‘Uncommon Champions’ tells stories of sports role models

Are you having a hard time finding a book for a son or daughter who would much rather shoot hoops than read? Do you have a child who struggles with a disability? As you search for positive role models for an active, sports-oriented youngster do you find yourself frustrated with the way athletic success seems increasingly defined by seven figure salaries and celebrity product endorsements? Check out ”Uncommon Champions” by Marty Kaminsky.

Kaminsky presents compelling stories of fifteen athletes who have battled back from formidable changes. He has an eye for the nuances and details that really bring his champions to life as human beings. The profiles are uncompromisingly, sometimes painfully, honest.

On his way to school Chris Zorich had to avoid neighborhood gangs and step over sleeping bodies. Often he and his beloved mother, Zora, had to search dumpsters for food. One day they were attacked by snowball wielding youngsters. He saw her cry and became determined to get her out of the slums. Football seemed to be the ticket.

In her sophomore year Gail Devers won the San Diego girls title for Sweetwater High School even though she was the only female representing her school at track and field meets. In her senior year at UCLA she set a record in the 100-meter hurdles. Then, illness prevented her from qualifying for the 1988 Summer Olympics. She was diagnosed with Graves Disease. Radiation treatments weakened her immune system. Her legs became so badly infected that the doctors feared that they would have to amputate them to save her life.

As an infant Erik Weihenmayer was diagnosed with retinoschisis. He learned many ways to compensate for deteriorating vision. But by 13 he was completely blind. Just as he was adapting to life in a sightless world his mother died. His father engaged the remaining family members in world wide adventures. Erik became an accomplished rock climber, scuba diver, and sky diver. In 1995 he and his climbing team were trapped for five days in a blizzard on Alaska’s Mt. Mckinley.

Jean Driscoll was born with spina bifida. Doctors predicted that she would never walk, attend regular school, or live independently. They were wrong. She was even able to frighten her mother by riding a two wheel bike. At 14 she had to begin using a wheelchair. Further physical problems, school difficulties, and her parents divorce left her wondering if the world would be better without her.

Not all these stories have had happily-ever-after endings. Skier Diana Golden Brosnihan learned that the cancer she had been battling had spread to her skeletal system. Decades after his alcohol rehabilitation baseball’s Bob Welch must take sobriety a day at a time in a nation where much socializing and celebrating involves drinking. But they all are a grand testimony to the triumph of the human spirit.

”Uncommon Champions” can help you provide your child with a new spin on the sometimes too glitzy sports media coverage. What challenges have the athletes who make winning look so easy conquered on their way to success? How did the choices and decisions they made affect their careers? Do some still struggle with issues like substance abuse or prejudice?

If you and your child are inspired by these stories and want a new source of quality family time check out your local Special Olympics program. They need volunteers to help bring the challenges and benefits of sports competition to children and adults with disabilities. Even if the athletes you work with may never make the Major Leagues or Olympics you’ll still be dealing with uncommon champions.