Adaptive Bocce in Massachusetts

The Italian game of bocce is a fun, versatile and inexpensive sport that can be adapted for play by people with disabilities. Long known as an intergenerational pastime in Italian communities, it is especially favored by older men as a way to enjoy long afternoons. Bocce can be played anywhere balls can be rolled out on flat ground or on standardized courts. Official rules can be simplified for easy play with kids. A set of bocce balls can be purchased for as little as $25.

This year I've been exploring ways to play bocce and how it can be adapted for people of all abilities. I took a bag of the eight colorful and hard bocce balls and the small white one known as a jack to my neighborhood swimming pool and initiated informal games on the lawn, where curious kids jumped in to play. I also played it with friends indoors seated on a large rug which defined our court. If you haven't played bocce it is definitely worth getting to know this game! 

Adaptive Rowing Going Strong!

Blind rower Barbara Black has found her way into a single.

Summer is over and so are our paddling and sailing programs, but adaptive rowing is still going strong!

The boathouse at Jones Ferry in Holyoke will continue to see a lot of action as rowers keep up their practice and training. Fall is the busy time for races. Several rowers traveled to the Bayada Regatta in Philadelphia in August and had a great time as usual. Holyoke Rows had their annual Paper City Regatta on the Connecticut River 2 weeks ago, in which everyone won a medal. Next races up are the Head of the Charles in Boston on October 20 and the Head of the Fish in Saratoga at the end of this month.

A Glorious Day on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia

Bo Tanner reports on the experience and results for the Holyoke Rows team participation in the 30th annual Bayada Regatta in Philadelphia on August 20. Luckily, the event was one week before
tropical storm Irene hit Philadelphia!


Holyoke Rows team from left to right: Jim Sliski, Ben Kidston, T,
Bo Tanner, Carlos Gonzalez, Stephanie Moore, and Jim Brooks.

Five members of the Holyoke Rows adaptive rowing team and coach Stephanie Moore traveled south on Friday August 19th for some fun in the sun and heavy duty competition at the nations only adaptive only regatta. That’s right, the able bodied athletes had to sit this one out and watch the fierce competition. We started with the Jolly Up cocktail party receiving information on the course, races, rule changes, and greeting old friends. The athletes were also informed that around half of the Paralympic rowing team were competing in this regatta as a warm-up for the world competition starting on the following Monday in Croatia. Yikes! I hoped all that training this summer would pay off! We got an unexpected surprise when our little buddy T showed up at the party with his mom, our coach, Stephanie Moore. This was a boost for the athletes as T is one of our biggest supporters at the Holyoke boathouse, and a great man in the pit crew. Just the week before 8-year-old T rowed a single by himself on the Connecticut River with a swift current.

Getting Ready for the Regatta



Bo Tanner (wearing last year's Bayada Regatta t-shirt!)
and Jim Sliski clean boats in preparation for the Regatta.

Today was a lovely August day for a perfect visit at the Jones Ferry Access Center in Holyoke! When I arrived, a few older women were getting kayak lessons on the Connecticut River, which was smooth under a sunny sky with clouds. When I left a few hours later, a busy boat washing was taking place in front of the boathouse, where three adaptive rowers were getting ready for the Bayada Regatta coming up this weekend in Philadelphia.

Jim Sliski, Jim Brooks and Bo Tanner have been rowing - and competing - for several years now, using the Jones Ferry Access Center run by Holyoke Rows. Jim Sliski started rowing with DCR's Universal Access Program in 1996 upriver in Northampton, and has been a steady presence on the water ever since. He is competing this weekend though admits his "stamina is not great "as various health challenges have slowed down his training in the last year. Jim Brooks has had a "great summer" and is looking forward to Philadelphia. Bo is racing in three races, in doubles with partners and a singles race. Best wishes to all three this weekend!!!

Bo takes a light training run on the river today
after weeks of steady training.

Holyoke Rows is a non-profit organization I sometimes think of as a pseudonym for Stephanie Moore, the soft-spoken mother of four who tapped into local resources to convert a rundown river front into a thriving recreational community center just east of the Holyoke Mall. A firm believer in "access for all", Stephanie has made a traditionally elite sport available to an often disadvantaged local demographic that includes city kids, seniors, and people with disabilities.

The Bayada Regatta is an internationally famous adaptive rowing competition, now in its 30th year. It is the oldest and largest adaptive rowing competition in the U.S. This year's Regatta takes place Saturday, August 20, from 8am-4pm.  Holyoke Rows will run its annual Paper City Regatta this year on September 25 at the Jones Ferry Access Center. I'm sure we'll see both Jims and Bo at this race too!

New Adaptive Recreation Discoveries Near and Far - Via Word of Mouth

The Boston Renegade Beep Baseball team. Rob Thayer
on the far right side standing tall.

At last week's ADA celebration in Gardner, I met Robert Thayer, a blind man who mentioned to me he plays Beep Baseball with the Boston Renegades.

"Beep Baseball!" I said, "What's that??"

"It's baseball for blind people," he smiled as he explained. "We play with an electronic ball that makes a tone we can hear. There are two bases instead of three, and the pitcher and catcher are sighted, but everyone else is blind."

I finally got to look it up today. Check out this YouTube video that shows the game in play. So cool!

Wheelchair swing in use at Morgan's Wonderland.

This week, while flying kites on the beach in Falmouth, I met a woman who told me all about an inclusive amusement park in Texas where everyone can enjoy a family fun park experience in grand style. She couldn't remember the name of it though. Thanks to the internet that is no longer a barrier! Just search for "accessible amusement park, Texas" and you'll find the website for Morgan's Wonderland, no problem! Very inspiring place!

I'm particularly intrigued by the Sensory Village and the Music Garden - there is also an accessible carousel (we have one here in at Holyoke Heritage State Park also). You'll find an amazing array of opportunities at Morgan's Wonderland, including a dedicated fitness center for people with disabilities. According to the website, only 10% of the population of people with disabilities engages in sports and recreation play. (Ouch!) Maybe that's true in Texas, but not here in New England, RIGHT? Actually, Ross Lilley of AccessSport America in Acton, MA, was just interviewed in the Boston Globe and he talked about the same phenonmenon. If you have any more perspective on this, please share!

In the meantime, the woman on the beach told me she'd heard of someone who moved to Texas just to live near Morgan's Wonderland! Check it out!

Power Soccer - A fun indoor option

What to do on the first Saturday of shotgun season for deer, when the woods are full of hunters? Sometimes you have to escape indoors! I took a trip with my partner Maribeth to Durham, NH to observe power soccer in action. We were in advance of the first snowstorm of the season, so our return ride home turned out to be an outdoor adventure of slow driving in snow and icy conditions, but it was worth it!

We arrived at the Wittmore Center on the University of New Hampshire Campus in time for a skills clinic, in which the Northeast Passage team, the Wildcats, were practicing their skills with the oversized soccer ball that is officially used in power soccer. Five team members in their power wheelchairs took turns at 3 stations. There was a goal shooting station, with 3 soccer balls placed at three shooting points per person. A slalom of seven orange cones ran the length of the basketball court, in which each person had to travel and tightly circle the cones without bumping them. The final station was an identical slalom that was navigated with the soccer ball in traditional weave around alternating cones. Watching this warmup activity gave us a good sense of each player's ball handling skills.

Before the skills clinic was over, the team from Mass Hospital School rolled in, also in blue uniform shirts. These two teams are the only ones in the area, so they have played before and, prior to this scrimmage game, they too warmed up by running through the 3 stations. We could see right away they had some killer players. As residents at their school, they have easy access to regular practice and play among their schoolmates, whereas NEP team members must travel independently to a gym to practice during a 12 week season twice a year.

Power soccer has been around for some twenty years, though it is new to me. The game has its own standards and rules. Two twenty minute halves are played with a ten minute break in between. Each team has 3 players, plus the goalie, on the court at any one time. Power chairs are fit with a plastic guard on the front end, which is used to protect the players' feet and aids in working the ball. For the rest of the official picture, visit http://www.powersoccerusa.net/

Disabilities represented on the power soccer court this day included cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy. A mother of one of the players sitting behind us in the bleachers, told us that typically the players with MD were often quite calculating in their moves and the players with CP had more difficulty getting their bearings in the middle of the game. Yet as far as we could see, one of the most active players on the NEP team had CP. Though he moved his chair jerkily and was non-verbal, he had a clear grasp of the action, was a quick responder and played some great defense. Two young women on the Wildcat team showed definite prowess at being in the right place to turn the ball back towards their opponent's goal. One of these women alternated playing goalie with a young man who was prone to hamming it up with the audience while the action was happening on the opposite end of the court. They were a fun and likable team, but alas they were no match for the Mass Hospital School!

We marveled at one player, whom Maribeth dubbed "the Pele of power soccer", who was always in the right place at the right time to stop most attacks from the Wildcats. The female player of the MHS team was barracuda-like in her ability to sneak up and steal the ball. Another player was a veritable wall of defense all by himself. Their goalie saw less action on his end of the court. The final score was 5 to 2. Everyone got a medal and enjoyed the outing and the pizza party afterwards. We beat it back home just before dark.