More than 100 wheelchair soccer athletes from across the United States competed within the Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association’s residence match Aug. 13 and 14 on the College of Lake County in Grayslake.
Wheelchair soccer athletes attempt to pursue “pushing what’s possible for people with disabilities and showing that football is for everyone,” stated Karalyn Stott, senior program supervisor with Move United, a nonprofit and a companion of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee.
“These guys have been competing their hearts out this weekend.”
The GLASA Chicago Bears workforce hosted its first USA Wheelchair Football League residence match and got here in fourth place of seven groups. The Green Bay Packers workforce took the primary place champion trophy.
This was the second 12 months of USA Wheelchair Football League match play.
GLASA is a nonprofit group primarily based in Lake Forest that gives greater than 20 adaptive and paralympic sports activities year-round, together with the GLASA Chicago Bears aggressive workforce and leisure wheelchair soccer.
The USA Wheelchair Football League is a program of Move United made potential by assist from the National Football League (NFL) and Bob Woodruff Foundation (BWF) partnership.
The match competitors kicked off on Saturday morning with two fields of play operating concurrently via the day in reconfigured parking tons. On Sunday, the climate was overcast and 67 levels for the two p.m. championship video games.
“Just to showcase the athletes, just to showcase the sport of wheelchair football, it’s amazing,” stated Cindy Housner of Wadsworth, GLASA government director and founder.
“We’ve had fans come out from all over the Midwest, actually, the country, and it’s a great opportunity to really grow the sport of wheelchair football.”
Chicago Bears alumnus Kaseem Sinceno of Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood served as honorary coach for the GLASA Chicago Bears throughout Sunday’s sport.
“Being an NFL athlete, I see guys that are injured and have different things happen all the time,” Sinceno stated. “So when you have got a everlasting damage like this, it’s necessary to come back out, simply assist the fellows and allow them to know that we’re with them.
“They’ve got big hearts, they still love the game,” Sinceno stated. “They’re still willing to do whatever it takes to get on the field, even if it’s in a wheelchair.”
The GLASA Chicago Bears wheelchair soccer workforce coach is Jason Sfire of North Barrington, GLASA board president.
Being related to the Chicago Bears “is a lifelong dream,” stated Sfire, who performed varsity soccer, tennis and wrestling at Lake Zurich High School and graduated in 1992.
Brian Pezze of Streamwood, a newcomer GLASA Chicago Bears wheelchair workforce participant, served within the United States Marine Corps within the late 2000s.
“It’s fun, it’s exciting,” Pezze stated about being on the workforce.
Gustavo Silva of Crystal Lake, supervisor of youth soccer and neighborhood packages for the Chicago Bears, stated the Bears have had a relationship with GLASA for a few years.
“So last year, when we heard that GLASA was going to be one of the inaugural teams to have a wheelchair football team, and they wanted to be called the Chicago Bears, we were excited to partner with them. We were able to gain them the rights to be called the Chicago Bears. We were just excited and they were just happy for the relationship.”
He defined that GLASA has the identical form of targets the Bears have.
“Our goals are to grow the game of football by making it more inclusive, by making it accessible and by making it equitable. And that’s exactly what wheelchair football is,” Silva added.
Sfire acknowledged the Chicago Bears.
“Incredible huge thank you (to the Bears),” Sfire stated. “They just think of us as an extension of them and that’s an honor.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com