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December29, 2004 - December 29, 2004 >> |
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================================================= Adaptive Sports & Recreation December 1, 2004 Vol. 1, Issue 5 ================================================= Stephen Michael Kerr, Publisher stevekerr@ev1.net To subscribe, send a blank e-mail to: 41809-subscribe@zinester.com Copyright 2004, Stephen Michael Kerr. ================================================= Privacy Policy ================================================= Your privacy is very important to me. Your e-mail address will never be sold, shared, or distributed with anyone. You may forward copies of this newsletter to friends and family, and encourage them to subscribe. If you feel you have received this ezine in error, you may unsubscribe at any time; information on how to unsubscribe is at the bottom of this message. ================================================= In This Issue ================================================= - From The Publisher - Spotlight: The Power of Wheelchair Hockey by Stephen Michael Kerr - Profile: Putting Adversity On Ice by Stephen Michael Kerr - In The News - Keeping Fit: A 30-Minute, Or Less, Full Body Workout by Dr. Jeff Banas - On Deck - Contact Information ================================================= From The Publisher ================================================= Welcome to Adaptive Sports & Recreation, the free ezine delivered to your inbox every other Wednesday. You'll read fascinating articles about baseball for the blind, wheelchair hockey, and other unique sports. There's even a health and fitness section that anyone, disabled or not, will enjoy. Your feedback is always welcome. Please e-mail me at: stevekerr@ev1.net ********** I work for a soft rock radio station here in Austin, Tx, and the holidays are the busiest time of year for us. Each year, we go to an all-Christmas format 24/7 from Thanksgiving Day through Christmas Day. We play the traditional songs by original artists: Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams, etc., along with current artists like Celine Dion, Lionel Richie, and Faith Hill. The biggest part of our holiday programming, though, is our toy drive. We go out to many locations throughout the Austin area and collect toy and cash donations for needy families. We do this through the middle of December, then invite listeners to come to the station for a gift-wrapping party. Hundreds of people come and help wrap the toys while enjoying food, music, and just getting to know each other. Then, several days before Christmas, we invite the families who were nominated to a specific location and give them the toys (done by Santa, of course). Last year, we helped over 900 kids have a better holiday, even in the midst of hardship. I'm hoping we can go over the thousand mark this year. There is no way to describe the emotions that come from seeing the joy and gratitude from these families when people reach out to help them through difficult times. Sure, it's fun to sing carols, have parties, put up a tree, and receive presents. But to me, the most important part of it all is reaching out to those who aren't otherwise able to do those things because of unemployment, broken homes, or other mishap. I can't think of a greater feeling than knowing you have made a difference in making this time of year a lot brighter for someone else. Happy Holidays. ------------------------------------------------- Stephen Michael Kerr is the publisher of Adaptive Sports & Recreation, as well as a radio broadcaster and freelance writer in Austin, Texas. Blind since birth, Stephen has written various articles and given numerous speeches on disability awareness. ------------------------------------------------- ================================================= Feature Ad ================================================= Please rate this Ezine at the Cumuli Ezine Finder http://www.cumuli.com/ezines/vote.html?pub_code=sporec AOL Users Click Here ================================================= Spotlight ================================================= The Power of Wheelchair Hockey by Stephen Michael Kerr When someone is told they must spend the remainder of their life in a wheelchair, the questions flow like water. Who can I turn to? Will I ever be able to do anything for myself? What will others think of me? For those who possess very little strength in their upper body, but were once athletic or physically active, being confined to a wheelchair brings up an additional question: will I ever again know what it's like to be a part of a team sport, or to exercise again? The answer is yes, thanks to the sport of PowerHockey. Unlike sled hockey (also known as sledge hockey), upper body strength is not required for PowerHockey. In fact, some of the most successful PowerHockey players have severe disabilities and reduced strength in their upper body. Since most players use electric wheelchairs, PowerHockey is usually played on a gymnasium floor about the size of a basketball court. The weight of power wheelchairs prevents playing the sport on ice or other slick surfaces. Players use plastic sticks called T-sticks, which can be attached to a wheelchair to accommodate people with minimal upper body strength and coordination. Instead of a puck, a hollow plastic whiffle ball measuring two inches in diameter is used. The sport is played in 17 countries around the world. Therefore, rules and style of play are as varied as the leagues and teams that participate. One of the more established leagues in Canada is the Calgary PowerHockey League. Founded in 1985 as the Calgary Wheelchair Floor Hockey League, the CPHL had two teams in its inaugural season. Heading into the 2004-05 campaign, the league has four teams. "In past seasons, we have had five teams, but our usual number since the 1989-90 season has been four teams," says current CPHL President Kevin Lawson. Unlike other PowerHockey organizations, CPHL games are played in three 20-minute periods, like in regular hockey. League play runs from late September to mid-May with two games a week, usually on Saturday. An annual All-Star game is played in December, and an awards banquet takes place at the end of each season. The league also takes part in numerous tournaments, both in Canada and internationally. They regularly compete in the Canadian Electric Wheelchair Hockey Association bi-annual tournaments, and sent a team to the 2001 PowerHockey World Cup in St. Paul, Minnesota. "These tournaments, and future ones, really help promote the sport," Lawson says. Competition isn't the only benefit. Lawson says the CPHL provides its members with a social aspect to their lives they normally might not have, along with a renewed sense of belonging and confidence. "The first time some players play PowerHockey, you can see their enthusiasm and joy in finally being able to play a competitive sport," he explains. "No longer are they just spectators. Players who have thought of themselves as too disabled to play a sport quickly learn that some of the best PowerHockey players in the league are just as disabled as they are." ------------------------------------------------- If you'd like more information about PowerHockey and the CPHL, or to find out about contributing financially, contact: info@powerhockey.ca You can also visit the CPHL website: www.powerhockey.ca ------------------------------------------------- ** If you have an idea for a spotlight on a particular adaptive sport or organization, send it to: stevekerr@ev1.net with "Spotlight" in the subject line. ================================================= Profile ================================================= Putting Adversity On Ice by Stephen Michael Kerr It's been just over two years since 36-year-old Scott Brandon became a paraplegic. After going through all the natural adjustments and emotions such a life-changing experience brings, he has neither the time nor inclination to wallow in self-pity. He's too busy being a single father to two sons, working as general manager of sales and marketing for an adaptive mobility company, speaking at schools, and playing goaltender for the U.S. sled hockey national team. Brandon's life changed on September 10, 2002. He was on a ladder trimming a tree when he fell 15 feet to the driveway, landing flat on his back. The fall caused burst fractures in several vertebrae, resulting in paraplegia. In the months of recovery and rehabilitation that followed, Brandon realized giving up wasn't an option; his two boys, 11-year-old Scott and six-year-old Trevor, depended on him. "If I couldn't find the strength within myself to recover, I knew I must do it for them," Brandon recalls. "They needed their father back to as close to normal as possible, and quick." Following the accident, Brandon, a native of St. Louis, was sent to DePaul Hospital, where neurosurgeon Dr. Danial Scodary implanted titanium rods in his spine. He was then transferred to St. Johns Mercy for more surgery and rehabilitation. After a month of rehab, Brandon underwent five more months of out-patient therapy three times a week. He has developed a close relationship with his doctors, particularly Scodary. "I owe a lot to him," Brandon says. "He has been a godsend to myself and my family." Less than a month after his injury, Brandon, who had played roller blade hockey for years, was introduced to sled hockey by his physical therapist, Kathy Griffith. Invented at a rehabilitation center in Sweden in the 1960's, sled hockey became a Paralympic sport in the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer. Players sit in specially designed sleds placed on top of two hockey skate blades, and the puck must be passed underneath the sled. After watching the U.S. Paralympic team play a game, Brandon met several of the players, and was deeply moved by the experience. "It was there that I created a new cast of heroes," he says. "Here was a bunch of guys that have all overcome horrible injuries of their own, and went on to play for their country and win a gold medal in Salt Lake City at the 2002 Paralympics." Once he was cleared by his doctors, Brandon played one season for a team called the RIC Blackhawks before being invited to the U.S. Team tryouts this past August in Colorado Springs. After five days of tryouts, he made the team as a goaltender. But other challenges lay ahead. When Brandon discovered that his boys were being ridiculed at school because of his wheelchair, he realized how important it was to show others that disabled people could lead productive lives. He began speaking at grade schools, demonstrating how he uses his wheelchair to go up and down stairs, play sports, and do many of the things everyone else does, with some modifications. He shows kids his Ford pickup equipped with a special seat, wheelchair lift, and remote control power topper. Brandon is amazed at how much of a difference these brief encounters can make in changing the way kids think about people in wheelchairs. "Their first reaction is that they are a little unsure, only because they just don't know we are typically normal people who have suffered injuries," he explains. "They have no idea we were just like their moms and dads before. But after an hour of questions and answers, and discussing all of the great things we can still do, they offer to push me, open doors, carry my things to the truck, anything to be involved." Kids aren't the only ones affected by Brandon's courage and positive outlook. His friends and family have been with him every step of the way the past two years, and are proud of what he has overcome. His mother, Carol Halloran Ferguson, isn't at all surprised at her son's resolve. "It never occured to him to set limits. He never has," she says. "Scott still has that twinkle in his eye and the good nature and easy grin. "He is still a loving father, son, brother and friend, facing the same daily struggles and joys as every other person." Brandon hopes to lead his sled hockey team to a gold medal at the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Torino, Italy, and to find that special someone to share his struggles and triumphs with. His biggest goal, though, is to be the kind of dad his sons can look up to and be proud of. With all he has overcome to this point, there is no doubt he has already gone a long way to accomplish that. ------------------------------------------------- Find out more information about the sport of sled hocky by visiting: http://www.usahockey.com/ussha/main_site/main/what_is/// ------------------------------------------------- ** Have an idea for a profile? Just send an e-mail to: stevekerr@ev1.net with "Profile" in the subject line. ================================================= Feature Ad ================================================= *************************** Need to raise your healthy I.Q.? New Body News is for you! Inside the New Body News and Wellness Letter, you'll find: Motivation; the latest trends in personal growth and inspiration. Interaction; freedom of speech to express your healthy opinion. And more! Enroll now and build a better you. http://www.new-body-news.com ================================================= In The News ================================================= 17-year-old blind swimmer Jeremy McClure was one of four West Austrailians named as finalists last month for the 2005 Young Austrailian Of the Year award. The highest-ranked blind swimmer in West Austrailia, McClure won five gold medals at last year's Para Pan American Games in Argentina, and competed in this past September's Athens Paralympics. McClure accomplished all this despite suffering a rare genetic condition two years ago that destroyed his central optic nerves, and has only been swimming competitively since 2003. The winner of the award will be announced Jan. 25, 2005. To view the full story on Jeremy, visit: http://www.sundaytimes.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,11376091%255E2761,00.html ********** Women's wheelchair basketball player Jennifer Howitt of Orinda, Ca, was named a 2005 Rhodes Scholar by the scholarship committee of the Rhodes Trust. A student at Georgetown University, Howitt was chosen from over 900 applicants, and will enter the University of Oxford in England in October of 2005. Howitt has played in the Women's Division of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association, and helped the U.S. Team win a gold medal at the 2004 Athens Paralympics. To read more, go to: http://www.nwba.org/print.php?sid=400 ** If you know of an adaptive sports event for this section, send it to: stevekerr@ev1.net and put "News" in the subject line. ================================================= Keeping Fit ================================================= A 30-minute, Or Less, Full Body Workout by: Dr. Jeff Banas Most people do not have the time to do biceps and back one day, then legs and shoulders the next, then triceps and abdominals the next day. So here is a short and effective full body weight session you can easily get done in 30 minutes or less. Your muscles will feel the workout but you will not have the muscle soreness that will prevent you from your other training. Do this program two times a week. You are going to do drop sets. This means you are going to do three sets back to back without resting. Obviously if you are not experienced with lifting weight, you will start with one set, then move up to the three sets. You are going to work your larger muscles first. The order goes something like this: Leg extension Leg Press Hamstring Curl Close Grip Lat. Pull Down Pull Over or Seated Row Bench Press Chest Fly Triceps Bicep Curls Lateral Shoulder Raise For every exercise, write down the weight and the number of repetitions you do for your first set only. Do fifteen repetitions; once you get to the fifteenth repetition, drop the weight down about 25%, then do as many repetitions as you can, then again without rest drop the weight down and do as many repetitions as you can. If on the first set you cannot make fifteen repetitions, no problem; do as many as you can, then drop the weight and keep going as I mentioned. Write down the weight and number of repetitions you did for the first set only. For your next workout, if you made it to fifteen repetitions, increase the weight. If you did not make it to fifteen repetitions, keep the weight the same and try to do more repetitions than you did last time. This will constantly push you to train harder. Try and do the exercises in the exact same order every time. Not resting will really fatigue the muscle, but only while lifting at that time. You will still be able to do your other training. Training this way will stimulate muscle growth because you are causing the muscles to fail. In fact, on your third set you may only be lifting the bar with no weights on it since your muscle is failing. That is one reason you will want to do this workout on some type of machine unless you have a spotter. Get past how much weight you are lifting, just let your muscles fail. After a few sessions switch the type of exercise you are doing. Instead of a chest fly do a decline bench, then later do an incline bench. Instead of a close grip lat. pull down, do a seated row, but keep the same basic order, working the larger muscles to the smaller muscle. You should be able to get this full body weight session done in thirty minutes or less. Now go run! About The Author Dr. Jeffrey Banas is a Chiropractic Sports Physician, and triathlete, practicing in Mesa, AZ. If you would like to contact Dr. Banas, he can be reached at his office at 480-633-6837, or by visiting his web site at www.personal-weight-loss-help.com drjeffbanas@yahoo.com ================================================= On Deck ================================================= Here's a peek at what's coming up in the next issue. ** Our next "Spotlight" section will focus on Goal Ball, a sport where two teams of three blind players a side face each other across a court and attempt to roll a basketball-sized ball across the other's goal. ** Even though 75-year-old Clem Nowak became visually impaired a couple of years ago, he still bowls a 180 average, and anchors a three-man team in a Michigan senior bowling league. Read more about Clem in the next "Profile". ** Thinking about buying a treadmill for yourself or someone else as a holiday gift? Don't do it until you read Paul Reeve's article on how to shop for a treadmill in the next "Keeping Fit". ================================================= Contact Information ================================================= Stephen Michael Kerr, Publisher stevekerr@ev1.net 1218 Hughmont Dr. Pflugerville, Tx 78660 Subscriptions to this ezine are free. To subscribe, send a blank e-mail to: 41809-subscribe@zinester.com To unsubscribe, send a blank e-mail to: 41809-unsubscribe@zinester.com ================================================= Disclaimer ================================================= Although we believe our advertisers to be honest in their business practices, we cannot be held responsible for the products or services they offer. Please make sure to check out all offers before you buy. |
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December29, 2004 - December 29, 2004 >> |
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