The BSHL will feature a number of the top sledge hockey teams in the UK including the Battle Back Bisons, the Cardiff Huskies, the Kingston Kestrels and the Peterborough Phantoms.

Matt Lloyd, the chairman of the BSHA, said: "The British Sledge Hockey League is going to provide a great summer of sport and the league will hopefully attract interest from people who are getting excited about next year's London 2012 Paralympic Games and the ice hockey fans who are looking for a hockey fix over the summer.

"We are also really fortunate to have Planet Ice as our league sponsor as they bring ice hockey and event management experience as well as an enthusiasm to provide an audience friendly sport."

The Planet Ice BSHL will culminate in the league playoffs to be hosted at Coventry Skydome in August.

Games in the league will take place within a series of tournaments, in which each team will play each other.

These tournaments will be hosted at each team's home rink and the round-robin concept will be free for fans to watch.

John Neville, the managing director of Planet Ice, said: "Sledge Hockey is amazing as it provides a fast, full contact, high adrenalin sport which can be played by anybody and where everybody is equal.

"By supporting the league we hope we can help attract a wider audience to the sport and assist the BSHA in developing sledge hockey and increasing participation."

The tournament will be staged in Cardiff on May 28 before moving to Hull on June 26.

Basingstoke will play then host on July 9 before the tournament moved to Peterborough on August 6 and finally to Coventry for the final on a date yet to be confirmed.

Sledge hockey is a variant of ice hockey and can be played on and off ice using sledges.

Players sit in sledges, propelling themselves with sticks to allow themselves to move about the rink at pace, hitting pucks travelling at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour.

As players are strapped to a sledge all players have the same restrictions, regardless of whether or not the player has a disability.

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