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Team Also Featured On FOX2-TV
By Kurt LaBelle KTVI/KPLR
9:00 p.m. CST, February 9, 2011 ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI - FOX2now.com) —
A group of inspiring athletes with disabilities meets at Tillman Elementary School in Kirkwood, Missouri, every Wednesday for a sport known as "power chair soccer." It's a growing wheelchair sport that keeps the competitive nature alive in these athletes. The icy streets and falling snow can't hold these kids back. They get together each week to play soccer and just feel like they are part of a team. When he was younger, soccer was one of several sports tyler king took part in in little leagues. "He's got Duchesne Muscular Dystrophy which most kids traditionally around the ages of 10 or 12 lose the ability to walk so they wind up using a wheelchair in order to get around," said Jim King , Tyler's Father. Tyler did not let his disability keep him from playing the sport he's been a life-long fan of. He has been playing this sport for more than five years. "I like it because different age groups can play together, and kinda bond, just like a family kind of," says Tyler King, Power Chair Soccer Player .
Connor Walsh was not as anxious to get out there and try at first. "At first I was timid to do that. I was a little scared. But then once I started to play, I couldn't get enough," said Walsh. "It's something that gives him an outlet sportswise that he wouldn't have had otherwise, and he's built a lot of self confidence from it. it gets him out of the house and out of his routine,"said Connor's Father. Both Connor and Tyler enjoy playing for similar reasons. For the parents, they love seeing the competitive nature come out of their sons and say this isn't as easy as it looks. Check back soon for recent articles featuring DASA and DASA athletes
Congratulations to Steven Cash, Paralympic SportsMan of the Year
Watch for him in the NEWS on KMOX Channel 5 Sunday, February 28 at 10:00 p.m. Interviewed by Mike Bush ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WATCH CASH'S STORY ON NEWSCHANNEL 5 SUNDAY EVENING AT 10 PM! Paralympic SportsMan of the Year Visited Hometown Before Heading to Vancouver Steve Cash, the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team goalie, will be competing in the winter Paralympics in Vancouver, Canada March 13 - 21. This will be Cash's second time competing with the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team in the Paralympics. 20 year-old Cash, from Overland, MO, was introduced to sled hockey in 2005 through local non-profit organization Disabled Athlete Sports Association (DASA) Junior Blues Sled Hockey Program. After earning his place on the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team, Cash competed in the 2006 Paralympic Winter games in Torino, Italy. The team took home a bronze medal that year. Since then, Cash and his teammates captured the first-ever International Paralympic Committee Ice Sledge Hockey World Championship last May; and Team USA was named the USOC Paralympic Team of the Year, while Cash was named the USOC Paralympic SportsMan of the Year. Cash is currently a student at the University of Missouri - St. Louis. Diagnosed with osterosarcoma (bone cancer) of the right knee in 1992, Cash underwent amputation surgery at the age of three. He has since become an inspiration for athletes everywhere. If you are a member of the media, please check our media kit page and contact the DASA office at 636.477.0716 with further inquiries. |
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