Thanks to the heroes on the Boston University Hockey team, I have a new little athlete running around the house. I have a son Jack who has had years of physical therapy and a few operations. It was difficult to get him to follow through with the physical routine to help him improve on balance and coordination.
About a year ago, the Franciscan Children’s Hospital began a study under Maria Fragala, a licensed Physical Therapist and Researcher at Boston University, to see if group therapy had more of an impact on kids than one on one therapy, and it did. A group of 10 to 12 mildly disabled children between the ages of six and 11 formed a team and worked hard to improve on their abilities.
The hardest thing to get the kids to do is stretch and workout. They just want to jump in to the fun activities planned for the day. Maria Fragala called Walter Norton, the Boston University strength and conditioning coach, to see if he might be willing to let our kids visit the BU hockey team and watch a workout. Norton graciously agreed and we were off.
While the visit was intended to be short and educational, it turned out to be a couple of hours and tremendously exhilarating. The kids jumped right in and started working out with the members of the team, who encouraged them to keep going with “good job,” “way to go” and high fives all around. Walter yelled out instructions to the players and kids, making them feel like they were part of the team. At the end, the kids had their hockey pucks autographed and a new and devoted team of BU ice hockey fans was born.
After that, not only were the kids stretching and exercising in class, they were doing it at home as well – all anxious to be hockey players themselves someday. Kathi Brown and Coach Jack Parker followed up with a care package to the kids to help continue the momentum and attention. Included were hockey pucks, hats, pom poms, cards, tattoos, posters and more. The kids were absolutely thrilled and felt a connection to the team – they had new friends that didn’t care if they were a little different.
Jack had his week at kindergarten where you share something about yourself, and he showed the class his signed hockey puck and photographs from his day with the team. They were impressed. Instead of being the kid that walks funny, he’s the kid that has friends on the BU hockey team and that gets a lot of respect on the playground.
From a mother who sometimes feels like it’s too hard to keep her six-year-old motivated, I want to thank every one of you for all you have done. Your generosity has changed our kids and motivated them to work hard because they see you working hard and they look up to you. You’ll definitely see a new and rowdy cheering section at the Feb. 6 game that the kids plan to attend with their grateful parents. Go BU!
Anne Mahon is the mother of a six-year-old who struggles with mild cerebral palsy.