Kids, Sports & Recreation: Access and Inclusion are Important

Last week a small group stood at a beautiful ball field on a cool, windy day, hunkered in the tunnel that leads past the high gates and beloved baseball glove horse and into the Morrie Silver stadium with bright green grass and expectant bleachers awaiting the next set of fans.

Why? Because on August 18, 2018 the Redwings’ Frontier Stadium will become a place of inspiration, of opportunity, and even a place of changing the life-course for girls ages 6-12 years old. The Girls Sports Festival will engage girls from across our region in a day of discovering new options and new potentials.

The benefits of sports and recreation are well researched, with positive impact reported on self-esteem, self-confidence, leadership development, and values of teamwork, tenacity and friendship. And the organizers of the Girls Sports Festival know the importance of starting at young ages to spark the interest of the children and the parents alike. Talk to many parents and you will hear that it is all too easy to sign your child up for the most common activity without really seeking to match the personality and interest of the child to the sport he/she may play for the next several years.

That’s why 6-12 years old girls will be out on the fields, in the causeways, and filling up the spaces on the sides of the stadium as they have the opportunity to choose from a multitude of different sports and activities that they can access as they grow up.

While that just by itself is a great story line, I am most pleased to say there is a new conversation being had this year — and that is the dialogue about accessibility and inclusion of girls with disabilities. The recent State of Play report from the Ralph C Wilson Foundation and Rochester Area Community Foundation gave startling facts about our region – very few of our children are getting 1 hour of daily active exercise — only 12%!! If you put that number beside the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s reported statistic that a child with a disability is 4 times LESS LIKELY that their peers without a disability to be engaged in active exercise, we have a woeful number to report for our Greater Rochester region.

BUT WE ARE CHANGING THAT!

As the planning for this year’s Girls Sports Festival swings into high gear, I will be working with the committee explore increasing accessibility and inclusion. Inclusion is a process, to be sure, and I am grateful to Monroe County and Visit Rochester for taking a stand FOR access and inclusion. It is something they WANT and they are willing to take a step in that direction. And THAT is the most crucial step.

It is our plan to have some of this year’s sports vendors ready to operate inclusively during the event itself and to be offering and/or begin working towards offering inclusive options for girls and boys with and without disabilities after the event.

This piece of connection between clinic and on-going participation is one of the biggest gaps in our community with regards to choice in recreation and sports.  After a clinic – where you discover you CAN do something – there is very often not a way to continue participating in it when you are a person with a disability.  No matter how passionate about it you were during the clinic, you have to wait until the next clinic…which could be the next year.

Here’s a way to check reality: Your daughter wants to learn to fence. You sign her up for the Summer classes at your local recreation center. You OTHER daughter wants to learn to fence.  She has a disability. You pause.  Is there somewhere that does THAT?  Is there some place you can sign her up? You ask: “What if the girls could participate in summer fencing camp together?” “How do we manage if one has to stay home while the other gets to pursue her desire?”  [Spoiler:  Fencing will be one of the inclusive sports offered during the sports festival!]

Recreation is a family value. The experiences we have in our recreation time are often very formative, and restorative, moments when we share with each other, grow with each other, learn from and with each other. But when disability is present, many families will tell you that their recreation time becomes one of the most difficult. Why? Because our communities have not been equipped to operate inclusively…we have not strategically planned for Inclusion. And when Inclusion is an afterthought, it is rarely as nice as when it has been designed from the beginning!

That’s why Monroe County’s commitment to begin the process of Inclusion with the Girls Sports Festival is PHENOMENAL!