Finding Her Passion
World Sport Chicago and Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association work together to connect kids with sports
By Paul Slomski, WSC Contributor
Gesella Guzman, or Gesi as she prefers, is a fifteen year-old student at Waukegan High School who has a visual impairment and wants everyone to know she has found her sport. The Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association matched Gesi with the Gurnee Judo Club (GJC). A grant from World Sport Chicago supports Gesi’s transportation to GJC where she’s trained for the past six months. In that short time, Gesi has already placed 2nd in her divisions during a recent tournament and will enthusiastically tell you that she “doesn’t just like judo, she loves it!”
Coach Tim Schultheis is the founder and head sensei of the Gurnee Judo Club, and has more than ten years’ experience coaching athletes who are visually impaired. Coach Schultheis notes that Gesi has come a very long way since she began learning her new sport and training at the Club. In the sport of judo there is little difference in the rules for judoka (judo practitioners) with visual impairments as those for able-bodied judoka. In the US, the small size of the judo community means that often these athletes are competing under the same rule book and in the same tournaments as their fully sighted peers. “Gesi does not want any special treatment. She just wants to compete on an equal footing with everyone else. She has worked hard, never missing practice and always willing to spar with tough partners...even bigger and older teenage boys. And she always holds her own,” stated Coach Schultheis.
Gesi had her first tournament on November 7th, 2009. The Gurnee Veteran's Day Tournament is a relatively large, regional event with approximately 200 athletes competing from several states. Gesi was the only judoka who was visually impaired. Her division of 15-16 year-old girls was challenging. It even included a nationally-ranked athlete. “Didn't matter...Gesi had a super strong showing, taking home a silver medal. We were all very proud of her and excited about her future in judo,” boasted Coach Schultheis.
Gesi is preparing for her next tournament in December and is anxious to compete again, “I found a sport for me and I’m not gonna let it go easily,” declared Gesi.