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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

‘Small town’ aura a draw for athletes


Isaiah Rigo rests his head on Mikila Salazar's knee Friday during the National Junior Disability Championships as Emily Owens, left, laughs. 
 (Jed Conklin / The Spokesman-Review)
Jessica Meyers Staff writer

Before Wheelchair Sports, USA, allowed Spokane to host this year’s National Junior Disability Championships, Tomie Zuchetto had to sell the Inland Northwest’s sunshine to East Coast skeptics.

“Everyone thinks it’s next to Seattle and we have rainy summers,” said the Shriners Hospital recreational therapy manager who convinced officials that the city was dry enough to host its 24th annual event here. “Of course, I told them our average high is 85 in July, which makes me a liar this week.”

But it was more than the arid weather that brought 27 teams and about 200 athletes from as far away as Florida and New Jersey for the weeklong event, which wraps up today. Spokane beat out Chicago, St. Louis and Houston to host the competition and is doing so for the first time.

“They chose Spokane because they knew we already had a strong community-based program and somebody who would be able to promote it,” said Zuchetto, who is the co-meet director. Shriners Hospitals for Children is the national organization that actually coordinates the annual event and has hosted it for the past two years at its hub in Tampa, Fla. This year, the Spokane-based Shriners partnered with St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute to lead a series of basketball games, table tennis matches, swimming competitions and track and field events – bringing about $1.6 million into the city.

“It’s the perfect town to pull this off in because it’s a small big town,” said Teresa Skinner, the other co-meet director and a track and field coach for the local St. Luke’s team. To reinforce the city’s small-town atmosphere, the organizers arranged for each visiting team to have a host, a Spokane-area resident who attended the games and rooted for the traveling athletes. “When you travel you have teammates and coaching staff but nobody from the community – the stands aren’t full,” said Skinner. “We wanted to make sure they left this community saying the whole community surrounded us, cheered for us.”

Jillian Ratcliff, 18, a Maryland resident who has participated in at least seven national championships, said the new team host idea make the trip even more rewarding. “You feel more integrated in the town,” said the Bennett Blazers team member who went kayaking this week on the suggestion of her team host, Nicholas DeCaro. “We never had this before, and we are getting all this stuff” from him, she said, looking at an overflowing basket of Spokandy, plastic bracelets and other trinkets.

DeCaro, 28, a Keller Williams Realty agent, sat screaming in the stands with his orange blow horn as athletes circled the track in their special three-wheeled bicycles. The diligent fan was recruited by his agency to sponsor a team, making DeCaro one of 350 volunteers assisting with the event. “Seeing the will and desire of these kids makes you realize you take advantage of a lot of things,” he said before heading off to a team photo.

The location is another unusual aspect about the event this year, said Arleen Sand, the junior committee chair for Wheelchair Sports, USA, and a physical therapist for Shriners Hospital in Tampa. She helped choose Spokane as the event destination this year and came north for it. Sand said it’s rare to have the event on the West Coast since more of the disability programs and teams are located back east. Washington is unique in that it has more high school wheelchair track athletes than anywhere else in the nation.

But the long-distance travel may account for the smaller turnout, said Sand – about 20 fewer athletes than usual. “Part of the reason is the cost to get out here,” she said. “It’s not a major metropolitan area so it’s not direct and it’s a little more expensive flying in.”

Not all of the 400 parents and coaches trekked across the country. For Kimberly Cameron, 30, a St. Luke’s team parent who sat in the stands with a Spokane contingent cheering loudly, travel time took less than half an hour. “This is the first time we are able to get this support,” she said. “No matter if it’s your kid or not it’s just great to sit here and watch them. You get goose bumps; one of the kids in the program even has a broken foot,” she said.

That’s part of the reason this event is so important, said Skinner. It means more than shaving seconds off a lap or crossing the finish line first. “It runs so much deeper for these guys,” she said. “There’s not a lot of stuff in the media, and they don’t grow up knowing they can compete in sports. It’s a mind-set that needs to change, and it’s awesome when it changes.”

Twelve-year-old Taylor Nielso, one of 23 athletes on the St. Luke’s team, had a few more races to go before the banquet tonight. He said he played well in the games but still wasn’t certain he would attend the events next year. “It’s going to be too crowded and in New Jersey,” he said, wrinkling his nose.

He looked out at the wave of purple shirts in front of him, designating the home team. But if it were held in Spokane, “I for sure would,” he said.