Matt Lloyd

Matthew "Matt" Lloyd (born 23 May 1972) is a British paralympian who was born with spina bifida and two club feet. He has competed in Ice sledge hockey at the 2006 Winter Paralympics, in Sitting volleyball at the 2007 European Championships, and is credited with inventing the sport of Inline sledge hockey. He was born in Crawley, West Sussex and later resided in Hollym, East Riding of Yorkshire. He is now chairman of the British Sledge Hockey Association.
==Sledge hockey==
In 2004 Lloyd took up the sport of Ice sledge hockey (a variant of Ice hockey and a Paralympic sport) playing for the Kingston Kestrels Sledge hockey team. Lloyd was asked to train with the British Paralympic team early in 2005. In November 2005 Lloyd made his international debut as back-up goal keeper against Italy in the Paralympic Qualifiers in Turin, Italy. Lloyd represented Great Britain at the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Turin , the 2009 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships and the 2011 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey European Championships.
Lloyd is a founding member of the Grimsby Red Wings Sledge hockey team. Lloyd retired from playing Ice Sledge Hockey after the 2011 Paralympic Winter World Cup.
==Inline sledge hockey ==
In October 2005 Lloyd became chairperson of the British Sledge Hockey Association. Despite a British team competing in the 2006 Winter Paralympics, it was apparent that Ice sledge hockey was on the decline in the United Kingdom. To reverse the trend, Lloyd came up with the idea of Inline sledge hockey: essentially, Ice sledge hockey but played with sledges with wheels instead of skate runners. Although sledges with wheels had been invented by Laurie Howlett of Unique Inventions and used in both Canada and Germany as training aids, Lloyd was the first person to recognise that the equipment could be used to develop a distinct sport.
The first "official" game of Inline Sledge Hockey was played in December 2009 in Bisley, Surrey. Inline Sledge Hockey is recognised as a sport by the British Roller Sports Federation and a full set of rules was drawn up in early 2010 by Geoff Gooding based on Inline Puck Hockey rules with the first Inline Sledge Hockey league due to be launched in October 2010 in the UK.
==References==
Category:Ice sledge hockey players at the 2006 Winter Paralympics
Category:Born in 1972