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Good Game with Sarah Spain · iHeartPodcasts

‘I Like To Hit You With A Smile’ with Monica Quimby

March 9, 2026·38 min·2 clips
Why is women's sled hockey still not in the Paralympics, and what's misleading about the 'mixed-gender' label?
March 9 opens with stolen time. Sarah Spain turns daylight saving into a joke about taking back one personal International Women's Hour, then heads straight for sled hockey. Monica Quimby joins before the Milan Cortina Paralympics, where women's sled hockey still is not on the program. Sarah keeps the setup plain: mixed-gender para-sled hockey may sound balanced, but the Italy tournament is almost entirely men. Before that heavier part lands, strawberries get a surprisingly strong cameo. Quimby explains her research on mitochondrial inheritance and a disease-resistant strawberry that lasts longer in stores. Useful science, honestly. Sarah then finds the better hook: pageant queen turned hockey goon. Quimby tells that story herself. The Miss Wheelchair America Foundation came first, connecting her with women in wheelchairs and women with disabilities doing advocacy work she had not known about. That changed the route. Para canoe came next, then sled hockey, and the Maine connection made hockey feel like it had been waiting nearby the whole time. Quimby also talks about dropping an able-bodied mindset, the one built around proving everyone wrong and going big or going home. She wanted a real connection with the disabled community instead of pushing that part of herself away. Around the interview, Sarah keeps the sports-news chatter moving, with Quimby's USA team's inaugural Women's World Championship win last year, 20 medals and counting, belief in victory, and the messier side of women's hoops.

As heard by us

A specific, personality-driven women’s sports conversation centered on sled hockey and disability sport.

Good Game with Sarah Spain brings Monica Quimby on for a focused talk about women’s sled hockey. The segment covers why the sport is still outside the Paralympic program, the USA team’s win at the inaugural Women’s World Championship last year, and why the mixed-gender label for…

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Why you'd press play

For when you want women's sports talk with a spine.

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