World Sport Chicago Brings Olympic and Paralympic Sport to Mayor Daley’s Chicago Sports Fest for the Fourth Consecutive Year
By Paul Slomski, WSC Contributor
World Sport Chicago held a variety of Olympic and Paralympic sport demonstrations on Sunday, December 27th and Monday, December 28th at Mayor Daley’s Chicago Sports Fest 2009. Thousands participated in this free annual event held at McCormick Place and hosted by the Major’s Office of Special Events. The Fest itself offered interactive zones, tournaments, and demonstrations of all kinds, from the traditional sports of baseball, basketball and football to new and less mainstream sports such as skateboarding, human foosball and rock wall climbing. World Sport Chicago offered kids an opportunity to participate in a number of Olympic and Paralympic sports including rowing, badminton, fencing, archery, handball and an innovative SportFit program, a program courtesy of 2010 Legacies Now.
SportFit takes kids through a series of athletic tests that are measured and inputted into a computer that provides them with feedback, listing Summer and Winter Olympic Sports that coincide with their unique athletic strengths and interests. The Willis family of Chicago made the trip to Sports Fest for the second year in a row. Zakari, age 8, Reginald, age 10, and Araiyah, age 12 all went through the rigors of SportFit and eagerly awaited their results. Reginald was not surprised when he learned he had an aptitude for wrestling considering it was his favorite sport but conceded the flexibility test “was the hardest!”
Another great event that had kids lined up all day was a fencing demonstration, conducted by Coach Fernando Delgado of StevensonHigh School (Lincolnshire, IL) and sixteen members of his Patriots Fencing team. Kids were able to don the proper gear and weaponry for both the Foil and Epee versions of fencing. After quick lessons, duals were conducted and electronic scoring was tallied, providing kids with a first-hand experience of something many have only seen on TV. Coach Delgado has been teaching fencing for 30 years and likes the sport because no matter your strength, whether its aggressiveness, quickness or size, there is a certain advantage or strategy to any of those traits that can make you great.
Alex Mathen is a volunteer for Badminton Chicago and was manning a number of courts that provided all the equipment necessary to conduct a match and try your skills. Mathen has been playing badminton for years and explains the athletic skills needed to excel are flexibility, aerobics and stamina, adding “it’s a sport you can play all year round and all your life because it’s indoors and low-impact.”
Dozens of kids participated in a demonstration of team handball with members of Team USA. The handball demonstration provided spectators and participants with an up-close and personal look at the speed of the game and agility of its athletes. Katarina Huskova, goalie for Chicago’s Inter Handball Club and 2009 National Championship Team, was on hand to show off her skills and stressed the fact it is really a team game. Athletes all rely on each other and scoring can be fast and furious, you always have to be on your toes.
Other programming throughout the jam-packed two days included an autograph session with current Olympic and Paralympic competitors and alumni athletes, a running clinic conducted by Great Lakes Adoptive Sports Association (GLASA), a rugby demonstration by Illinois Youth Rugby Association (IYRA), an ice sports obstacle course by Ice Reach, able-bodied and blind judo demonstrations by the Tohkon Judo Academy and the Menomonee Judo Club, a wrestling tournament hosted by the Chicago Wrestling Coaches Association (CWCA), archery by Lives on Target, rowing clinics by the Chicago Indoor Rowing Club and a bocce tournament for athletes with disabilities hosted by the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC).