Maryland is a step behind when it comes to wheelchair athletes.
But Tatyana McFadden?s case is pushing the state to become more in line with a number of states that have long incorporated wheelchair sports into their varsity programs.
Georgia offers varsity wheelchair football, soccer, basketball, sled hockey, track and field, and participation is growing. Their wheelchair state basketball championships are played the same weekend, in the same 12,000-seat arena, as the traditional boys and girls title games.
Last year, the wheelchair state final drew an estimated 8,000 fans and another 300,000 viewers on television said Bev Vaughn, a Georgia adapted sports official.
In Oregon, Pendleton High School coach Mark Christiansen said the state has included wheelchair races in their meets for years. As McFadden struggles to incorporate wheelchair sports in Maryland programs, wheelchair runners, like junior Brandon Caswell at Pendleton in Oregon, participate alongside able-bodied runners when there are not enough disabled-athletes to fill out a heat.
“When Brandon was in seventh and eighth grade, there were a couple of wheelchair runners in the state who were getting a lot of attention ? I mean, they were good,” Christiansen said. “I think that gave Brandon something to shoot for and when he was in ninth grade, he borrowed a chair, wanted to know what distances he could race, and that was it.”
In distance events, like the 1,500 and 3,000, Caswell starts staggered in the farthest outside lane and can?t come in closer than the fourth lane. Christiansen noted that there haven?t been any legal issues or lawsuits.
“We?ve always worked it out; it hasn?t [been] a big deal,” Christiansen said.
“I enjoy it,” Caswell said. “It makes me feel like part of the team, not different. To be out there all by yourself, I don?t know what that would feel like ? not part of the competition ? not like you?re running with everybody else.”
