Sit Volleyball and Wheelchair Tennis

Last Monday was another exciting evening with Mr. Dugan. Jim graced our presence once more and shared two new sports that were sure to have us wondering if we were ever really athletes. Sit Volleyball and Wheelchair Tennis were on the agenda as well as some words of wisdom to share. I will be the first to admit that I had no idea what sit volleyball was until Monday night. Wheelchair tennis I had seen and understood.

Before last week, I thought disabled athletes played volleyball in a chair. Go ahead and laugh at my ignorance. In my head I had it all figured out and thought it would not be a problem at all. Of course I was wrong...very wrong. If you think moving around in a wheelchair for the first time is difficult, then you need to sit on your rear and try to move yourself with just your hands. It was very interesting to learn how to position yourself to be in an optimum position at all times. Just like most sports, you have to be constantly thinking about the next shot. It is necessary to be in a productive position to help your team the most.

We spent quite a bit of time on volleyball because it was the more difficult of the two sports to catch on to. I could have played tennis all night though. It is a game I enjoy playing anyway, so it was refreshing trying to learn it all over again. Like most sports we have learned so far, the basics are the same. The only big rule difference is that you are allowed to let the ball bounce twice as opposed to once. Jim was nice enough to allow more than two bounces though as most of us were lucky to get to the ball by the third bounce. At first we practiced with a partner standing and slow tossing the tennis ball to us. Then we played some doubles, which I am sure if any outsiders were looking in, thought they were watching something in slow motion. No one became a pro overnight...right?

What made these activities so great was how Jim set up the court. Of course our gym is not set up for sports such as sit volleyball and tennis. Using four wheelchairs and some rope we now had two mini tennis courts of which one of those we used for volleyball. Since you never know when you might have to set up activities of this kind, it was nice to get some insight on how to adapt to the environment.

Bringing in Mr. Dugan the past two weeks provided some invaluable experience and perspectives. He is very passionate about what he does and in turn you could see that rub off on each and every one of us. I will admit it does not take much to motivate us to participate because we would not be in a class like this if we were not dedicated to getting involved with adaptive athletics. Overall we learned more than just how to compete in these exciting sports. It had just as much to do with treating everyone as equals rather than thinking in terms of able bodied or disabled. Comfort of life is important to anyone, wheelchair or not, so by finding ways to make sports enjoyable no matter the situation, that is what we are here to do.

Well I am off to class now and have no idea what we are up to tonight. Our spring break is next week and I will be heading to New York City for the first time. I will do my best to do a post later in the week or next, but make sure to tune in. And for all you international visitors that I have been noticing I would like to say thanks for stopping by. I am hoping to have a global reach with this and whether you stumbled by on accident or not, feel free to leave a comment and say HI!!