Bridging the Gap: Ability First Sports Camp Empowers Campers to Build Families

CHICO — The 40th year of the Ability First Sports Camp returned to Chico this week beginning Sunday and ending Friday, with 27 campers engaged in adapted sports for physically disabled youth in the five-day overnight camp.

Originally getting its start from
Eric Snedeker
— a former Chico State adaptive physical education professor who died April 24 at the age of 73 after a battle with cancer — Ability First Sports Camps has given physically disabled youth the opportunity to be actively engaged with sports and recreational activities, giving them opportunities to be involved and create communities in everyday life.

Campers range from as young as 7-years-old to some who are in their early-to-mid 20s. Some campers are from the Chico or nearby area, while others live in Los Angeles, Idaho, Oregon, San Diego and Nevada.

Emily Ramirez is from L.A., is 22 years old, and has been coming to Ability First Camps since she was 13. She originally came after not being involved with many sports other than basketball for a short time of the year due to limited access.

“The first year was intimidating for me because I was new to a lot of the sports here and I was far away from home, but maybe a couple hours into camp during opening ceremonies you meet a lot of new people, and they’re so nice, and it feels like family,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez said her favorite part of the camp is meeting new people each year and creating bonds. She sees first-year campers who are nervous just like she once was and loves to find a sport they love, explain her story and hear their stories.

“It’s changed me because I’m a lot more independent from when I first started. The independence started here,” Ramirez said. “They taught me you’re going to start being more independent and said, ‘we’re going to teach you how to get around in the community in a safe way.’”

Jeremiah Reister, 17, lives in Wheatland and is in his third year coming to Ability First Camps. He first came to Ability First because he wanted to do something out of his comfort zone, but hecontinues to come because of the community and friendships that campers, coaches, counselors and other volunteers have built.

Like Ramirez, he loves welcoming newcomers.

“The thing is, friends you can hang out with, but when you welcome the newcomers you have to kind of protect them and show them the ropes,” Reister said.

Brian Swanson is the dad of first-year camper Seth Swanson, an 8-year-old from Petaluma. Swanson is a physical therapist who volunteered at the camp. When signing Seth up for camp he didn’t realize he could just drop his son off and leave him under the guidance of the support staff that Ability First provides, and after already requesting work off he offered any support he could as a parent volunteer and as a physical therapist.

Swanson was helping out during waterski and tubing on Tuesday, one of the several sports Ability First provides. Other sports include cycling, archery, boccia (like bocce ball), basketball, as well as a rugby game against the Chico Oaks rugby club that was held Wednesday.

Swanson said his son Seth first was introduced to Ability First at a swim clinic the organization held in Santa Rosa. Seth had an amazing time and overcame a lot of fears he had about the water. Tuesday, Seth was waterskiing and tubing around a private lake in Chico and had an amazing time with his new friends with a big smile on his face all morning.

Swanson shared some impressions both as a dad and a physical therapist early on in camp Tuesday.

“One, I’ll say as a dad I feel like my son is incredibly safe and well taken care of here. I don’t have any concerns about his wellbeing. I could leave and not feel bad about it at all,” Swanson said.

“As a physical therapist, I’m totally impressed by every little detail that has gone into the camp. One of the things last night was there was a talk from some of the coaches about just taking care of certain things that are common with folks that are wheelchair users like taking care of hygiene, protecting your skin and stuff like that, and speaking to them from an athlete’s perspective … to see a role model and someone that has similar things that they need to go through life like they do, it’s probably going to sink in a little more than it is coming from dad so that’s really cool to get that. Every single staff member and volunteer is so attentive to everyone’s care and all the unique needs that every kid has, and I think it really makes all the campers feel super comfortable, and they’re all just having a blast.”

To enable an overnight camp running six day and five nights, Ability First provides 18 counselors who specialize in occupational therapy, kinesiology, physical education, adaptive PE or a realted profession. There’s also a nursing rotation on site for any needs that may arise to keep all campers safe.

“Every single person here ensures that kids can come here and be as supported and empowered as possible and as independent as possible and that’s what Ability First is all about,” said Ability First Sports Camp co-director Scott Dinits.

In addition to the counselors, staff and volunteers, there are also eight coaches plus several additional coaches who specialize in different events.

“Our coaches, that’s where the magic happens,” Dinits said. “They have lived experience, as in they utilize wheelchairs, are involved in adaptive sports activities at either the collegiate, recreational, the pro or paralympic level. When these kids come to the camp they see kids and peers their age that are navigating similar situations, and they see adult coaches that have similar lived experience and can give them guidance. They see the success and breaking down boundaries and barriers and it really provides a different level of engagement and hope and empowerment.”