River Challenge Peasley to participate in David Peasley, 15, of Spencerport will be on the Rochester River Challenge Youth Teams racing on Saturday, June 15, at the South Wedge Landing on the Genesee River in Rochester. David is the son of James and Donna Peasley of Spencerport and is a sophomore at Spencerport High School. He has been canoeing about five years and racing competitively for three. He just recently purchased his own kayak. Jan Whitaker, one of the founders of the event and a member of the Board of Directors of the Genesee Waterways Centers, said that Peasley has a good chance of going to the national outrigger canoe races. Also an outrigger canoe instructor, she says that such a canoe has a very slim hull, so that it has a stabilizer on the side to prevent a capsize. An outrigger canoe carries a six-person team. David, who was born with Cerebral Palsy, says he will paddle in the fourth seat of a double-hulled canoe for the race. He became interested in the sport through SportsNet, a program of Rochester Rehabilitation Center. Through SportsNet, where mainstream sports groups in the Rochester area link up with local organizations serving people with physical disabilities to create opportunities for physically challenged people to participate in sports and recreation activities with able-bodied individuals. (See sidebar accompanying this article). Whitaker, the United States Canoe Association's (USCA) Adaptive Paddling chairman, says that she has found that outrigger canoeing is an excellent sport for people with disabilities. She hopes that it will soon become part of the Paralympics. David's mother, Donna Peasley, has only good things to say about her son's involvement with the sport. "David has always been my 'water baby,' " she says. "He has loved to go in the pool and under water from the age of one. Anything to do with water is a natural for him. He started in a swim program for individuals with disabilities when he was in first grade and has earned his Red Cross level five certification (requiring swimming 20 lengths of an Olympic-sized pool). He has continued both in the class and as a volunteer helping others." When David was six, Marinna, one of his friends, stated, "David, we can run better than you, but you can swim better than we can." David also saved a three-year-old from drowning when he was 6. His mother, Donna Peasley, said that the child went into the pool without his flotation device and went down to the bottom. The adults on the deck did not notice, but David swam down to the bottom and pulled him above water, then calling to the adults. Donna says that when David was about 10, they were told about the New York Games for the Physically Challenged that are held at SUNY Brockport. "When I told him about the contests where he would compete with children with his same level of disability, David said, 'Finally, I won't have to come in last all the time.' " "At the games," Donna says, "David discovered the love of his life, kayaking. He and I have been doing it now for five years. Four years ago, we discovered the outrigger canoe program with SportsNet. The first year he participated just at the 'go out and paddle up and down the Genesee River-level.' He did well, enjoyed the sport and more importantly, had the opportunity to participate with other people both with and without handicaps in an activity they could all enjoy at the same level." "The last two years," she says, "he has competed in the regional races on Lake Champlain at Burlington, Vermont." David has also sailed and golfed with SportsNet. His other activities include downhill skiing, bowling, reading, building gadgets and technological activities. Donna says, "I know that the two biggest factors from the very beginning of David's life that have stood him in good stead have been his innate capacity for dealing with things the way they are in a positive manner and the marvelous way that friends, schoolmates, neighbors, teachers and his relations have always taken his handicap for granted and treated him just like anyone else. Other people's kind attitudes about David have really made such a difference. Most people are supportive of what he can do and ignore what he can't do or can't do well. And school friends were protective." "One friend, when she overheard someone making fun of 'that gimpy kid,' turned around and admonished, 'You can't make fun of my friend.' " "David could not have developed self-confidence as well as he has without the kindness of everyone," she says. SportsNet is the link SportsNet began four years ago as a division of Rochester Rehabilitation Center. It provides links for people with disabilities to sports and recreation opportunities in the Rochester area. One of the very few adapted sports programs at a rehabilitation center in the United States, SportsNet is headed by Frank Cogliandro. Cogliandro says, "SportsNet gives people with physical disabilities the opportunity to participate with others, with and without disabilities, in sports and recreation activities. They partner with professionals, who volunteer their time, so they can learn proper skills in a particular sport." SportsNet is a network of independent health-care groups, peer support groups and agencies. It is funded by grants from the U.S. Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration and Monroe County. It is also funded by contributions and fees. Monroe County was the first to fund SportsNet with seed money. There are two levels of membership in the organization. Friends of SportsNet are people and area organizations who contribute. Members of this level include ESL Federal Credit Union, The Heart of Gold Foundation, Rochester Press Radio Club, and B. Thomas Golisano Foundation. There is also individual membership for people both with and without physical disabilities. Fees help fund the clinics and programs. For a $25 donation members receive discounts to all activities and programs and a free pass to all clinics. Money is also raised through the SportsNet All-Star Challenge. This event, held on June 7, 2002, involved teams of four people (with and without disabilities) competing against each other in adaptive sports such as wheel-chair tennis, golf, basketball, indoor paddling, sled hockey slalom and goal shooting. "The SportsNet All Star Challenge," states Steve Barbato, Rochester Wheels and Rockets coach, "is a great opportunity for the public to see people with physical disabilities showcase our abilities rather than our disabilities." Nancy Steinkamp, SportsNet program manager states, "The public reaction (to SportsNet) has been very positive. The community has been very willing to embrace the concept of inclusion. Family members and friends join those with physical disabilities in sports like sailing, outrigger canoeing, golf and sled hockey." People with all types of disabilities participate. These disabilities include Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida, spinal cord injuries, amputees, and birth anomalies. Kyle Meath, 10, is a Rochester Rockets player and SportsNet member. "Playing wheelchair basketball shows me I can do some things and accomplish things. If I can do it anyone can. It makes me feel very good." Dave Resseguie, also a SportsNet member, says, "SportsNet gives people with disabilities the opportunity to try and experience a variety of sports. Some of the sports I wasn't sure I could do, but at the SportsNet clinics I found I could." For information call the SportsNet office at 585-271-2520 extension 674 or visit the Rochester Rehabilitation Center website and click on SportsNet: www.rochesterrehab.org. To contribute to the SportsNet/All-Star Challenge, call 585-271-2520 extension 531 or send a check (indicate it is for SportsNet) to Rochester Rehabilitation Center, Attn: President's Office, 1000 Elmwood Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620. |
