Spring Into Sport

Over a thousand kids arrived at Washington Park on April 7th, ready to play sports and show pride for their communities.  They came to participate in Spring Into Sport, a program put on by World Sport Chicago in conjunction with LISC/Chicago, Chicago Park District, and the Chicago Public Schools.

The program was designed to run the week of spring break for the Chicago Public Schools and offer something for kids to do other than sit at home.  On Tuesday, programs from 16 different neighborhoods around Chicago came to participate in the Chicago Olympics.  Each neighborhood was given a country to represent and all marched into the gymnasium proudly waving their flag and cheering for their team.

The kids ranged in age from 6 to 12, but were all excited to start learning the new sports offered.  Archery, fencing, team handball, and basketball were all part of the program and every kid got to try each one. 

At the fencing station, many of the kids had either never heard of fencing before, or only seen the fanciful version presented in movies.   Michael McCahay, who fenced in the 1984 Olympics, was there to help teach the kids fencing.  When he asked if anyone wanted to help demonstrate almost every single kid shot their arm into the arm and shouted “I do!  I do!”  Apparently everyone loves to fence.

John Register, who swam in the 1996 Paralympic Games and won a silver medal in the 2000 Paralympic games for the long jump, and Bryan Clay who competed in the men’s decathlon in both the 2004 and 2008 summer Olympics in Torino and Beijing, bringing home a silver in 2004 and a gold in 2008, were on hand to talk to the kids.

Both athletes came to talk about the power and ability of sports to change your life and help you realize your dreams.

Register was originally an Olympic hopeful in athletics until he severely injured himself running the hurdles when he was 29.  After having to have most of his left leg amputated, Register kept up his Olympic dreams and competed in the Paralympics.

In his speech to the kids, Register brought out a small boy named Jacob and asked the crowd whether they thought Jacob could jump the distance of Register’s winning long jump.  The kids answered:

“No!” 

“He is too small.”

“He doesn’t believe he can do it.”

Register then lifted Jacob up and carried him the distance of the jump, plopping him down at the other end.  Once again Register turned to the rest of the kids and asked them how Jacob was able to make the jump, and they answered,

“Because you supported and believed in him!”

The power of the message Register was trying to impart certainly reached the kids, and inspired them to reach for their dreams.

Clay spoke next and continued on with John’s message, talking about how when he was a kid, “dreams didn’t come true” where he lived, that is, until sports saved his life. 

“My parents were divorced.  I was self-destructive,” Clay admitted.  “Sports saved my life.  It was my salvation.”

Clay also admitted that he wasn’t a natural athlete.  He didn’t join the team and immediately stand out.

“I wasn’t great at first,” Clay said.  “Everyone on the team was faster than me.”

But it didn’t matter that Clay wasn’t the best or the fastest, because sports offered him something bigger.  It offered him the chance to be a leader and an Olympian. 

“[Sports] give kids a path in life.  The things they learn transfer to their lives,” Clay said.  “Sport teaches you things you wouldn’t think, like how to love, the love of your sport.”

Offering kids a chance to try sports like archery, fencing, and team handball, opens their world up to other possibilities and other dreams.  So many kids are only exposed to “the big 3,” basketball, baseball, and football, and don’t think about how many other amazing sports there are out there for them. 

“They wouldn’t make millions [playing those sports], but they could make a living and more importantly, go to the Olympics and create a legacy for their families,” Clay said.  “[Only promoting the big 3] would be like if in school they only taught math and science,” Clay said. 

Their education would be incomplete, not seeing the big picture and all they could do in life.  Sports can bring so much to a kid’s life and helping kids realize their athletic potential was what Spring Into Sport was all about.  Getting kids off the couch and getting active; inspiring dreams.