Michelle
11-25-2006, 11:52 AM
Wheelchair Football Era Kicks Off At Victory Field (http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17501458&BRD=2731&PAG=461&dept_id=574908&rfi=6)
by Joseph Wendelken, Assistant Editor
11/23/2006
Craig Shera, of Gardner, N.Y., tries to evade defenders and follow blockers in the first game played on Victory Field’s new wheelchair football field last Thursday.
Over 30 pigskin devotees turned out last Thursday morning at Victory Field to square off in a wheelchair football game on the city’s first field reserved solely for the adapted sport.
Attended by officials from the Parks Department and sponsor groups the United Spinal Association and the New York Giants, the inaugural White Blue contest was taken by the White team. But, according to wide receiver Victor Calise, an Ozone Park native, wheelchair football games are about more than wins and losses.
“It helps build self esteem and camaraderie. You realize you’re not alone,” said Calise, the Parks Department’s accessibility coordinator.
Jason Corrao, the coach of Calise’s opponents and a United Spinal Association volunteer, added: “It gets them out. Every sport. It shows that nothing can stop them.”
While countless members of the area’s disabled community enjoy wheelchair basketball, wheelchair softball and hand cycling, wheelchair football has not enjoyed similar popularity.
But according to New Jersey’s Jose Garcia, this is simply because the facilities have never been available. “I never had the chance to play. Maybe I’ll just have a catch with cousins. If you’re a (football) fan, this is great,” Garcia said.
The Jackson Heights based United Spinal Association approached the New York Giants in June to gauge its interest in supporting a local team that they eventually could envision traveling to other cities to play other wheelchair teams.
But even with the Giants’ support, the hometown team still needed its own field, which was where the Parks Department stepped in. “It is one of the Parks Department’s highest priorities to help all New Yorkers discover how New York City’s 29,000 acres of parkland can enrich their lives,” said Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe.
On Victory Field’s newly painted, 80 yard by 22 yard asphalt gridiron, wheelchair football players compete in six on six games using adapted flag football rules.
The group that came out on Thursday morning plans to gather regularly on weekends into early winter. In the off season, before the start of inter city league games, they look to attract more women and younger children, according to Garcia’s teammate, Bill Hannigan.
Hannigan, a Flushing native and the United Spinal Association’s director of sports and recreation, said that Victory Field was chosen because the lot is without divots or potholes and because the wheelchair bound can access it easily.
by Joseph Wendelken, Assistant Editor
11/23/2006
Craig Shera, of Gardner, N.Y., tries to evade defenders and follow blockers in the first game played on Victory Field’s new wheelchair football field last Thursday.
Over 30 pigskin devotees turned out last Thursday morning at Victory Field to square off in a wheelchair football game on the city’s first field reserved solely for the adapted sport.
Attended by officials from the Parks Department and sponsor groups the United Spinal Association and the New York Giants, the inaugural White Blue contest was taken by the White team. But, according to wide receiver Victor Calise, an Ozone Park native, wheelchair football games are about more than wins and losses.
“It helps build self esteem and camaraderie. You realize you’re not alone,” said Calise, the Parks Department’s accessibility coordinator.
Jason Corrao, the coach of Calise’s opponents and a United Spinal Association volunteer, added: “It gets them out. Every sport. It shows that nothing can stop them.”
While countless members of the area’s disabled community enjoy wheelchair basketball, wheelchair softball and hand cycling, wheelchair football has not enjoyed similar popularity.
But according to New Jersey’s Jose Garcia, this is simply because the facilities have never been available. “I never had the chance to play. Maybe I’ll just have a catch with cousins. If you’re a (football) fan, this is great,” Garcia said.
The Jackson Heights based United Spinal Association approached the New York Giants in June to gauge its interest in supporting a local team that they eventually could envision traveling to other cities to play other wheelchair teams.
But even with the Giants’ support, the hometown team still needed its own field, which was where the Parks Department stepped in. “It is one of the Parks Department’s highest priorities to help all New Yorkers discover how New York City’s 29,000 acres of parkland can enrich their lives,” said Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe.
On Victory Field’s newly painted, 80 yard by 22 yard asphalt gridiron, wheelchair football players compete in six on six games using adapted flag football rules.
The group that came out on Thursday morning plans to gather regularly on weekends into early winter. In the off season, before the start of inter city league games, they look to attract more women and younger children, according to Garcia’s teammate, Bill Hannigan.
Hannigan, a Flushing native and the United Spinal Association’s director of sports and recreation, said that Victory Field was chosen because the lot is without divots or potholes and because the wheelchair bound can access it easily.