BrandonEdgar
02-16-2011, 08:28 PM
BY MARSHALL LUBIN
Newsday Staff Writer
September 30, 2006, 5:33 PM EDT
The deafening noise of ascending jets mixed with the sound of bats hitting balls on a warm summer day: A Saturday afternoon at Shea Stadium.
The competition was intense. Powerful hitters drew intentional walks. Line drives flew deep into the outfield. Fielders made throws to keep runners from reaching base. It was no different than any other baseball or softball game.
Except that the players were in wheelchairs.
The Sixth Annual Major League Wheelchair Softball Tournament took place two weeks ago over two days in the parking lot at Shea Stadium. The tournament is a fixture in wheelchair softball nationally, and Shea has significance locally: The sport's officials say that is where the first wheelchair softball game in New York State was played, on Sept. 4, 1999.
Midwestern roots
Vic Calise, 34, of Manhattan, was a founder of wheelchair softball in the metropolitan area. A high school and college baseball player until he was injured riding a mountain bike in 1994, his first foray as a disabled athlete was in sled hockey, and he represented the United States at the 1998 Paralympics in Japan.
Calise read about wheelchair softball, which began in 1976 in the Midwest, and a chance conversation with disabled players from the Colorado Rockies convinced him to try the sport. He invited the Rockies to do a clinic on Staten Island in July 1998, and they agreed.
"We got about 20 people from the New York area and the Boston area to come down," said Calise, who was hired recently by the New York City Department of Parks as American Disabilities Act accessibility coordinator. "There was glass all over the field, and the New York Fire Department hosed it down, and we were able to play."
Soon after, Calise contacted the Mets, and the team agreed to support the sport financially. In 2000, the first tournament was held in the Shea Stadium parking lot, and the Mets-sponsored team -- called the United Spinal Mets -- won.
Now, the metro area has five teams -- United Spinal Mets, the Yankees-sponsored United Spinal Yankees, Nassau Aviators, the Long Island Ducks-sponsored Brookhaven Ducks and Brookhaven Bombers -- and the National Wheelchair Softball Association lists 45 teams, including three abroad.
New fields, fences
Along with the growth came fields -- either blacktop or concrete surfaces with 50-foot basepaths and outfield fences of 180 feet or more. Brookhaven Town built the first wheelchair softball field in the state on the grounds of the Bald Hill Amphitheater in 2003. Queens has Bulova Park in Jackson Heights. On July 24, Nassau County dedicated a field at Eisenhower Park. Two fields are marked off in Shea's parking lot with plans for three permanent non-parking lot fields to be built along with the new stadium. And plans are under way for a Queens center for wheelchair sports including sled hockey, basketball and softball.
The Mets, Yankees, Bombers and Aviators have formed a league with plans for a full schedule next year, part of the growth of wheelchair sports overall in the metro area.
"It's a close-knit community," said Pam Fox, 44, of Holtsville, who plays for the Mets and the Bombers. "You wind up meeting the same people at different sports. We push each other harder than anybody else can push us."
The competition does get intense, with collisions at home plate and players -- who range in age from teenagers to senior citizens -- rolling hard into second to break up double plays. The 16-inch softball is a little softer than regular softballs, so most players don't use gloves, except for the first baseman. Many batters use just one arm to swing the bat. For someone not disabled, trying to play in a wheelchair leads to renewed appreciation for the players.
"I thought it was going to be easy," said Adrienne Rochetti, of Vineland, N.J., a college senior who plays on the women's basketball team at New York University and interns with the United Spinal Association. "For me to fully grasp it, I had to actually experience it. The first time I played, I went for a ground ball and fell over. ... It gives you a whole new perspective on things. You realize that they're tremendous athletes."
Wheelchair softball uses a point system to rate players, based on their disability. Each team must have a quadriplegic on the field and in the lineup or play one player short.
"For me to get on base is really hard," said George Taborsky, 39, of Smithtown, who played for the Mets in the tournament. "My job is to move guys around the bases. I try to place the ball to the left or right of the pitcher. I'm a quad, and playing against other stronger athletes than I'm used to pushes me to a different level. It's also a great avenue to work out, meet friends and compete."
The new league will improve attendance among players, said Bill Hannigan, 35, of Ronkonkoma, United Spinal Association's senior membership consultant.
"The only time we had competition is when you traveled to tournaments," Hannigan said. "Now, without having to travel, we'll have more participation. We have a membership of 7,200 with spinal cord injuries, and there are over 100,000 that would be eligible to play with amputations, birth defects and severe knee injuries. Catch the fever; softball is coming."
Newsday Staff Writer
September 30, 2006, 5:33 PM EDT
The deafening noise of ascending jets mixed with the sound of bats hitting balls on a warm summer day: A Saturday afternoon at Shea Stadium.
The competition was intense. Powerful hitters drew intentional walks. Line drives flew deep into the outfield. Fielders made throws to keep runners from reaching base. It was no different than any other baseball or softball game.
Except that the players were in wheelchairs.
The Sixth Annual Major League Wheelchair Softball Tournament took place two weeks ago over two days in the parking lot at Shea Stadium. The tournament is a fixture in wheelchair softball nationally, and Shea has significance locally: The sport's officials say that is where the first wheelchair softball game in New York State was played, on Sept. 4, 1999.
Midwestern roots
Vic Calise, 34, of Manhattan, was a founder of wheelchair softball in the metropolitan area. A high school and college baseball player until he was injured riding a mountain bike in 1994, his first foray as a disabled athlete was in sled hockey, and he represented the United States at the 1998 Paralympics in Japan.
Calise read about wheelchair softball, which began in 1976 in the Midwest, and a chance conversation with disabled players from the Colorado Rockies convinced him to try the sport. He invited the Rockies to do a clinic on Staten Island in July 1998, and they agreed.
"We got about 20 people from the New York area and the Boston area to come down," said Calise, who was hired recently by the New York City Department of Parks as American Disabilities Act accessibility coordinator. "There was glass all over the field, and the New York Fire Department hosed it down, and we were able to play."
Soon after, Calise contacted the Mets, and the team agreed to support the sport financially. In 2000, the first tournament was held in the Shea Stadium parking lot, and the Mets-sponsored team -- called the United Spinal Mets -- won.
Now, the metro area has five teams -- United Spinal Mets, the Yankees-sponsored United Spinal Yankees, Nassau Aviators, the Long Island Ducks-sponsored Brookhaven Ducks and Brookhaven Bombers -- and the National Wheelchair Softball Association lists 45 teams, including three abroad.
New fields, fences
Along with the growth came fields -- either blacktop or concrete surfaces with 50-foot basepaths and outfield fences of 180 feet or more. Brookhaven Town built the first wheelchair softball field in the state on the grounds of the Bald Hill Amphitheater in 2003. Queens has Bulova Park in Jackson Heights. On July 24, Nassau County dedicated a field at Eisenhower Park. Two fields are marked off in Shea's parking lot with plans for three permanent non-parking lot fields to be built along with the new stadium. And plans are under way for a Queens center for wheelchair sports including sled hockey, basketball and softball.
The Mets, Yankees, Bombers and Aviators have formed a league with plans for a full schedule next year, part of the growth of wheelchair sports overall in the metro area.
"It's a close-knit community," said Pam Fox, 44, of Holtsville, who plays for the Mets and the Bombers. "You wind up meeting the same people at different sports. We push each other harder than anybody else can push us."
The competition does get intense, with collisions at home plate and players -- who range in age from teenagers to senior citizens -- rolling hard into second to break up double plays. The 16-inch softball is a little softer than regular softballs, so most players don't use gloves, except for the first baseman. Many batters use just one arm to swing the bat. For someone not disabled, trying to play in a wheelchair leads to renewed appreciation for the players.
"I thought it was going to be easy," said Adrienne Rochetti, of Vineland, N.J., a college senior who plays on the women's basketball team at New York University and interns with the United Spinal Association. "For me to fully grasp it, I had to actually experience it. The first time I played, I went for a ground ball and fell over. ... It gives you a whole new perspective on things. You realize that they're tremendous athletes."
Wheelchair softball uses a point system to rate players, based on their disability. Each team must have a quadriplegic on the field and in the lineup or play one player short.
"For me to get on base is really hard," said George Taborsky, 39, of Smithtown, who played for the Mets in the tournament. "My job is to move guys around the bases. I try to place the ball to the left or right of the pitcher. I'm a quad, and playing against other stronger athletes than I'm used to pushes me to a different level. It's also a great avenue to work out, meet friends and compete."
The new league will improve attendance among players, said Bill Hannigan, 35, of Ronkonkoma, United Spinal Association's senior membership consultant.
"The only time we had competition is when you traveled to tournaments," Hannigan said. "Now, without having to travel, we'll have more participation. We have a membership of 7,200 with spinal cord injuries, and there are over 100,000 that would be eligible to play with amputations, birth defects and severe knee injuries. Catch the fever; softball is coming."