Hi all,
Below, I'm posting a little write-up Nick did re: golf camp he attended and helped with last summer through The Ability Center of Greater Toledo at Crosswinds Golf Course.
Blessings:)
Amy
Here it is:
Hi Nick,
I hope your family had a wonderful weekend and Easter break!
I’m writing because Dave Sanford, from Crosswinds Golf Course, contacted me the other day and asked if I had anyone in mind that we had worked with who would be interested in sharing their story about how the inclusive golf experience has impacted their life. I thought of you right away and how much you have enjoyed the program and how much growth it gave you as a leader with the inclusive golf camp last summer. If you’d be interested in sending me your story so that I can share it with Dave, I would greatly appreciate it! If not, I completely understand J
If you’d like more details feel free to send me an email or give me a call and I’d be happy to expand.
Thanks!
Dawn M. Petersen
Director of Youth and Transition Services
The Ability Center of Greater Toledo
5605 Monroe St.
Sylvania, OH 43560
(419)885-5733 ext.233
www.abilitycenter.org
www.twitter.com/abilitycntr
www.facebook.com/abilitycenter
The Mission of The Ability Center is to assist people with disabilities to live, work and socialize within a fully accessible community.
Dear Dave,
My name is Nick Hyndman, I am 16 years old, and I have Cerebral Palsy (CP). Which affects my motor skills, such as walking and my speech. I have been a part of Camp Cricket of the Ability Center for about 8 years now. This camp is for kids with and without disabilities. I have been a camper up until last year, and now I volunteer as a counselor. Camp Cricket is a wonderful program, and last year, I did the golf camp that was associated with Camp Cricket as well, and I loved it. So, when I was done with the teen session, in which I was a camper, I decided to volunteer as a counselor for the younger kids session. But little did I know about some wonderful things I was about to experience. See, Camp Cricket has great messages and I didn’t fully understand them until I decided to volunteer as a counselor.
Like I said before, this is a camp for kids with and without disabilities. One major message that this camp teaches is inclusion. It teaches the kids without disabilities to include everyone and to see everyone for who they truly are and not judge based on appearances. Even if a kid is unable to do as much activity that an able body is capable of doing, they find a way to get the person involved. No one is left out and that’s my job, to help these kids who want to be involved and included, but are not sure how. Which also teaches these kids how to socialize and stand up for themselves. I think another message the camp gets across is freedom. As well as teaching these kids life lessons, it also gives them freedom. This camp is a about having a good time, and for a kid who maybe goes through daily struggles like pain or worrying about being made fun of, or afraid of not being included, this camp provides them with a time to be free of their problems or worries.
As I also mentioned before, I was not able to completely understand these messages until I was a counselor for the golf program. Because when you’re a camper there, you don’t stop to think about these things, it makes you free and all you can focus on is having a good time. When you are on the other end of it though, I think it’s more amazing than being a camper. The group of kids I was with was ages 5-9. I loved all of them; they were all different in some way, which was great because it taught them to accept everyone, regardless of how different they may be. Myself, I love sports, and I am living proof of a couple quotes I love. “Never give up” and “Never let anyone get in the way of your dreams”. My greatest sport accomplishment is one that no one ever expected do to, I completed a season of high school wrestling. But anyways, I saw that these kids were living proof of these quotes as well. Despite of their incapability, these kids just wanted to play golf, they never gave up, and you wonder, “How are they going to be able to do this?” But they find a way. There was one kid, Jalen, who was legally blind, and you cannot help but wonder two things, ‘how is he going to play golf, how is he gonna be able to hit the ball?” and then you wonder, “Ok, how can we help him play golf, how can we help him hit this ball?” So, we told him where to stand, and he’d just swing the club and suddenly, just like he did, we all heard the sound of the ball being hit and he ask, “how far did it go?” The ball went maybe 10-15 feet, and then he would say, “wow!!” and he would jump up and down with pure excitement and had a smile that would go from ear to ear. Right there at that moment, I smiled, and knew that is what this camp is all about. Because, at that moment, he was free. He was worry free, happy, and he did something that not only did we wonder how he could do it, he did something that I’m not sure if he knew he could do. That’s why this camp is amazing, that’s why I love my job, and I plan to do this job for many more years. I want to thank you for taking the time to read this, and for giving me the opportunity to tell you about this camp.
Sincerely,
Nick Hyndman
