Cardinals Changing the Game and Lives
New Trail at Riverview Park for better accessibility
Cardinals Changing the Game and Lives
Dec 4 2018
By Preston Willett |
Posted: Sat 10:24 PM, Dec 01, 2018 |
Updated: Sat 10:42 PM, Dec 01, 2018
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 SPORTS) — On this court the wheels are always turning, which is why the game can take time to come into focus.
“When people first see the sport,” Charlottesville Cardinals Coach Tom Vandever said, a local wheelchair basketball game, “All they see are the wheelchairs for about five minutes and then the wheelchairs fade away and that’s when they see the athletes.”
Every athlete has their story for how the sport came to them from bad knees to cancer.
“I was lucky I was able to kind of walk into it slowly,” Jacob Tyree said, who was nine-years-old when it was discovered he had a spinal cord tumor, “People who are in car accidents that’s like an instantaneous change of your life.”
“14-years-old I wrecked a bike and broke my back,” team captain Brandon Rush said, “So I was at a children’s rehab and the team came and did a demonstration there.”
For people like Rush and Tyree in one of their most trying times, the Charlottesville Cardinals opened a door to not only athletics but a community.
“This is my family man, I started playing with them when I was 14,” Rush said, “So they helped me grow up, they helped me mature for sure.”
“For a lot of players and athletes it changes their lives from that,” National Wheelchair Basketball Association Commissioner Buddy Barnes said, “They may have gone a certain path, but now they see things through a different light, through a different window actually.”
But make no mistake these athletes are here to play, especially the Cardinals, ranked in the top-ten nationally. With players coming from hours away to practice and play throughout the season.
“We do this on an everyday basis, this isn’t something we just oh yeah we kind of meat every once in awhile and do it as a pick up thing,” Tyree said,” Our players are in the gym multiple times a week, where we stick to a regiment, we watch what we eat.”
Their ultimate to goal to spread the game to everyone.
“Bring people out that have never seen wheelchair basketball before,” Tyree said, “Get them involved in the sport and it changes their life it really does.”
New Trail at Riverview Park for better accessibility
Oct 10 2018
Accessibility Improvements at Riverview Park Make the Space More Welcoming
Posted: Sep 02, 2018 5:28 PM EDTUpdated: Sep 02, 2018 6:58 PM EDT
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) –
Riverview Park in Charlottesville added a new trial that will make the area more accessible to visitors with disabilities. The project began in April. Due to the summer’s rainy weather, the trail was not completed until last week.
The idea for the trail began when Ciara Campbell, a disability advocate, expressed concern about the accessibility of Riverview Park.
She reached out to the Independent Resource Center which helps people with disabilities live independently.
“It’s starts at the parking area and goes all the way down to the river and connects up to the other trail system. This was an enhancement safety project that Ms. Campbell brought to our attention,” Brian Wheeler, Director of Communications for the City of Charlottesville.
Ciara Campbell loved going to the park but noticed it was difficult to move around the area in her wheelchair. “I come down to the river a lot either to go running with my brother or to hang out with my friends or take my dog for a run and before I had to walk through the parking lot, a lot, obviously but it’s usually pretty crowded on the weekends so it can be. It’s not always the easiest thing to do.”
Campbell was happy to see the city take another step towards improving the conditions for people with disabilities. “I’ve been working on the Charlottesville ADA Advisory Committee for a while so making accessibility improvements is not really something new to me but it’s always nice to see something get done and see it be successful.”
In addition to being a welcomed improvement, the construction of the trail was an affordable project.
“A trail like that which is a simple asphalt strip can be done within our existing budget and really flex the priority the city has to help people with disabilities but also pedestrians and bicyclists to get around safely,” said Wheeler.
The accessibility improvements will allow more people to come together at Riverview Park for years to come.