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Health & Fitness
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Ems . 11/30/10j
Phil and Estelle Elkus came to watch a floor hockey game in the gym they
made possible.
_ -
-
--a-niiittrrot
Team assignments were based
solely on ability and skill level, unlike
some programs, where volunteers
are paired with children who have
disabilities. Each team consists of
members who have special needs and
those who do not, playing side-by-
side as equals.
"There are no superstars on this
league Krass said. "It is a group of
kids, working together, learning the
same techniques and functioning
as a team. Too often in our society,
children with special needs are thrust
onto the fringes of the community.
They are considered too slow to run,
too disruptive for a team and too 'dif-
ferent' to fit in. Well, not this time."
Participants are asked to wear
gym shoes and comfortable clothes.
Friendship Circle provides the rest
of the equipment: sticks, pucks,
goalie masks and gloves, and jerseys
imprinted with team names and indi-
vidual player numbers.
The program is structured to
encourage even the most inexpe-
rienced or apprehensive players to
participate. There is no scorekeeping,
and the atmosphere is supportive
rather than competitive. Fun is the
only goal that counts.
"The point is that they're playing
and that makes them all winners,"
Krass said.
Generational Ties
Robi Brooks, 10, was reluctant to play
at first because he was afraid of get-
ting hurt, according to his mother,
Julie Brooks of Livonia. Friendship
Circle staff members Yarden Blumstein
and Tzvi Schectman reassured him
until he agreed to give it a try.
. 42 mo. lease, 10,000 mVyr. allowed with 250 over limit. $2495 total due at signing plus tax & fees. On approved credit.
60 November 18 • 2010
iN
"Now he loves it," said Brooks.
An added bonus for Krass is that
many of the parents whose children
participate in the program are former
students from his days as a public
school teacher.
Elise Otis of West Bloomfield,
mother of 9-year-old Ryan, played
floor hockey at Leonhard Elementary
under Krass' tutelage. She approaches
the coach as the game ends and Ryan
and his teammates leave the rink to
put away their equipment.
"Can I tell you how much he is
enjoying this?" she asks.
It is a rhetorical question; the smile
on Ryan's face is the only answer she
needs.
On this particular day, three gener-
ations of one family are represented,
as 10-year-old Lexi Atler is cheered
on by her mother, Cindy Atler of
Farmington Hills, Cindy's brother,
Andrew Chaffkin, and their mother,
Barrie Chaffkin. Cindy and her broth-
er are also former Leonhard students
in Southfield with fond memories of
their former gym teacher.
"Everybody loved Mr. Krass; they
all loved gym class:' said Barrie
Chaffkin of Commerce Township. "To
see my granddaughter with Ed, there
are no words. It's a complete circle,
just amazing:'
Andrew, who resides in Bloomfield
Hills, said it was "kind of surreal" to see
his niece learning floor hockey from his
former teacher of 40 years ago.
"This is Lexi's favorite thing to
do:' said Cindy, who learned about
the league through her 13-year-old
daughter, Ally, who has special needs
and participates in several other
Friendship Circle programs.