IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 13, 2007
CONTACT: Gordon Ovenshine:
724-738-4854

gordon.ovenshine@sru.edu

Vision problems won’t sideline SRU campers 

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Forty-eight children with blindness or visual disabilities will get to try their hand at golf and canoeing, two new sports added to the line up at Slippery Rock University’s VIP Sports Camp June 19-23. The program also gives children from western Pennsylvania and Ohio the opportunity to swim, ride a horse, rock climb and try Taekwondo.

            Campers will also play “beep baseball” with the Slippery Rock Sliders professional baseball team and attend a Sliders’ home game in Jack Critchfield Park. Beep baseball uses a ball that makes a noise, enabling batters to hear an incoming pitch.

            “The camp is a learning experience for participants, and it helps to prepare our students for their careers by giving them experience with children who are blind or visually impaired,” said Wendy Fagan, instructor of exercise and rehabilitative sciences and camp director. “They will learn more in one week of camp from the participants than they could ever learn from a textbook.”

            Twenty-five students in SRU’s Adapted Physical Activity Program will run the camp, with community volunteers helping to staff the sports stations. Campers age 6 to 18 will participate and stay in the new suite-style residence halls on campus. 

            Fagan said the golf clinic would take place at the Grove City Country Club, followed by a trip to Moraine State Park for swimming and canoeing at Lake Arthur.

            Additional sports include soccer, track and field and goalball, a sport designed for athletes who are blind or visually impaired.

            “The camp builds self-confidence and sportsmanship and gives the campers opportunities to develop their sports skills,” she said. “The most important part of camp is having a lot of fun.”

            Slippery Rock University is Pennsylvania’s premier public residential university. Slippery Rock University provides students with a comprehensive learning experience that intentionally combines academic instruction with enhanced educational and learning opportunities that make a positive difference in their lives.