Good Times Roll at Camp for Crippled S.D. Youngsters
For more than 12 years, Shirley McDermott has been volunteering all the spare time she can muster for programs geared to wheelchair-bound people.
She was at it again Tuesday with about 15 other volunteers for the San Diego Junior Wheelchair Sports Camp.
The camp, in its second year in the San Diego-area, is what McDermott described as “an escape and much-needed experience” for the 45 or so participants, including her 12-year-old son, Shawn.
“Programs like these help to build confidence in Shawn and others like him,” she said at San Diego State University, where the camp is situated. “It’s good that here he gets both male and peer companionship he otherwise wouldn’t.”
Cerebral Palsy Victim
Shawn suffers from cerebral palsy, as do some of the other campers, and has been confined to a wheelchair since birth. While in the swimming portion Tuesday, he attempted to dunk most of the camp volunteers. “I’m going to get you, too,” he yelled as he made his way in the shallow end of the pool, carefully laid across one volunteer’s outstretched arms.
“The camp is particularly important because it gives physically disabled kids the same chance to enjoy organized sports and recreation as their peers,” said camp spokeswoman Jeri Burbank.
Special activities for the campers included a “One Up/One Down” tennis exhibition Tuesday between former San Diego Chargers quarterback Dan Fouts and wheelchair star Brad Parks, and KFMB-TV sportscaster Jim Laslavic and wheelchair teammate Russell Serr.
Parks is the No. 1-ranked wheelchair tennis player in the world, and Serr is the No. 15-ranked U. S. wheelchair tennis player.
The “One Up/One Down” format is a direct adaptation of regulation tennis, according to Rick Draney, National Federation of Wheelchair Tennis (NFWT) representative to the camp, and features the regular rules of tennis except that it allows for a doubles match with one player standing and a wheelchair-bound player as the partner. The wheelchair-bound player, he said, is allowed two bounces before attempting to return the ball.
Variety of Events
Through Saturday, the campers will receive guidance from counselors and instructors, like Draney, who are disabled sports stars in basketball, tennis, swimming, track and field, and weight training.
Instructions for the activities are changed somewhat to compensate for the limited mobility caused by the wheelchair. Other than that, all the participants need is a “can-do” attitude to feel success at their attempts to participate in a regular sport, Draney said.
“We feel that the disabled staff members serve as an excellent positive role model for the campers,” said Robert McCarthy, camp director and wheelchair basketball champion. “Not only are they stars in the various sports they teach, they are examples of motivated, successful people who live full and active lives.”
The idea for the camp originated nine years ago in the Orange County-based NFWT, according to Burbank.
“Able-bodied children have Little League, soccer leagues, etc., and mentally handicapped kids have the Special Olympics,” Burbank said, “so these kids are normally just spectators. This is perhaps the first time some of them will participate in competitive activities which aren’t going to exclude them because of their physical limitations.”
Eleven-year-old Luke Ture of University City said the camp gave him the opportunity to open up to new experiences. “Last year, I had a lot of fun, but I knew I could do a lot better,” he said. “So, this year, I’m going to work harder at improving my game of basketball.”
Luke said he spends time once a week perfecting his basketball game, which he first learned at the camp, by competing against his younger brother. “He beats me most of the time, but, as long as I know I’m improving, I don’t mind not winning,” he said.