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Blazing The Trail To Beijing

KATHY MOORE/STAFF

Nine year-old Emily Clarke prepares to throw the shot put Thursday evening, September 13, 2007, at All People's Life Center in Tampa.

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By JOYCE McKENZIE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 26, 2007

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NORTH TAMPA - The one-year countdown has begun.

Athletes from throughout the Tampa Bay area have their sights set on participating in the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games from Sept. 6-17 in Beijing.

Many are in training at the All People's Life Center on East Sligh Avenue, the home of BlazeSports Tampa Bay. The free Paralympic sports program, open to area youths with physical disabilities, is sponsored by the Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department.

In its fifth year of operation under the direction of coordinator Andy Chasanoff, BlazeSports offers an array of sports, complete with coaches and their proven methods of instruction. They include track and field, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis, swimming, waterskiing, table tennis, hockey, archery, rugby and sailing.

Chasanoff also has a list of some 200 athletes with a variety of physical challenges such as spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, amputations, spina bifida, muscular dystrophy, and visual and hearing impairments who participate in the program.

However, Chasanoff is on a mission to raise the number on his roster of enrollees, a vision he sees as a promising possibility. That's because U.S. Paralympics has named BlazeSports as an academy at which monthly sports clinics will be held in preparation for next year's international games.

It's one of 20 sites nationwide to receive such a designation. The intent is to increase BlazeSports' participation and to enhance enrollees' skills via instruction from U.S. Paralympics coaches.

'That makes it an open playing field,' said Chasanoff, BlazeSports' first and only coordinator, who has dedicated nearly 30 years of his career to helping people with disabilities. 'I think we offer kids an opportunity to be seen for their ability, rather than their disability.'

The program's philosophy and environment, he said, not only enables participants to have fun and improve their sporting skills, but also helps to build their level of self-esteem.

'It offers them a peer group they can easily fit into, and they find out they're not alone,' he said. 'The kids really like being together, and the group's dynamics is terrific.'

All new BlazeSports enrollees who submit essays along with their applications on why they would like to attend the 2008 Summer Paralympics will be eligible to win an all-expenses-paid trip to Beijing.

'To be selected as a Paralympic Academy Beijing is quite an honor because it shows our BlazeSports program has been a success. That's the criteria by which it was chosen,' said John Brill, spokesman for the Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department. 'It definitely reflects on the job our staff has done at BlazeSports, and we're hoping to get more kids involved.'

Nine-year-old Emily Clarke of Seffner, who has spina bifida, signed on with BlazeSports about three years ago. She has been involved in track and field, swimming and wheelchair basketball.

'I don't know what we would do without it. ... She doesn't socialize much at school, and there BlazeSports she doesn't have to deal with questions like why she uses crutches,' said her mother, Marsha Nickerson. 'It's been great as a parent, too, because it offers me a great support system. I don't have to feel alone.'

Sarah Goldman, 15, of New Tampa, who has cerebral palsy, learned about the program when she moved from Connecticut with her family about three years ago.

'I think it's just lucky I found it because I love it,' said the Wharton High School student. 'I certainly wouldn't have many of the friendships I do, and I don't think I'd be very active either.'

Her father, Les Goldman, agreed. He credits BlazeSports with teaching her how to swim.

'When we moved here, she wore wings on her arms when she was in the pool, but she now does some competitive swims, and she even does some waterskiing,' he said. 'Blaze was the best thing that ever happened to her, and Andy has done a phenomenal job. It's great that they were selected as a Paralympics academy.'

Kenjy Asin, 19, a double amputee who lost his legs after being struck by a bus while crossing the street in his native Peru at the age of 10, joined the BlazeSports program shortly after it began. He learned about it through the Shriners Hospitals for Children - Tampa Unit, where he was fitted for prostheses.

'It has improved my personality, and I now have more friends, something I didn't have many of before because of my disability,' said the 2005 Plant High School graduate who last year earned a certificate as a medical assistant and is a freshman at Hillsborough Community College studying to become doctor.

Asin, who competes in weightlifting, swimming and wheelchair basketball, has high hopes of making it to the Beijing games.

'I've really been putting a lot of work into that effort,' said Asin, who, once he reaches 21, plans to convert from a BlazeSports participant to a BlazeSports coach. 'I want to give back and help other kids.'

Chasanoff's son Tommy, 20, who was born with cerebral palsy, also has been an active BlazeSports participant since its inception. Through the years, he has devoted much of his time to track and field, an effort that qualified him for this summer's Paralympic Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

'I ran two races in which I did my personal best, and that really makes everything come full circle,' said Andy Chasanoff, who hopes he also will meet the requirements to be in the 2008 Paralympics. 'All the hard work so far has paid off.'

He credits his dad for the majority of his accomplishments.

'He's at most of my meets, and he gives me advice,' said the Webber International University student. 'He's been an instrumental part of my success.'

MAKING CONTACT

For information, call Andy Chasanoff at (813) 744-5307 or e-mail dsportshcprd@aol.com.

Reporter Joyce McKenzie can be reached at (813) 865-4849 or jmckenzie@tampatrib.com.

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