After lunch, we loaded up in our vans for the first friendship visit of the summer. We went to Pomeroy Recreation & Rehabilitation Center. It's a center for people with disabilities to come during the day and do anything from art class to swimming to music class. We arrived at the center to find some friendly faces waving at us and smiling. On the window of the front door of the PRRC were two signs. One sign read, "Welcome Push America and thank you!" It was great to know that we were so welcome already. Next to that sign was a flyer that read, "Tonight: Basketball Game - Push America vs. Pomeroy Wildcats." Well, basketball is really the only sport I never played, so I knew I'd be breaking barriers on a couple levels today.
We went into the gym and began talking it up and shooting around with the clients there. Clients included everyone from young girls to an 86 year old man. You wouldn't believe it, but that 86 year old man scored more baskets than me in warmup. Actually, you might not believe it, but I definitely do. That just puts my basketball skill into perspective for everyone.
Warmup ended and we began the game by lining the gym on two sides. Push America on one side, and the Pomeroy Clients on the other. First, we walked in a line around the gym high giving all of the clients, and then the clients of Pomeroy did the same to us. Some of the people there were beyond excited to get a high five, and it was very humbling.
One of the staff members at Pomeroy grabbed a microphone and commentated the entire game. Pomeroy started with the ball, and scored immediately. Almost all of the clients were able to make shots in the 10-foot goal, and if they weren't then a staff member set out a smaller goal for them to slam the ball into. Essentially, Pomeroy just took off on the scoreboard. They told us ahead of time that they were undefeated, and we now see why. It was ridiculous how well these people could play basketball. One guy was brave enough to shoot a few three pointers...he drained all of them. One man made a buzzer beater shot at the end of the game and ran to half court and laid down on his back pumping his fists because he was so proud.
Final score: Push America - 8, Pomeroy Wildcats - 68.
After the game we all shook hands and high fived and the clients went on their way. We took a tour of the facility, and saw that Push America and Pi Kappa Phi really had a history with this facility. All of the way back in 1991, Push America and Pi Kappa Phi built a playground for the PRRC (picture below). It was really cool to see a piece of Push America history with this particular facility.
Seeing the sheer joy on the faces of the clients today really got me excited for the summer. From high fives to scoring baskets, these people showed their abilities way more than their disabilities. It's amazing how much one can take just from an hour with these people. It got my psyched for the summer and now I can't wait to see what the rest has in store for me. Basketball might not be our game, but we have the whole summer to experience this joy.
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