After that, Matsui played at being disabled to see how it felt, such as putting her dominant hand behind her back. In college, she joined a student council for exceptional children. On Friday during gym, Matsui's students covered one eye, put plugs in their ears, or tied their legs loosely together to restrict their ability to run. Then they played floor hockey, closely matching the way Special Olympians will play next month. Forget ice skates, hockey sticks and pucks.
Floor hockey is played in tennis shoes, with waist-high straight sticks like broomsticks.
The puck is a ring about a half-foot in diameter. To score, players snag the ring with sticks and shoot it into the net. Despite handicaps, the game was fast-paced Friday. A couple of kids didn't move around much, or never seemed to get close to the ring. I couldn't see where I was going.