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Getting competitive: Able Athletics hosts field hockey for kids, adults with challenges

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Getting competitive: Able Athletics hosts field hockey for kids, adults with challenges

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YORKTOWN — When a shot sailed wide, the field hockey player pounded his stick on the turf in frustration.

Another player slapped her thigh after missing a pass. Still another pumped his fist repeatedly after scoring.

One observer, Maggie Glynn, a co-captain of Pace University’s field hockey team, said the players’ reactions were quite familiar. “That’s what we do,” the Pearl River High graduate said.

Glynn was among fans Sunday watching adaptive field hockey at East Coast Sports and Fitness. The 25 participants, ranging in age from 5 to 38, were eager to play.

Able Athletics, a Westchester-based organization that provides sports opportunities for youth with disabilities and special needs, held its Fall Invitational. Their own players competed against one another in field hockey. And, for the first time, Able Athletics hosted another organization, The Long Island All Starz.

Not lost on those involved was that the Invitational was taking place on the last day of the Paris Paralympics, where more than 4,000 athletes with special needs competed in 22 sports.

Parasports, played by those with an intellectual or physical disability, are surging in popularity.

Pace University sent its field hockey team to Yorktown Sunday to cheer and help out. Two of Pace’s team captains, Isa Boertjes, who’s from the Netherlands, and Molly Paterson, who’s from England, were impressed by the competition.

“It gives kids sports and that’s good for everyone. They get to get competitive,” Boertjes said.

Proud parents appreciate the opportunity Able Athletics provides

The crowd, made up largely of family members, reveled in seeing the kids and young adults succeed by having fun and fitting in.

“She’s able to be who she is and not be judged by who she is,” Pleasantville resident Sarah Lake said of her 16-year-old daughter, Kaitlyn, who manned the goal for Able Athletics’ senior-level team and was a top players on the turf.

Kaitlyn, who attends Summit School in Nyack, a school for students with special needs, was diagnosed as high-functioning autistic at age 13.

Unlike many athletes who played Sunday, Kaitlyn also participates in mainstream sports programs and, in fact, began throwing the shot put last year for the Pleasantville High School girls track and field team.

But mainstream sports often present hurdles that have nothing to do with athletic ability.

“Because of the way Kaitlyn is wired, it’s difficult for her to pick up on social cues and to think before she speaks,” Lake explained.

It’s different with Able Athletics, where Kaitlyn not only plays but sometimes helps as a volunteer. She cares about the other kids, many of whom face higher hurdles than she does.

“What’s nice with this, too, is the kids absolutely love her,” Lake said. “The kids think Kaitlyn is just such a funny person. It’s her comfort level.”

Asked about the program, Kaitlyn said she liked “the inclusion of all kids, no matter the disability or complications.”

“You have them support you in what you do,” she said of Able Athletics.

‘I scored 11 goals today’

Yorktown residents Bob and Kara McCloat have seen this firsthand. Their 11-year-old son, Paul, plays Able basketball and lacrosse, in addition to field hockey.

Bob McCloat said Paul’s autism and AD/HD makes it impossible for him to participate in sports with his sixth-grade peers. But Able Athletics is a different story.

“He can interact with a lot of kids his level. … He gets along with all the kids,” he said.

Somers resident Kira Markowitz noted her son, Asher, 9, has speech and language difficulties. But she laughed when saying he has no problem telling her how well he has played. On Sunday, he reported, “I scored 11 goals today.”

“He said he was going to do 10 and did 11, so he went home happy,” Markowitz said.

About 40 volunteers helped with the Invitational, some offering individual instruction on the field while play was ongoing.

“We treat athletes like athletes. They’re capable of learning the fundamentals,” said Melissa Ponzio, an Able Athletics board member who oversees the field hockey program.

Ponzio, who’s the assistant field hockey coach at Fox Lane High School and whose autistic son, Nicholas, 6, plays, said players like being challenged.

Able’s roots: Westchester-based program opens doors for special needs kids to get involved in sports

Sunday’s event was sanctioned by USA Field Hockey and was part of Able’s effort to grow adaptive sports, said Able’s founder, Vanessa Dias. Dias is a Scarsdale resident whose daughter, Elle, 7, participates.

Program started small, is growing fast

What Dias and her family started in 2020 as a small lacrosse program has grown into a full organization with multiple sports. One athlete comes down from Saugerties to play.

Next month, Able Athletics will begin a nine-week program at Rippowam Cisqua School in Bedford of flag football, volleyball, basketball and wheelchair lacrosse.

Also in October, Able will send players to Indianapolis for a USA Lacrosse-sponsored adaptive tournament.

“I just love what they do. It’s so inspiring,” said Jessica Bowden, a volunteer who’s a junior on the Somers High field hockey team.

“Watching the kids get excited hitting the ball, scoring, it’s so exciting for them and it makes me happy,” said Bowden, one of several area high school players who were helping Sunday.

Parents are glad to have found a unique and accepting community.

“You never feel any judgment. It really connects you. … (And) there’s no pressure to have your kids fit in,” said Ashley Synowiez, whose son, Brooke, is in the program. Her husband, James, the Scarsdale High School ice hockey and boys lacrosse coach, has coordinated Able’s lacrosse program for three years.

He’ll be going to Indianapolis next month as a coach.

This follows Able’s participation last spring in a field hockey tournament in Pennsylvania.

Dias said Able Athletics wants to “parallel mainstream offerings.”

The goal: Grow adaptive sports across New York and the country

Another widely held goal is to see programs developing across New York and the country.

Alexa Bracco, a 32-year-old nurse from Hauppauge started adaptive field hockey on Long Island after USA Field Hockey reached out to her following her Instagram post of someone with cerebral palsy playing.

That initial program has now spawned teams in Texas, New Jersey, North Carolina and elsewhere. Bracco is working closely with USA Field Hockey to continue spurring growth.

“The fact USA Field Hockey came to us, I have to thank them and mention them a million times,” she said. Her Instagram post drew 21,000 views.

Players have different challenges, but Bracco said playing seems to instill one thing in everyone — confidence.

“They have the ability to conquer anything when they come off the field,” she said.

That seemed true of Elle Dias. She said she enjoyed running on the field and seeing her friends. And she smiled broadly when recalling that her friend, Kate, scored after she had passed her the ball.

Games over, it was time to celebrate that assist. Her plan, Elle said, was to have vanilla ice cream, and not just a little.

“Big bowl,” she explained.

Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, skiing, ice hockey, basketball, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at @HaggertyNancy.

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