ARISE

One of the requirements for my Introduction to Recreation and Leisure class is to complete 8 hours of volunteer service in a recreation oriented environment by the end of the semester. I've been trying to meet that requirement by volunteering with the ARISE program on campus. I think I only have a few more hours left. ARISE puts on wheelchair sports programs every week, as well as several adapted sports weekends throughout the semester. I think the general idea behind ARISE is to offer a place for students in wheelchairs to participate in a sport that puts them on even footing with their competitors. The only problem is, it seems to be difficult to actually get the students in wheelchairs to come out and play. I would have imagined there would be several students actually in wheelchairs at every event. Sadly, it usually ends up being one or two. Because of the lack of students actually in wheelchairs the volunteers end up jumping in the games. Unfortunately, it can sometimes end up that the games consist of only volunteers. Originally, I felt bad about participating since I'm not confined to a chair. But, once I got my first taste of the sport, oh man I was hooked! Basically, I have been playing wheelchair basketball and wheel chair rugby a couple of times a month for the past several months. Can I just say I've never had so much fun!!!!!!!! It sounds awful but I'm almost jealous of those people actually in chairs who truly get to compete in such an awesome sport. I was able to have someone take a few pictures of wheelchair rugby tonight. They didn't come out the greatest but you can get an idea of what it's like. The third picture down doesn't look like much but I'm more or less trying to use my chair to push/keep his chair out of the zone in which you can score points. Also, you might notice in the very last picture I kinda forgot that I can't use my legs. Hey what can I say, I was being attacked!