This month’s community spotlight is a KBF hat-trick, Monica Quimby and Elizabeth Mathews! Monica is co-captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning Sled Hockey Team and Elizabeth has played with the team’s youth program for the last two years. Both have received KBF Active Fund grants for new sleds in the last year. Monica is a Paralympian, professional athlete, captain, and perhaps most importantly- a mentor and role model. In all of these roles, she strives to make sure all of the young athletes can see what they are able to strive for, from being on the Tampa Travel Sled Hockey Team all the way to being on Team USA.

Monica and Elizabeth first met when Elizabeth began her sled hockey journey 4 years ago. For both of them, this mentorship relationship has meant the world. “I feel so honored to now be in the position to help mentor younger disabled people, as it truly changed my life,” Monica explains. “We have made such a close connection, as I truly see her as a little sister and someone who is a joy to be around on and off the ice.”

“Monica and I have become close friends,” teenager Elizabeth shares. She even plays hockey with the sticks that Monica won her first gold medal with! “By seeing someone else play adaptive sports with a similar disability,” says Monica, “you are able to build a great community. It is about recovering after injuries, which we do by supporting and lifting each other up.”

“I am able to talk to Monica about the challenges I have with my SCI,” Elizabeth explains, “both on and off the ice,” she makes sure to emphasize.  

Through coaching, Monica wants to show Elizabeth and her teammates that through dedication and hard work with sled hockey, they, like Monica, can make the U.S. Women’s National Sled Hockey Team. More than that, though, she wants to show all of the young athletes all of the possibilities of life with a spinal cord injury- from being an elite athlete to dating, driving a car, having a job, and owning a home. 

“Resilience,” Monica highlights, “is imperative to develop both in adaptive sports and for your goals, as there isn’t always an easy path. Adapting and overcoming is such an important skill to develop as a person with a disability, persevering through the good and the bad.”