov started playing with Avalanche Kidz development hockey he is often the first person awake at the Davidson household on Sunday mornings.

"He was up at 6:20 a.m., bugging everyone. 'Get up, let's go, let's go!' We were like 'there's no ice yet. You have to wait,'" said Yaakov's mother, Ariel, while standing rinkside laughing.

"He looks forward to Sunday, every day of the week, and it's just been fantastic."

Ariel Davidson says her autistic son recently fell in love with hockey by watching his idols like Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield play for the Montreal Canadiens. But when it came time to find him a place to play, she was disappointed with what she found.

"The problem is that it's very hard, because everywhere you go it's not adapted for kids with special needs, it's not adapted for anybody who is different. Although, probably a minor league team would have taken him, I didn't want to put him in the position where he ends up either sitting on this bench every week or frustrated because he can't keep up with everybody else," said Davidson.

Avalanche Kidz was born out of that need.

Sun Youth, a charity that provides community services and field sports teams, connected Davidson with Vinny and Linda Matteo and then, as a group, they partnered with the Côte Saint-Luc Minor Hockey Association to start a new, inclusive hockey program.

After a pilot program in the spring of 2022, about 20 kids were part of the first group to skate with Avalanche this past fall. Since then, the number of kids who registered to join has grown to 65. Organizers say more than 120 have already signed up for next season.

"They have soccer and they have other sports that they can go into but as a winter sport, you know it's