When Eric Katz of Monroe Township, Middlesex County, was looking to begin his career as a wheelchair athlete, his first choice was at his home school of Rutgers University in New Brunswick.
However, Katz, now 32, had to enroll at the University of Arizona because Rutgers did not offer an adaptive sports program — a situation that may soon be changed.
Katz became paralyzed at the age of 15 when he was diagnosed with a neurological disorder called transverse myelitis.
His father, Robert Katz, said his son played wheelchair basketball with a program provided by the Specialized Children’s Hospital in New Brunswick.
Katz said shortly after Eric received his diagnosis, he became frustrated because he was unable to participate in sports.
“He could not do all the things he used to do with his friends, like ride a bike, roller skate or play basketball,” he said. “He got pretty depressed, but he found a rehab program with wheelchair sports. Before you even go inside the room you can hear the laughter of the kids inside and his face lit up like, ‘Hey there is life after you get paralyzed.’ ”
Although Eric Katz could not compete at Rutgers, other people in his position may eventually have that opportunity because the university’s Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs has commissioned an Adaptive Sports and Recreation Feasibility Study to begin this fall.
The study will examine adaptive sports and recreation programming that is offered at universities of a similar size and complexity to Rutgers. Experts will assess the current capacity of the university, determine what would be needed to increase capacity, outline the costs of increased adaptive sports and recreation offerings and recommend how the program may be phased in given Rutgers’ physical plant and fiscal realities.
The push for the university to begin to look at providing these programs, which may include sports like basketball, swimming and track and field, comes from Katz as well as state senators Linda Greenstein (D-Middlesex, Mercer) and Ray Lesniak (D-Union).
Greenstein said that by implementing the program, Rutgers would be set apart from other institutions of higher learning in the state.
“We want it to be a center in making sure wheelchair athletes have a place to go to school in New Jersey,” she said. “I hope we accomplish something here. I hope the study shows we are able to set something up and we can move ahead on it.”
Greenstein said Rutgers officials initially wanted to start with a survey of current students, but eventually were persuaded to take it a step further.
“Essentially, the university was willing to do some surveys of its students,” she said. “We felt this (feasibility study) was much more tied into taking a more proactive approach where the university would reach out to students who might be willing to come to the school if the school had such a program. I think we are much closer to the idea of Rutgers making a commitment than when we started.”
According to Greenstein, there are about 50 extracurricular activities available at Rutgers, but none of them cater to students who have a disability.
Tricia Yurochko, head coach of the Children’s Lightning Wheels, the paralympic sports club in which Eric Katz participated at the hospital, said having an adaptive sports program at Rutgers would increase enrollment.
Yurochko said some of the more prominent adaptive sports programs throughout the country right now are at the University of Illinois, the University of Texas, the University of Arizona, the University of Alabama and Penn State University.
“It is going to keep some athletes and some students in state,” Yurochko said of a potential Rutgers program. “Some students are going out of state because they have been on their track and field team and they want to continue to compete. So, they are going to want to go to a college that has a program that supports them. It would be a win-win situation for Rutgers, that’s for sure.”
Yurochko said there are thousands of athletes across the country who are eligible and looking for an adaptive sports program.
“There are a significant number who would want to go to a place like Rutgers that would gives them a great education as well as provide them with the athletic outlet they are looking for,” she said.
According to Yurochko, many athletes who compete in adaptive sports programs have plans to continue their athletic career after college.
“A lot of these athletes are of the caliber where they are trying to make the international team where they are trying to represent the United States on the paralympic level or at the world games level,” Yurochko said.
Greenstein said Rutgers officials should consider this to be the right time to implement an adaptive sports program.
“If there was ever a time to do this, this turns out to be a pretty good time because it is the 25th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act,” the senator said. “I think that would be a wonderful thing to happen in New Jersey.”
Greenstein also said an adaptive sports program might be appealing to wounded veterans who are looking for similar programs, as well as an education.
— Contact Kenny Walter at [email protected]