DC13-353 October 10, 2013
BT supports Nathan Stephens and British Sledge Hockey Association in their bid for a place at 2014 Winter Paralympic Games
BT has today announced a partnership with the British Sledge Hockey Association to help the British team's bid to compete at the Paralympic Games in Sochi next year.
As a long-time supporter of the Paralympic movement in the UK, BT is supporting one of its BT Ambassadors, Nathan Stephens, and his British Sledge Hockey teammates, in their attempt to qualify for the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games.
Nathan competed in the javelin competition at the London 2012 Paralympic Summer Games and has been part of the BT Ambassador Programme for four years.
Before becoming one of the most elite Paralympic track and field athletes in the world, Nathan was passionate about sledge hockey and competed with the last GB team to reach the Winter Paralympics in 2006 in Italy.
Nathan and his British Sledge Hockey teammates are now aiming to compete in the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games in Sochi, Russia.
However, to be invited to the Winter Paralympic Games, they must first compete in a qualifying tournament in Turin later this month and have asked for BT's help to fund their preparations.
The British team will compete in a six-team tournament in Turin between 20-26 October against Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea and Sweden. The three top-ranked teams at the end of the competition will then be invited to the Winter Paralympic Games in Sochi, Russia.
British Sledge Hockey Association Elite Programme Director, John Neville, said: BT is a long-time supporter of the Paralympic movement in the UK and supported Nathan with his athletics career. For them to come on board and support the sledge team is another example of their commitment to the progression of disability sport and really shows how far as a sport we have come in a short space time. The support from BT and all our corporate partners such as Planet Ice and Peter Harrison Foundation means that we can travel to Italy and give ourselves the best chance of making it to the Winter Paralympic Games.
BT Ambassador Nathan Stephens said: BT has supported me for the past four years and when I told them that I really needed their help, they came good again. They have been involved with Paralympic sport for over 20 years and their support to me and my teammates means that we can go to Turin and try and secure a place at the Winter Paralympic Games. As a team we are in the best shape of our lives and we will be doing everything in our power to qualify for Sochi.
Suzi Williams, Group Marketing and Brand Director at BT said: Nathan is a great example of someone who continues to strive forward. He had a disappointing London 2012 in the javelin competition but it demonstrates his depth of character that he is bouncing-back with the determination to try and make it to the Winter Games in Sochi. When we heard about the help that the British Sledge Hockey Association needed, we were happy to help .
BT is supporting the British Sledge Hockey Association with a grant to lessen the funding gap in the team's preparations and will become an Official Supporter' to the team.
BT will keep its 89,000 employees up to date with Nathan Stephens and his teammates' progress through a range of internal and external communications activity.
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
BT has supported the British Paralympic Association since 1989 when BT became the organisations first commercial partner.
BT is committed to support the BPA until 2016.
BT was the official communications services partner of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
British Sledge Hockey Association
The British Sledge Hockey Association was formed in 1995 and is chaired by the Paralympian, Matt Lloyd
It is the National Governing Body for Sledge Hockey for in the United Kingdom and is a member of the British Paralympic Association
Since 2009 there has been significant growth in the sport of Sledge Hockey and there is now a national league with two divisions as well as several development programmes throughout the United Kingdom
Sledge hockey is the Paralympic equivalent of ice hockey
Britain started playing Sledge Hockey in 1981 (before Canada or USA) and first fielded a GB Team at a demonstration event in 1982
At the 1994 Paralympic Games GB lost narrowly to Canada in the Bronze medal game
Great Britain competed at both the 1998 and 2006 Paralympic Games
Sledge Hockey is probably the only fully inclusive contact sport in the world. Although at Paralympic level players need to be classified disabled to participate, at club level anyone can play
Unlike sports such as Wheelchair Basketball, Wheelchair Rugby and Sitting Volleyball there is no classification system dictating who can participate in play at any point. All players are equal once strapped to a sledge and there are no rules governing who can be involved in play and all non-IPC competitions are open to both disabled and able-bodied participants
Since 2009 Sledge Hockey teams are of mixed gender, from club level through to Paralympic level. This differs from virtually every other sport which segregates teams based on gender.
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
23/10/2025
The new solution is industry's first multi-channel receiver available for L3Harris's resilient tactical high-frequency data waveforms....
23/10/2025
NEW YORK During a high-profile session at NAB Show New York, new survey data was shared that revealed significant public concern over artificial intelligence (A...
23/10/2025
BELLEVUE, Wash. and NEW YORK Fox Weather has tapped T-Mobile as its preferred communications provider and said all of its reporters will be equipped with SuperM...
23/10/2025
RASTATT, Germany Broadcast and media workflow technology vendor Lawo has tapped Mike Wright as VP of sales, North America....
23/10/2025
MONTREAL European cultural broadcaster ARTE has selected Grass Valley LDX 135 cameras and Creative Grading solution as part of its move from SDI/1080i to a nati...
23/10/2025
CINCINNATI The E.W. Scripps Company has named Daniel Parsons as its new chief information security officer, effective Oct. 20....
23/10/2025
ALAMEDA, Calif. Northern Michigan broadcaster WWTV recently completed a major IP-based upgrade that connects its new Traverse City studio with its control room ...
23/10/2025
A deadline is looming for a new carriage deal between Verizon's Fios TV and Nexstar, with both Verizon and the pay TV-backed American Television Alliance bl...
23/10/2025
NEW YORK During a high-profile session at NAB Show New York, new survey data was shared that revealed significant public concern over artificial intelligence (A...
23/10/2025
BELLEVUE, Wash. and NEW YORK Fox Weather has tapped T-Mobile has as its preferred communications provider and announced that all Fox Weather reporters are being...
23/10/2025
PBS will use generative AI from Amazon Web Services to provide enhanced search results to viewers on the PBS App and PBS LearningMedia platforms, the network an...
23/10/2025
Back to All News
The Resurrected' Marks First Chinese-Language Series to L...
23/10/2025
RT is today publishing a statistical summary from the Register of External Activities for the second quarter of 2025.
The RT Register of External Activities ...
23/10/2025
Series three of the award winning, hit comedy entertainment series The 2 Johnnies Late Night Lock In is back on your screens, celebrating the very best of all t...
23/10/2025
Performances by Michael Flatley, Andy Irvine, Cuckoo's Nest, Foster and Allen and more
Friday 24 October, 8pm on RT One and RT Player
Fleadh Cheoil re...
23/10/2025
The nights grow longer and the shadows get bolder with Vampire The Masquerade: B...
22/10/2025
Prime Video Inks Deal To Present NFL Black Friday Game Worldwide By SVG Staff
Wednesday, October 22, 2025 - 10:06 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story ...
22/10/2025
NBA Tip-Off: ESPN Goes 1080p HDR End-to-End, Flipping HDR Switch on REMI and REM...
22/10/2025
FloSports Empowers Division II, III Athletic Departments With Turnkey Production...
22/10/2025
Wall Street Video Summit Debuts, Bringing Together 200 Financial Enterprise Vide...
22/10/2025
Dueling Pianos: International Chopin Piano Competition Is as Competitive as a Ba...
22/10/2025
In 1995, a young Colombian artist released an album that would change Latin pop ...
22/10/2025
Over the past few months, a photovoltaic system has been installed on a three-he...
22/10/2025
The Orion spacecraft for NASA's Artemis II mission is stacked on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kenn...
22/10/2025
L3Harris' Hybrid SATCOM is resilient by design, offering path diversity that eliminates vulnerabilities by routing data across the best available networks i...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. Organizers of NAB Show New York said they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countries along with 260 exhibitor...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON, D.C The organizers of The 2025 NAB Show New York have announced that they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countr...
22/10/2025
Masque Sound, a leading theatrical sound reinforcement, installation and design company, supplied an extensive gear package of professional-grade equipment for ...
22/10/2025
Lightware, a global leader in signal management and AV connectivity solutions, is seeing strong market momentum for the UCX-3x3-TPX-RX20, a compact transmitter-...
22/10/2025
MELVILLE, N.Y. Chyron has released PAINT 10.2, the latest update for its telestration platform, adding support for SMPTE ST 2110 IP workflows, expanding brandin...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON Run3TV today said NBCUniversal is joining as an investor in the ATSC 3.0 Framework Authority, which develops the Run3TV NextGen TV application platfo...
22/10/2025
ATLANTA swXtch.io will feature two new networking solutions extending the company's reach across more cloud and on-prem workflows at NAB Show New York, set ...
22/10/2025
The Warner Bros. Discoverys HBO Max streaming services has increased prices for all its streaming tiers effectively immediately for new customers. Existing cust...
22/10/2025
LOS ANGELES OpenDrives has signed a new distribution partnership deal with Versatile Distribution Services (VDS) to strengthen its channel and streamline how it...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON, D.C The organizers of The 2025 NAB Show New York have announced that they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countr...
22/10/2025
Samora Pinderhughes Brings Immersive Sound to Berklee's Signature Series The artist and composer, who's worked with Herbie Hancock, Robert Glasper, Co...
22/10/2025
BMI Day at Berklee Celebrates Composer Fil Eisler and Awards Scholarship to Stud...
22/10/2025
October 22nd, 2025 TRIBECA ANNOUNCES STAR-STUDDED LINEUP OF MEMBERSHIP EVENTS F...
22/10/2025
Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF cooperate in drone defense Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF partner to deliver a comprehensive drone defense solution combining Rohde & S...
22/10/2025
European Broadcaster Upgrades To Grass Valley's NativeIP LDX 135 Cameras And...
22/10/2025
Everyone Gets a Better Deal on Verizon with New FOX One Perk The $15 FOX One streaming service perk is yet another way Verizon continues to add savings for cu...
22/10/2025
First Look Hidden Assets Series 3
Premieres on 9th November 9:30pm on RT One & RT Player
WATCH HERE Promo Link: Hidden Assets Series 3 | RT
The Crimin...
21/10/2025
NAB New York 2025: Although AES Show Is on Its Own, Audio Will Be a Major Part o...
21/10/2025
NAB New York 2025: Business of Broadcast and Media,' Future of Content'...
21/10/2025
SVG All-Stars: Ethan Folz, Senior Director, Digital Operations and Quality of Ex...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: Livestream Offers Graphic Overlays, Predictive Gaming, Ancil...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: At the Front Bench With Producer Frank DiGraci and Director ...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: NBC Sports, NEP Build Ultra-Flexible Production Plan That Se...
DC13-353 October 10, 2013 
