PIKEVILLE -- Sweet-faced George Silvey, representing the Carolina Fury hockey team, zoomed up in his electric wheelchair, his tiny legs folded and nearly invisible under his torso. Next to him, poised to defend the goal, was an able-bodied member of the Carolina Hurricanes staff in a manual wheelchair. The staff member glanced at George and hesitated.
Big mistake.
George, who has spina bifida, pulled up so tightly next to the staff member that his wheels shrieked, then backed up abruptly, boxing the guy out. All the while, George's stick was flying, until finally the ref shouted, "George, I'm going to give you a penalty!"
George grinned wickedly, thwacked the ball and whizzed past his opponent at lightning speed.
"You're too slow!" he hollered with glee.
Welcome to hockey, electric wheelchair-style.
It is an improvised game - street hockey played on a basketball court, this one at Charles B. Aycock High School in the Wayne County town of Pikeville. The boundaries are defined by bolsters. The sticks are lighter, and instead of a puck a Wiffle Ball is used.
But the intensity is purely regulation: I defy anyone who watches the Carolina Fury play not to start cheering for players like George.
Jonathan Greeson, 28, who has had spinal muscular atrophy since birth, started the Fury, North Carolina's only electric wheelchair hockey team, in 2002.
His motive was simple. The improvised hockey court is one place where players can participate in a sport or activity on their own terms: They aren't pushed; they aren't assisted; they are in control.
The Fury has 12 players - men, women and boys, ages 10 to 50. Some, like Jim Thompson, 37, are there because of spinal injuries. He lost his legs two years ago after falling asleep on the way to work and flipping his car. Most, like Greeson, are grappling with disorders from childhood or degenerative diseases.
One player can move only his thumbs.
The Fury draws players from as far away as Burlington and Statesville - but the team is raising money to go even farther. Members hope to attend the Electric Wheelchair Hockey Association's version of the World Cup - the PowerCup - in Toronto in August. The event will give the team the chance to play others who are skilled in moving down the court in speedy, electric chairs - rather than against good-hearted but sometimes slow and clumsy able-bodied players in manual chairs.
Chris Beach, 13, of Cary had his first taste competing against other players in electric chairs when the Fury hosted a tournament that brought teams from other states to the RBC Center last summer.
No offense to the Hurricanes' staff, but there was no comparison.
"It was intense," said Beach, who has muscular dystrophy. "Everyone was really moving fast."
That's why the Fury's larger goal goes beyond Toronto - to expand the league itself, so that its members can play electric wheelchair hockey on a regular basis. Already, there's a team budding in Wilmington called the Hot Wheels; Beach's parents are trying to form a team in Raleigh, if only they can find a gym for practice.
Kids enjoy the thrill
Cameron Williams, 14, who attends Leesville Road Middle School, tried Miracle League baseball but considers hockey far more exciting.
"It's more aggressive!" he said.
No doubt about it. Sean Hessee of Raleigh, who was born 3-1/2 months premature and grew up with cerebral palsy, said he has played basketball and "quad" rugby. But electric wheelchair hockey is the one sport that lets him play, unassisted, in a truly competitive environment.
An East Carolina University graduate who is forging a career as an inspirational speaker, Hessee is also, quietly, a ringer on the team.
Greeson, an N.C. State graduate who manages grants for the Wayne County 4-H, chuckles at the fire of his aptly-named team, which keeps getting stronger, even as some of the members physically weaken.
Back when he first organized the Fury, Greeson was on defense, and Josh Cranfill, 26, covered the goal. Since then, their conditions, degenerative by nature, have limited their movements further. These days, Greeson is goalie, and Cranfill is coach, deploying his players in a halting voice amplified by a microphone positioned next to his mouth.
"Josh is the brains behind the organization," said Robert Ucciardi, who lost the use of his legs in a wreck in 2005. Ucciardi grew up with Greeson in Pikeville. After his accident, Greeson came to visit and invited Ucciardi to attend a Fury practice.
Ucciardi was skeptical - until he arrived at their old high school court.
"I thought, poor me, I'm a cripple, I can't do anything," said Ucciardi, who counsels newly paralyzed patients at Pitt Memorial Hospital. "I was feeling pretty sorry for myself when Jonathan got me to come to the first practice. Then I met Josh.
"All he can do is move his thumbs. If a guy like that can get up every day and do it, what am I complaining about? He's my inspiration."
