by Chelsea Dill
“A little to the right,” 9-year-old Brendan White says to his mother. It’s January 14, and Mary White adjusts the oversized soccer ball and rolls it to her son in the Houghton Elementary School gymnasium. Brendan deftly turns his high-powered Strike Force wheelchair and sends the ball flying smoothly across the room. His third-grade classmates applaud and cheer his athleticism and his success as a wheelchair athlete.
“A wheelchair athlete is just like everyone else,” Houghton’s physical education teacher, Mike Walsh, tells students before they watch a video of White playing power soccer with other wheelchair athletes in New Hampshire. An avid sports fan, White has always enjoyed watching football, hockey, and baseball. Although born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, the condition didn’t stop his passion for sports. At age 5, he began playing pee-wee wheelchair soccer and participated in the Special Olympics at Wachusett Regional High School. In 2014, he found his niche playing power soccer on a team with other wheelchair athletes of different ages and disabilities.
Initially, he used a loaner wheelchair that didn’t have as many features as the Strike Force, the high-tech wheelchair that many of his teammates used. Owning a more powerful wheelchair with updated features would increase Brendan’s ability to maneuver throughout the game and push the ball with greater force.
The cost of the Strike Force wheelchair ranges from $8,000 to $10,000. Mary White began applying for a grant from the Challenged Athletes Foundation to help defray the cost. Teacher Mike Walsh provided a recommendation letter. “Over the years I’ve been Brendan’s teacher, I’ve learned that he’s fearless. He’s a very deserving athlete.” Walsh has routinely adapted and invented games and activities to enable Brendan’s full participation in sports.
The family secured a grant to cover $2,500 of the cost. But in April 2015, White underwent surgery and it was during that time his longtime aide, Marie Bowker, came up with a game-changing idea. Bowker initiated a fundraiser to obtain the balance of the funds needed to purchase a Strike Force wheelchair.
“It gave Brendan something to look forward to during his long recovery after surgery, and I was happy to do this small thing for this amazing family,” says Bowker. Using the crowdsourcing website, GoFundMe, Bowker spread the word through Facebook about White’s love of the game, his need for the powerful wheelchair, and their joint goal of helping Brendan to realize his dream of physically participating in a sport. “When GoFundMe went viral, the community responded to Brendan’s dream and made it a reality,” says Bowker. Within just a few days, to the amazement and gratitude of the White family, the goal was met.
In August, the custom-built wheelchair finally arrived. “He couldn’t wait to get in it,” says Brendan’s father, Sean White. “Brendan would be in the chair all the time. He likes to practice till he gets it perfect.”
Back in Houghton’s gym, Brendan weaves in and out between orange traffic cones set up in a pattern, demonstrating his adeptness at handling his wheelchair with every skillful turn. He maneuvers like a pro, making tight turns around each cone. His favorite move is the spin kick, where he spins the wheelchair rapidly before sending the ball flying across the gym.
“Brendan has really honed his craft of being a wheelchair athlete,” says Walsh.
This spring, Brendan will practice with his Northeast Passage Power Cats teammates. When he’s on the court, his parents proudly watch their son live his dream, cheering him on. “We never thought he’d be able to play any sport,” says Sean White. “We are so grateful for the support that people showed our family and Brendan in giving him this opportunity.”
Photo by Chelsea Dill: Brendan White in his Strike Force wheelchair.