Coldwater hosts FCA All-Abilities Camp

  COLDWATER - Less than a year after the Fellowship of Christian Athletes held its first-ever All-Abilities Camp in Akron, District 8 coordinator Steve Stroh decided to bring one to Mercer County.

Thirty-one campers and nearly a hundred volunteers turned out over two days at Cavalier Stadium this weekend, where five sections of sports activities were set up for people who are ordinarily unable to participate.

"We would just adapt to each individual's level of ability," said Celina's Joe Heyne. "We had one in a wheelchair who was really immobile, had a trach (tracheosotomy tube) and everything. So we just brought him through the stations. We would throw the ball through for him and then cheer for him.

"But the parents said that he really enjoyed it, even though he couldn't move around. He was a part of it. That's the whole principle of the camp, to include everyone."

Of the initial 32 campers on Friday, 31 returned for day two on Saturday morning, with the only exception due to a prior commitment. When each camper arrived, they were announced by name and given an ovation as they went through a tunnel of volunteers collecting high-fives.

Along with the campers were their buddies, volunteers who specifically offered to work with a particular camper. Parents listed their child's abilities and were able to ask for specific traits in a buddy, and the organizers matched them up from there.

Stroh went up to the FCA All-Abilities Camp in Akron last summer, and his experience working as a buddy helped inspire him to organize a local version.

"I just went to check it out, didn't know what the camp was all about," Stroh said. "Just fell in love with this little girl I was buddied with, and on the drive back from Akron, I said, 'Man, what would this look like in Auglaize/Mercer County?' Prayed about it, thought about it, then went to talk to Samantha Fledderjohann from (Mercer County Board of Developmental Disabilities)."

Fledderjohann had hoped to do something similar before COVID-19 and was happy to help FCA revive the idea.

After the introductions on Saturday, everyone gathered for a talk and a brief prayer, then split up into five groups to spend a few minutes at each of the five sports stations while Christian music played over the PA.

Each activity was designed to have several options so that campers of different abilities could compete, and the exact nature of the competition varied based on the preferences of different groups or campers. Campers in football could throw through a board painted with a receiver or run between tackling dummies to score a touchdown, while at softball, one group of campers took turns hitting off a tee and a later group organized a full scrimmage.

In soccer, the first group of the morning took turns aiming their kicks at hoops placed at different distances, while other groups took turns passing or kicking at goals. For younger kids or those in wheelchairs, there was a larger soccer ball about the size and weight of a beach ball.

"We kind of go with what the players want," said Scott Brinkman, the director of soccer at the camp and Wapakoneta's varsity boys soccer coach in the fall. "Once they find something they like, we do that. Yesterday we dribbled through cones and tried to kick for the goal, so we'll have something set up, but if they want to do something different, we'll transition."

The basketball station featured five hoops of different heights and basketballs of various sizes for the campers to practice their shooting, and at the fifth station, a "ninja" obstacle course allowed the campers to create their own forms of play.

There were other accommodations too, like a sensory room for anyone who got over-stimulated or stressed and foam pool noodles for campers who wanted to break off and swordfight with their buddies.

"The whole idea is, these kids are probably not going to be able to play sports with other little kids, or just play with other little kids as much, because they can't compete," said volunteer Cindy Widner. "This gives them play that they can do. Then they can win and feel good about themselves, and everybody claps for them so they know what it is to do well."

The idea for FCA to host an All-Abilities Camp came from Tristan Griffin and his daughter Scout. Griffin, who is married to Heyne's daughter Melanie, was originally a lawyer and later became a football coach at Tiffin, then got involved with FCA to have a deeper impact.

Scout was born with Smith-Magenis syndrome, where the 17th chromosome fails to develop properly. Seeing Scout struggling to feel included helped inspire Griffin to arrange an All-Abilities Camp and make it part of his ministry, and after organizing the first camp in Akron last year, bringing it to Mercer County was a natural choice with Melanie having grown up in Celina.

"In these small towns, I think it's going to blow up," Griffin said. "It seems to me that when you gain the trust of everybody, everybody's all in on it, whereas like in Akron, there's a lot of voices and things can kind of get lost in the big mess of everything going on."

The District 8 FCA is hoping to make the camp an annual event, hopefully including more local coaches and athletes. Brinkman, who teaches at Coldwater and used to coach the Cavaliers' girls soccer, drove down from Lima to help, and Stroh said Marion Local's Tim Goodwin made an appearance on Friday night to check it out.

Exact plans for the future haven't been settled yet, including whether it will rotate between area schools or stay at Coldwater. Stroh hoped to move it before July 4 next year to allow people who were planning vacations this year to help out.

The FCA has been expanding the camps to other areas of the country and even overseas, with another camp in South Carolina kicking off on Saturday.

"Our mission is to reach every coach and athlete with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and for so long the mission was just to middle school, high school and college students, or 'able-bodied' athletes that we would come in contact with every day," Stroh said. "But when we look at our mission, every is everybody, no matter what their ability is."