Blind athletes excited by sports camp

(Saturday, May 21, 2005 - Bangor Daily News)   ORONO - Visual impairment shouldn't prevent anybody from participating in sports.

That message has been delivered by Mark Sinclair for 15 years.

Fourteen Maine youngsters ages 8-17 are currently receiving the opportunity to participate in the first Maine-based New England Blind Athletic Association Sports Education Camp.

The three-day event is being held at different venues in eastern Maine with the track and field competition scheduled for today at the Beckett Family Track and Field Complex at the University of Maine.

The youngsters had a training day on Friday.

The track and field events include the standing long jump, the running long jump, the 50-meter dash, the 600-meter run, and the shot put. The shot put is for youngsters 12 and over. The younger ones do the softball throw instead.

The other activities they have participated in have included bowling, swimming, fencing, wrestling, and goalball. Goalball involves three-person teams using a ball with bells in it. The idea, explained Sinclair, is to roll the ball into a goal.  "When I was in [Penquis Valley High School], they wouldn't let me do physical education," said Sinclair, who is visually impaired. "My parents [Jeannine and the late Lewis Sinclair] told them I would do physical education. I could see well enough to do some of the sports, not others. Back then, it was rare for blind kids to go to public school. Now they all go to public school. And when the gym teacher tells them to keep score because they can't do that particular sport, they can say 'I can do this' and show them how they can."

Dr. Paul Ponchillia, who teaches at Western Michigan University, founded the sports education camps for the visually impaired in Michigan in 1988. Dr. Ponchillia lost his sight in a hunting accident when he was 30. There are a variety of aids to help the visually impaired participate in athletics.

There are guide ropes and guide runners in the running events. On this day, members of the Orono High School track team served as guide runners and volunteers.

A visually impaired athlete holds one end of an 18-inch rope with the guide runner holding the other end. They would occupy two lanes, explained Sinclair.

In the running long jump, the blind athletes are guided directionally by the volunteers and they carefully pace out their steps to become familiar with the board that serves as their launching pad.

The standing long jump and the shot put are easily adaptable, according to Sinclair.

"In the shot put, you just have to make sure they're throwing in the right direction," said Sinclair.

"I like goalball, track and field, and wrestling," said 9-year-old Tristan Bussiere of Lewiston, breathing heavily after completing the 600-meter run. Bussiere said he competes in these events in the Lewiston area.

Fourteen-year-old Gabriel Millay of Surry said he found the sports education camp interesting.  "You get to meet other blind kids and some of your old friends," said Millay, whose favorite sport is fencing "because I've been fencing for four years now."

His brother, 17-year-old Yohannes Millay, loves wrestling. "I like tossing people on the ground," grinned Yohannes Millay, who also enjoys fencing and hopes they can add more sports in the future.

Thirteen-year-old Lindsay Ball of Benton competes in track for her Lawrence Middle School team, running the 100 and 200, putting the shot, and doing the long jump. She said having a guide runner "isn't difficult" and Yohannes concurred.

Orono High School junior Emily Sypher, one of the volunteers, was impressed with the program and hope it continues. Like the other volunteers, she was inspired by the athletes and their upbeat attitudes.

"It showed me how much I take my sight for granted on a daily basis. These kids have so much mental courage. And they're so positive," said Sypher.

"They're very good learners. They're very eager to learn," said Orono track coach Chris Libby.