Hearing loss hasn't stopped Manch from playing the game he loves

Logan Manch knows that when he and his father, Charlie, step on the ice at Nationwide Arena tonight, it will show that hockey truly is for everyone.

The now 11-year-old was born with “profound” hearing loss in both ears, the highest level of hearing loss for newborns. But that hasn’t stopped Logan from playing his favorite sport, as he went through the Blue Jackets Learn to Play program and now skates in the Blue Jackets Hockey League.

Tonight’s Hockey Is For Everyone game presented by Vorys isn’t just a celebration of diversity and inclusion in the sport, it shows all the ways barriers can be broken down for fans – and yes, hockey players – to enjoy the sport they love.

Before the game and throughout the night, the Blue Jackets will recognize a number of organizations in Central Ohio that make hockey possible for everyone, including Logan.

“I’m going to be happy because I’m going to show everyone can play hockey if they really commit to it,” Logan said. “That’s why it’s called Hockey is for Everyone. It’s really fun to skate on the ice because I think I get to be next to a Jackets player when they do the national anthem. My dad is going to be there with me the whole time, so I’ll have extra comfort if I ever get nervous. It’s probably going to be a core memory.”

Logan has tried football, basketball, tee ball, karate and gymnastics, but for the Dublin native, no sport is as fun to play as hockey.

With a father who also plays and coaches the sport, Logan was on skates as a kid and has only seen his participation grow as he’s gotten older. One of the things he loves most about hockey is that when he’s on the ice, it’s the only thing on his mind.

“My favorite thing about playing hockey is probably the focus,” Logan said. “Nothing else matters. You’re just playing hockey. You see the puck, you’re skating and all you think about is what’s happening.”

The funny thing? Charlie would tell you the same thing.

“I fell in love with it just because I would really zone out when I got on the ice,” he said. “Everything else just gets pushed to the side. You’re focused on your team, you’re focused on the game, you’re just doing your thing. I really like that aspect of it.”

Like father, like son, and hockey’s not the only thing they have in common. Charlie is a photographer in his spare time, and Logan has started to pick up the finer points of the craft at a young age. Logan is also a big fan of computers, video games, drones and the X-Men, and the reality is you wouldn’t even know he was hearing impaired until you notice the cochlear implants that he has attached at all times.

The Manch family calls them “his ears,” and Logan said it’s “radio silence” when they’re not attached. The implants are held in place by magnets, and he’s had versions of them since he was 10 months old.

Logan has gone through his fair share of speech therapies growing up, spending time at Nationwide Children’s Hospital to make sure he’d be able to listen – and talk – as normally as possible. Now, he’s like any other 11-year-old, and he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps on the ice.

Not only has Charlie played most of his life, he’s also an official and picked up coaching duties when he signed up to work with Logan’s Blue Jackets Hockey League team. The cochlear implants can make things a bit difficult when Logan is skating around, but so far, he’s shown he can hold his own on a hockey rink.

“He can do technically anything,” Charlie said. “We kind of steer him away from certain things, specifically like high-impact sports, which is funny because you’re like hockey is kind of a high-impact sport. Well, not quite yet.”

It's clear that Logan has taken to hockey, and he said the game has given him a lot since he started playing.

“I like hanging out with my teammates, bonding,” Logan said. “That way we have better chemistry out on the ice. I have a very vivid memory of one time we were skating on the ice. My teammate had three goals, I had two. We were skating up and he had the puck and there were no defenders. I was behind him and I clapped my stick on the ice and he hit it backwards to me. The goalie was just like, ‘What?’ And then I shot the puck and scored because we have really good chemistry together.”