High school is usually a time when kids want to feel part of a group — standing out is normally not high on the priority list. When Ashley Hovey entered Cherry Creek High School in 1996, she immediately noticed that she stood out.
In a school of 3,600 students, Hovey, now 27, was the only one in a wheelchair. Hovey’s situation is not unlike many of the campers and counselors at the 26th Annual Colorado Junior Wheelchair Sports Camp, being held this week at Gateway High School in Aurora.
Archery to rugby
The free sports camp is designed for children, in grades 1-12, who use a wheelchair or could use a wheelchair so they are able to compete in sports including hand cycling, track and field, basketball, tennis, swimming, fencing and more.
Inspiration abounds at Gateway High School this week — the campers enjoy a temporary respite from some of life’s social pressures that come from being noticeably different. For the majority of their lives, possibility takes a back seat to limitation.
“This is the one week out of 52 that we get to be the majority,” said Hovey, who is now a camp counselor after starting out as a 7-year-old camper. “Nobody is judged here. We are used to being told what we can’t do, and here we are told what we can do.”
Word of mouth
Over the past 25 years, the camp has grown mainly through word of mouth. This year, the camp features 125 campers — most are from Colorado although there are some from Nebraska, Kansas and New Mexico.
“The kids are taken on a first-come, first-serve basis and obviously it fills up fast,” said Laura Holman, who handles media relations for the Mountain States Paralyzed Veterans of America, one of the camp’s financial supporters. “Once you see the camp and you have any involvement, you just want to come back and be a part of it. We cap the number of kids because we only have so much help — the more people that want to help, the more kids we can get.”
Helping parents
Family day always closes the week at the camp, when parents and siblings come on Friday to see how everything worked out. According to some of the counselors, many parents can be conditioned to low expectations, and the camp works to redefine accomplishment.
“We are able to open kids’ minds to sports they never considered,” said Chris Jenkins, one of the camp’s counselors who began as a camper in 1983. “The main goal is to show the disabled that there is life after a wheelchair. It really challenges them and gets them out of their comfort zone.”
Sponsor
The camp is always looking for new sponsors and donors who want to contribute to a week of life changing sports opportunities. Call the Mountain States Paralyzed Veterans of America at 303-597-0038 for more information.
