"Just getting an opportunity is a triumph"

"Just getting an opportunity is a triumph" - Barry Temkin, Chicago Tribune published Sunday, June 17, 2001

A small step is better than no step, especially when it's the first step toward a dream.

That's why the Illinois High School Association's first wheelchair basketball camp was successful, even if only 22 students participated in it last week at the University of Illinois.

Illinois wheelchair basketball coach Michael Frogley, who helped run the free camp, hoped for at least 150 participants. But IHSA approval for the event didn't come until April 29, five weeks before the registration deadline.

"It made it really tough to get the word out and for people to make adjustments and plans," Frogley said. "But this gives us something to build on."

What he hopes to build toward is the day students with disabilities can participate in interscholastic sports. That's what drove him to pitch the camp idea to IHSA Executive Director Dave Fry.

The 19 boys and three girls who attended arrived Monday and finished Saturday with a tournament.

"What's neat to watch is how much improvement there has been, from basketballs flying everywhere in the first scrimmage to organized team play," Frogley said. "And it's neat to see how much the kids have grown, and not just in an athletic sense.

"You can see them thinking, `You know what, this is something I can do. I wonder what else I can do now?'"

Frogley is optimistic about the future of what he hopes will be an annual camp and the eventual start of interscholastic wheelchair basketball.

"We just have to make sure we get the word out and don't overlook any kid who can benefit from this program," he said. "There's no question this has value. There's no question this is something that has to be done."