Look What Happens When You and Your Child Believe in Dreams and Possibilities
What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. Henry David Thoreau
The other night I had the distinct pleasure of attending an event to support the Wheelchair Sports Federation Sled Rangers. The mission of the organization is to provide opportunities to physically disabled youth to increase their independence, self-esteem and self-confidence through the sport of sled hockey in competitive team play. The organization was started by a father named Bill Greenberg, whose son Sam was born with a rare birth defect of his spinal cord, rendering him paralyzed below his waist, and Victor Calise, a 1998 sled hockey paralympian and Commissioner of the NYC Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities. So far, the Wheelchair Sports Federation Sled Rangers is one of the few organizations in New York City that provides a chance for physically disabled kids to play a competitive team sport.
When the league started, there were eight children and most of their parents did not even know that their children could play competitive sports. Over the years, the league has grown to serve 24 physically disabled kids and their families. The children range in age from 5 to 23 and are from all 5 boroughs, as well as nearby suburbs. The children together have 8 different disabilities. Some are strong enough to push themselves; some aren’t strong enough or able enough and need pushers to help them. At the event, Bill said that he will never forget on the first night of the first practice, one of the ten-year-old players turning to his mother and saying, “Mom, I’m finally on a team!”
Bill also commented that when his son Sam rolls into his classroom at school, he tells all of his friends he is a hockey player. Bill believes it changes the way his friends look at Sam and interact with him, and that, in turn, changes the way that his son looks at his own capabilities. Bill believes that Sam’s involvement with sled hockey has shown Sam that he has no limitations but those he puts on himself.
It is evident that this league has shown all of these children and their parents that they need not be limited by their disabilities and this change in perception will help them achieve so much in their lives as they see all that is possible. I realized first-hand that it’s a good lesson for us all not to focus on what we think our children can’t do but instead support and celebrate all they are capable of achieving. This can be the springboard for our children to believe in themselves and realize their biggest dreams.
Bill and Victor hope to expand the league to one hundred players and provide 100 percent of the costs for every disabled child that wants to play. If you would like to learn more about the organization or support them please go to http://www.wsfsledrangers.org/