Adaptive Sports Camp in West Hartford Teaches Kids More than Just Athletics

To be sure, there were plenty of athletics on display at the Hospital for Special Care’s Ivan Lendl Adaptive Sports Camp, held at the University of St. Joseph in West Hartford last week.

Indeed, the 35 campers took part in a vast number of sports, including basketball, tennis, track and field, swimming, tai chi and bowling, among others.

“It does a little bit of everything,” said councillor Ryan Martin, a professional wheelchair basketball player who attended the camp when he was 10. “It gives a kid a chance to find what they are passionate about in sports. They learn a lot of stuff.”

But what the camp may excel at even further is just providing a place where children who use wheelchairs for mobility can spend time with one another.

“For many kids who come here, they may be the only person who uses a wheelchair for mobility in their whole town,” said Janet Connolly, camp director and sports program manager for the Hospital for Special Care.

Martin agreed.

“They might not see their true peer group all year,” said Martin. “This week is eye-opening for them. … This is where they stick out for all the right reasons rather than for all the wrong reasons.”

And the smiles, which were in abundance on Thursday, were proof-positive of the camp’s influence.

15-year-old Nia Best was in her first year at the camp.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” she said, adding that basketball was her favorite sport. “I like meeting new people. … I’ll come back next year.”

Fifteen-year-old David Desmarais, who has been coming to the camp for 10 years, counted “seeing people and playing all kinds of sports” as his favorite parts of the week.

The camp is available to kids living with physical disabilities ages 7 to 18; there is no cost to attend.

The instruction in the various sports was provided by world-class athletes like Martin.

“This is a great camp,” Martin said. “I got my start here when I was 10 years old. It’s awesome to come back and work with the next generation of athletes with disabilities. … [Connolly] does a great job setting the expectations high and getting the kids out of their shell and changing the paradigm.

“There are not enough programs for young athlete with disabilities.”

But it’s more than just playing sports.

Counselor and volunteer Jon Slifka said that the campers have discussions about their fears and doubts and dreams, as well as practical tips on living life using a wheelchair.

“Maybe they won’t share that with their parents because they aren’t in a wheelchair,” Slifka said.

All of the counselors are terrific athletes, but they are also success stories in other ways, having gone to college or having successful careers, Connelly said.

The bar is raised for the campers, too.

Connelly said that it’s designed to raise the level of independence for campers, improve their social skills and hone their physical abilities.

Jon Slifka’s mother, Janeace Slifka, developed and coordinated the first Hospital for Special Care Ivan Lendl Adaptive SportsCamp in 1991, with the help and support of tennis legend Ivan Lendl. Jon Slifka was one of the first campers.

“It’s wonderful having been here in the days when I was a camper to now being a counselor and seeing kids aspire and achieve the same thing,” Jon Slifka said Thursday.

“This may be the only week they get a chance to do any and all of these things like this. … They might find their niche. It’s the glimmer in their eyes. Man, that’s golden. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

Jon Slifka paused and he smiled.

“You’ve just got to find your sweet spot in life and go with it.”