Body
Believe it or not the Blackhawks aren¡¯t the only hockey dynasty in town.
The Shirley Ryan ³Ô¹ÏÌìÌÃ91 Chicago Blackhawks ¡ª formed in 1999 with the support of the Chicago Blackhawks Foundation ¡ª are hot these days. They won the NHL¡¯s USA Hockey Sled Classic at the United Center in February and five of the team¡¯s players played for the gold medal-winning Team USA sled hockey team at the 2018 Winter Paralympics. That on-ice success is in no small part thanks to coach Derek Daniels, the director of adaptive sports and fitness at the Shirley Ryan ³Ô¹ÏÌìÌÃ91 (SRAlab) in Streeterville.
Not that he brags about it.
Winning games is great but Daniels¡¯ number one priority isn¡¯t to fill up a trophy case. It¡¯s helping people realize their physical potential ¡ª even if they¡¯re disabled. ¡°What¡¯s important to me is getting more people involved in the sport and widening the opportunity for people who want to play sled hockey or adaptive sports,¡± said Daniels.
Bringing out the best of other people¡¯s athletic abilities is something Daniels always been good at. The 40-year old native of Lapeer, a small Michigan town near Flint, had a sports-obsession growing up that meant playing four varsity sports. But even then he knew he¡¯d never appear on a Wheaties box.
¡°I was more like the sixth man, the best supporting character,¡± he said.
Body
But his junior varsity basketball coach recognized his people skills and savvy and asked him to coach youth sports. ¡°That¡¯s kind of how I realized all this could actually be a real career,¡± said Daniels. ¡°I thought, yeah why not ¡ª I got spare time on my hands and I love sports.¡±
