CCYHA Blue Jackets Special Hockey

It is with a very heavy heart that CCYHA Blue Jackets Special Hockey says goodbye to our beloved Coach Ben Kyler. On Monday, October 21st, after more than 12 years as a centerpiece of our Special Hockey family, Ben ended his battle with cancer.

For many of the Kyler faithful, finding out that Ben was sick for the past couple of years will come as a shock. Ben was never one to draw the spotlight, and while he battled the cancer within him quietly, to those on the outside he remained a pillar of strength and grace. 

Ben came to CBJ Special Hockey by way of a simple ask. A request from a friend to help a program in need of volunteers, Ben didn’t hesitate to commit his time to serving our special athletes. From the first day he showed up with his son Jackson, the Kyler’s set a new standard for coaching in Central Ohio and in Special Hockey. Ben poured his heart into our program and amassed hundreds of hours of dedicated service growing special hockey.

Great coaching cannot be measured by scoreboards. The measure of a coach is rather a product of the growth one brings to optimizing human potential for each athlete. No one exemplified this more than Ben Kyler. Ben’s commitment to our special athletes was beyond comparison. He got kids to skate who couldn’t walk. He got kids to play hockey that were scared to walk in the building. He made lifelong teammates out of kids who had no friends. Ben was the coach we all needed and we all looked up to him.

As Ben took the ice each week, he put all of his own challenges aside for practice and shifted his focus to helping our special athletes. Less than 1-month before Ben passed, you would have found him at the rink on Saturday mornings, lacing up the skates to do what he did best, without a compliant in the world. Ben was the definition of courage until the very end of his battle. 

While our team is devastated at losing our beloved coach, we are comforted by the unbelievable impact that Ben has left on athletes and our program for decades to come. In his final weeks, Ben made a request that anyone who wanted to make a donation in his name could do so to the CCYHA Blue Jackets Special Hockey Program. A final selfless act, from the most selfless person in the world.

They say that the greatest part of any game is the opportunity to play. Thanks to this wonderful man a lot more people in this world have the opportunity to play the game we all love. We love and miss you Coach Ben. Rest in peace. 

While Ben was certainly not one for the spotlight, we did somehow convince him to be on camera for a Blue Jackets video a few years ago. We are forever grateful to have him on film doing what he does best.