<\/a>The difference between a blind hockey puck used after one game and a brand new one. Photo by Bailey Jo Josie\/Sound Publishing<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
“I learned to play by watching games, but I couldn’t see the puck. I learned how to read the position of the players and where they would set themselves up,” Young said. “One of the fun things is seeing it differently, and now it’s fun to do all the things I grew up watching.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Young learned to skate as a child growing up in the Midwest and was a natural on the ice. After moving to Washington seven years ago, Young continued to skate as much as he could at the Kent Valley Ice Centre, where he still trains a few times a week.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“I like people’s reaction with the blind puck because they would come up to me thinking that it’s a training tool, not realizing that I can’t see,” said Young.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Young’s talents on the ice have gotten him some recognition. For the second year in a row, he has been invited to join the national blind hockey training camp in Utica, New York. Mark DeFlorio, a player on the national blind hockey team and a co-founder of the Seattle Blind Hockey Association, has nothing but high praise for Young.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“Despite my vision loss, I have over 30 years of sighted hockey [and] structured hockey experience. The most amazing thing to me is that Adam has none — his talent is natural and his skill is self-taught,” DeFlorio said in an email. “His attitude and commitment are the exact traits the National Team needs.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
When he’s not playing hockey, Young spends time with his dogs, Walt and Sid, and he works at a veterinary clinic in Des Moines as a kennel assistant.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“They say I’m like a dog whisperer,” Young said with a laugh.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t