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Ohio approves wheelchair events for track and field
(by Tony Lange - June 27, 2012)
Ohio approves wheelchair events for track and field
By TONY LANGE
Ability doesn't count for much without opportunity.
When the Ohio High School Athletic Association board of directors approved a recommendation earlier this month to add eight wheelchair events to the state track and field meet, they opened a door for 6,000 to 8,000 potential athletes.
Starting in 2013, Ohio will become the 15th state to sponsor a wheelchair division in its track and field program -- including four events for boys and four events for girls.
Wheelchair events will include the 100-meter, 400-meter and 800-meter races and the shot put.
The recommendation came from the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches, said Dave Kirk, Chagrin Falls head coach for boys track and field.
As the District 2 representative of the coaches association, Kirk represents all high schools in Cuyahoga, Geauga and Lake counties for boys and girls cross-country and track and field.
"In December of 2010, we started re-evaluating it as a coaches association," he said. "We were re-evaluating our mission statement and looking to address several items, but one of the topics that had come up was the wheelchair events that some states do."
Iowa was the first state to implement wheelchair track and field events in 1990. Other states that offer them include Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin.
Ohio did not reinvent the wheel, Kirk said.
"We said, 'Where have we been?' We went back, looked at each state and said, 'What are they doing? What are their rules? How do they do things?'" Kirk said. "And what we did is put together a proposal for Ohio based on what we felt were the best practices. So we're modeling from those states that already have it."
The impact on young athletes with physical disabilities participating in a state championship will be incredible, said Charlie Huebner, United States Olympic Committee chief of Paralympics.
"They will be representing their schools and communities in ways that have never been seen in Ohio," he said. "I commend the Ohio High School Athletic Association and the state track and field coaches association for making this dream a reality for the athletes participating in Paralympic sport."
Kirk said the effort to adopt a proposal for wheelchair athletes is something he couldn't help but get involved in.
Ohio has had one-legged wrestlers, he said. And armless football kickers, he said.
Last fall, Sami Stoner, a cross-country runner at Lexington High School near Mansfield who suffers from Stargardt's disease and is legally blind, got the OK from the OHSAA to participate with her guide dog, Chloe.
Track and field is officially the first sport the OHSAA will recognize for wheelchair events, Kirk said.
"It was a big day. Historic," he said. "Disabled is one of the larger minorities in this country. It's the one minority that tomorrow you or I could wake up and we could be a part of. When you think about it, you could turn left instead of right. You could look up when you should look down. You could be a part of disabled tomorrow."
A member of the OATCCC Hall of Fame, Kirk started running track and field when he was 8 years old and, as a coach at Chagrin Falls, has helped Tigers advance to the state championships 41 times among cross-country, indoor track and outdoor track and field seasons.
"I have loved this sport, and it has loved me back," he said. "And here was a chance to truly go out and be a part of leadership and give something back. Being good at something is not leadership. Leadership is serving others, and that's a thing that we have tried to promote."
While the Chagrin Falls cross-country and track and field programs focus on the state championships, that's just one of many goals for the Tigers, Kirk said.
"The true goal is to help kids become the best possible person they can become, because the vast majority of kids don't get to the state meet," he said. "That's my goal is to help a young person find their way, take advantage of their gift. Some of these kids in wheelchairs can tell you that those gifts can be taken away."
Chagrin Falls currently doesn't have a potential wheelchair track and field athlete at the high school, Kirk said.
"Awareness is the first step to knocking down the barriers that are out there," he said.
"That's what Ohio just did. They're just knocking down the barriers. The work is not done," he said.
"If we end up with 100 or if we end up with one, we've made a difference."
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