MISSION VIEJO : Camp Gives Kids Chance to Compete

With the bright afternoon sun shining in his face, Ted Ernst, 14, aimed his bow and arrow at the colorful target several yards away and fired.

He missed the bull’s-eye, but the archery novice managed to get off a respectable shot from his flashy wheelchair, which is decorated with the eye-catching bumper sticker: “No hitchhikers, except redheads, blonds and brunettes.”

Ted is one of about 100 disabled youths ages 7 to 18 who are participating this week in the Wheelchair Sports and Tennis Training Camp at Saddleback College, a five-day event which started Tuesday.

For Ted, competition is nothing new. Before becoming paralyzed after falling 60 feet from a tree three years ago, he was an accomplished runner who had competed in several national races.

“When I was in the hospital, I knew I was paralyzed. So I decided right away that I wanted to wheelchair-race,” said Ted, who traveled from his home in Bigfork, Mont., to participate in the camp.

Now in its 12th year, the camp was founded by San Clemente resident Brad Parks, a nationally ranked wheelchair tennis player who was paralyzed in a snow-skiing accident.

In addition to archery, camp participants also take part in tennis, basketball, archery and swimming, and use a specially designed obstacle course.

“When I was a kid, I got to play Little League and all the other sports,” Parks said. “I wanted to give these kids an opportunity to participate in sports like I did. Some of the kids go on to really get involved in sports. They get introduced to a lot of sports, develop self-confidence and get good at something.”

Rene Szalay, 24, developed enough skills and self-confidence that she now works as a counselor at the camp after being a participant for many years.

The camp “gave me a chance to see that you really can do things as a disabled person. It really opened up my eyes to sports,” said Szalay, who was a nationally ranked wheelchair tennis champion. “It gives you the chance to spend time with other kids like yourself and you feel like, ‘Hey, I’m not alone in this world.’ ”

Rene Erickson, 16, has been attending the camp every year since its inception. Since she is the only student at El Modena High School in Orange who uses a wheelchair, the one-week camp has special meaning for her.

“It’s fun to be around people who are also in wheelchairs who can relate to a lot of the same things that you can,” said Rene, who rides horses competitively and has begun playing in some tennis tournaments.

Rene said her main goal this week is to work on her backhand, which she said has been especially troublesome. She, along with about a fourth of the kids at the camp, is concentrating solely on her tennis skills and bypassing the other activities.

“Originally, the camp was designed for . . . tennis” only, Parks said. “But we decided that it would be a good idea to include other sports. The opportunity to participate in all sports is great psychologically.”

Ted is one camp participant who has taken Parks’ advice to heart as he strives to become an all-around athlete. In addition to his wheelchair racing and archery, he also swims, plays basketball and tennis, and plans to try sky diving and scuba diving next.

“You can’t give up,” the teen-ager said with a smile. “You can’t just sit there and feel sorry for yourself. You’ve got to set some goals and just go on.”