8-year-old sports star does it all on 1 leg
- From: Roger <RogertheDodger@xxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:59:15 -1000
Posted on Sun, Jun. 01, 2008
KID CAN DO IT ALL ON ONE LEG
Baseball, football, soccer -- nothing slows him down
By Mike Fields
MFIELDS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Adam Bender slips a chest protector over his Astros jersey, buckles a
shinguard to his right leg, positions a mask atop his head, grabs his
catcher's mitt and hops out of the dugout.
Adam has his game face on. Or at least what passes as a game face for an
8-year-old. His eyes are serious. His freckled nose is crinkled with
determination.
It is a cool, breezy Saturday morning at Veterans Park, which is already
buzzing with activity. Baseball games are being played on three diamonds
within a pop-up of each other. Parents are clustered in and around the
stands, chatting and cheering. Players of all ages, wearing uniforms or
team T-shirts, swarm the place.
Hardly anybody gives a second glance to the catcher in the Southeastern
rookie league deftly playing on one leg.
Adam Bender is just another kid playing ball, which is exactly how his
parents, Michelle and Chris, want it.
"I was a little hesitant when we first brought him up here for baseball,"
Michelle said. "I thought his spirit might be crushed if he got out every
time. Then I thought, who am I to micromanage his feelings? He's going to
have to learn how to deal with this stuff.
"The more I shelter him, the more he'll think, 'I'm fragile.' I don't think
I'll ever tell him he can't do something."
Adam is amazing to watch. He takes his position behind the plate, resting on
his right knee.
When a runner rounds third looking to score, Adam jumps up and holds his
ground.
He suffered a mild concussion on one collision and missed a practice or two.
But he recovered and was ready for action in the next game. At one point
this season he led the rookie league in put-outs at home.
At bat, his athletic skill and balance allow him to take a full swing, and
he usually makes contact. He hops to first base as quickly as he can. If
he's safe, he uses crutches to run the bases. When he gets thrown out, he
hops dejectedly back to the dugout.
He's a competitor, and not just in baseball.
Adam, who lost his left leg to cancer when he was 1, has played soccer for a
couple of years. He uses crutches, and is a whirlwind on the field in
Centenary United Methodist's "I Am Third" league.
He played YMCA flag football last fall for Bruce Rector, who has coached
against Adam's baseball team.
At first, Rector wasn't sure if Adam could play football. "Then I slept on
it. Having seen him play baseball, I knew he'd find a way to make it work,"
Rector said. "Sure enough, we put him at quarterback (using no crutches)
and used a shotgun snap. He threw a lot of touchdown passes."
Adam lobbied to line up at receiver at least once so he could have a chance
to score. On a conversion play, Adam hopped 5 yards down the field and made
a diving catch in the end zone despite being double-covered.
"That's what I mean when I say if you turn him loose, he'll find a way,"
Rector said.
Adam shyly deflects question about himself. He admits that he "loves
baseball" and "loves catching," but he doesn't think he's doing anything
out of the ordinary.
Astros coach Dan Wyse said he went out of his way to get Adam on his
team "because he's a good kid, a good catcher, and what he brings
attitude-wise, he's an inspiration to everybody."
Michelle Bender appreciates the effect her son has on people young and old.
"Adam has helped other kids see that a person with a disability can be fun
to hang out with, and play with, and they can still be a part of a
community or part of a team. It's developed the kids' compassion.
"And if he can inspire even one family to allow their kid to try something
they normally might not try, that's great."
Adam tried using a prosthesis but didn't like it because he felt it slowed
him down. He is adamant about not using a wheelchair.
"He wants to play ball like everybody else," Michelle said. "He's always had
that 'nobody's going to stop me' attitude."
Chris Bender thinks his son's "attitude and energy" channel naturally into
sports. "He pops out of bed at 60 miles an hour and doesn't quit until he
collapses at the end of the day. He's always wanted to do everything."
Doing everything that his older brother Steven and younger sister Morgan do
is what pleases Adam's dad the most.
"The best thing about it is the normalcy," Chris said. "There will come a
day when Adam will no longer be able to keep up. But he's had some measure
of childhood where he's just like everybody else.
"He doesn't have to sit and watch his brother and sister play. He's out
there playing with them."
And teaching a life lesson to everybody who's watching.
Rector does motivational speaking and leadership training, and he regularly
relates Adam's inspirational story to adults.
"The lesson he teaches is that you need to let talented people with great
heart get out there and do their thing," Rector said. "There's no such
thing as an insurmountable obstacle for Adam. He's a winner."See video of
Adam hitting and playing catcher in a baseball game.
--
"We are also brainwashing our children on the warming topic. We have no
better example than Al Gore's alarmists and inaccurate movie which is being
shown in our schools and being hawked by warming activists with little or
no meteorological-climate background," Gray wrote.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23411799-7583,00.html
http://www.firesociety.com/article/24204/
.
- Prev by Date: Kaczur arrested
- Next by Date: Packers Running Back Noah Herron Foils Home Burglary
- Previous by thread: Kaczur arrested
- Next by thread: Packers Running Back Noah Herron Foils Home Burglary
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
