Baltimore, Maryland – During a morning event in the Health and Recreation center of the University of Maryland college park, blind students participated in a sports track through which they learned to exercise in fun and educational ways. The track, which is part of the Youth Slam organized by the National Federation of the Blind, engaged students in many fun sports activities on exercise machines. And some of these machines provided new ways to access sports information nonvisually.
For example, each student was given a talking pedometer, which helped them keep count of how well they are doing. Rachna Kashwani, a mentor at the event, says that this “helps encourage them to exercise in a more interactive way.”. “it makes them feel curious and more motivated to exercise. They could keep track of how much work they have done and maybe store a record of their highest step count.”
As Corina exercised on the elliptical, she could keep track of how many steps she has taken by simply pushing a button on the pedometer. “4125 steps”, the quiet yet understandable voice of the pedometer stated.
“In the end we added all the steps our pod took and then the steps of the entire class in general”, she said, slightly out of breath from the workout. “it’s not a competition at all, it’s simply fun to know how much we all have walked. Although, I am trying to beat Portia – so far she has walked more than i!”
On the opposite side of the room, Ashley is using balls to stretch on. “it’s very fun and relaxing!” She says, laying her back on the ball.
There are plenty of machines in this room. From weight machines and bikes, to arm exercising and muscle building tools, this track truly concentrates on presenting sports in a fun and interactive way, not something many blind students get exposed to.
Education is also a key in the track. After completing their exercising, students came to a classroom to talk about their experiences. Instructors also gave them exercising tips. “after you do your ten minute cardial workout, it’s important to cool down. That will work on your flexibility.”
Before leaving the center and heading back to the bus, a student was heard saying “this is a fun track! I love sports!” excitedly, and we could tell that he was looking forward to the events which are to come in the future.
Archive for the ‘Slammin' Sports’ Category
Exercise and Fun While Learning
Friday, July 31st, 2009, 07:30 AM By TamasSports-A-Poppin’
Thursday, July 30th, 2009, 12:54 PM By OlaedoTuesday night was Sports Night and the games were flying. There was plenty going on, from goal ball to basketball, from dance to yoga. There was a star gazing party where you can see the moon and stars up close (with a telescope of course). There was even a wheelchair race!
It was amazing how all these students were able to find the force of the ball and sense that it was coming, gaze at the stars, or listen to directions and allow their bodies to move to the beat. The students were able to turn a hard task into something easy to do and fun to work with. They were also able to exercise not only their bodies and minds, but also their ability to follow along, despite their blindness.
At the Star Gazing portion of the evening, blind students were able to see the magic of the moonlit and starlit sky at night. For blind people, seeing the stars is one of those “unachievable” things, but Youth Slam opened up that world to us.
In the ball games, students are able to hear that the ball is coming and either catch it, hit it, or kick it without getting hit. And in the dance and yoga classes, people used their bodies to follow along to the music and instructions. Overall, it was a very entertaining and relaxing night for everyone.
Greg Dwall’s Athletic Life
Thursday, July 30th, 2009, 12:36 PM By DenzelThis afternoon I had a fascinating interview with Greg Dwall, who was born February 10, 1979, in Chico, California. Mr. Dwall is an expert in Judo, but is still learning. He has played in 3 international competitions such as the World Judo Championships in Brazil and the 2008 Olympics in Asia. During these games, Mr. Dwall became a silver and bronze metal winner. The most impressive fact that caught my eye was that Greg plays Judo against sighted opponents. He does this by developing physical strategies and just plain hard work. I asked Greg what goes through his mind when playing Judo. “Action,” he said, “Just beating my opponent,” he said simply.
Greg said that with the coaching he believes that blind athletes can be great — that’s why he wants to continue the legacy of the blind Judo wrestlers before him.
I also had a chance to explore Greg’s personal life and learn what makes a strong judo player and some strong events that helped build this man’s character. He started off by saying he grew up in a stable home, both parents, one brother and one sister; also throughout his time in school he was active in football, soccer and wrestling. His hobbies were classic rural boy ones — hunting and wrestling, a sport in which he won some awards. Greg confided in me with some irony that in his teenage years he mostly paid more attention to sports and his girlfriend and he never worried about his grades. When it was time to figure out what college and what career he wanted to do, however, he was trap, because his grades weren’t great and his mind wasn’t together. So, increasingly, he began to feel pressured by family and other peers.
When I asked him what he did to get through his hard times he said, “I got up and grab my shotgun and tried to end my life.” I was stunned at Greg’s great candor but he was comfortable explaining and I let him continue.
When He awoke a week later Greg discovered that he was missing half of his face and that he was blind. I ventured to ask what was going through his mind at that time and He was chillingly honest, ”Oh crap, what am I going to do now!”
Even in the midst of his recovery, Greg’s humor came through. While he was in the hospital he made a bet with his brother on who would win — the Packers or the Patriots. Interestingly, Greg says that he was more bothered after his accident by his injured face than with his blindness. Improving his face would require that Greg undergo multiple surgeries to restore his facial function and gain more comfort. After Greg was released from the hospital he attended college at California State University, Chico. Though he resumed his studies, further surgeries slowed him down. And in between all these demands he enrolled at a California blindness training center to gain the basics of blind independence such as Braille and cane travel.
Now that Greg Dwall is 30, he is looking toward the future, toward settling down in a stable community in Maryland, where he can keep teaching Judo and continue doing recreation jobs. His advice to other blind students thinking about sports is to “explore freely and make sure you have support from family or friends and, above all, keep working hard.”